Crossing the Champlain Bridge is turning into a white-knuckle drive for many motorists.
The bridge – one of the busiest in Canada – is in critical condition.
An engineering report from the firm Delcan concludes the bridge is in such terrible shape, it needs to be replaced.
In fact, the report also states parts of the bridge could collapse.
‘Please, God’
The findings scare many people who cross the bridge nearly every day, including Nora Naaj.
She commutes on a public bus.
“Every time I go over it, I’m like okay, please God, everything is going to be smooth. Please, please, please,’ she said.
The public concerns and Delcan’s report seem to be falling on deaf ears in Ottawa.
“I think the people should feel good about it,” said Senator Larry Smith.
Smith says for now no decision has been made to replace the bridge.
Instead more than $150 million will be spent over the next three years on maintenance.
“It will be secure for the next 10 years,” Smith said.
No need to panic
The federal government and the organization that oversees the bridge are waiting for a second report due at the end of this month before making any decision on a new bridge.
“We’re not in a crisis mode or emergency mode. We have control of the bridge,” said Glen Carlin, general manager of Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc.
But Paul Leduc, the mayor of Brossard, disagrees.
“It’s dangerous to cross the bridge,” he said.
He’s furious the government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to repair a deteriorating structure.
“I’m very disappointed. There’s no announcement for a new bridge, that’s what we want,’ he said.
No one from Delcan would comment on its report but an independent engineer says the government shouldn’t wait and it should make a commitment now to build a new bridge.
Repair work futile
“We have a bridge that’s falling,” said civil engineer Helen Christodoulou.
She says it’s a waste of money to endlessly repair a bridge that needs to be torn down.
It’s a sentiment similar to the conclusions of the Delcan report that stated it would cost almost the same to build a new bridge over the next 15 years than it would to continue repairing the existing one for the next 50.
“Any maintenance you do is really money wasted,” Christodoulou said.
For now maintenance money will continue to be spent to keep the bridge up, while motorists keep their fingers crossed the structure won’t come down.
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