History Jacques Cartier Bridge

1 history

1.1 planning
1.2 construction
1.3 modifications

history
planning

bridge in 1948

discussions began 1874 construction of new bridge alleviate congestion on victoria bridge, rail-only bridge, wintertime ice bridge , ferries used connect city south shore. decision build bridge made official in 1924. bridge designed engineer philip louis pratley.

construction

the inauguration of bridge on may 24, 1930.

construction undertaken dominion bridge company starting in 1925. on august 9, 1926 cornerstone laid, integrated pillar @ corner of notre dame street , saint antoine street, opposite pied-du-courant prison. cornerstone contains capsule 59 items reflecting year in construction began. bridge constructed of steel @ cost of c$23 million, , work lasted 2 , half years.

the groundbreaking held on may 26, 1925. construction began , cornerstone laid on august 9, 1926 on pillar no. 26. superstructure built between september 1926 , september 1929. 33,267 tons of steel needed construction. work completed year , half ahead of schedule, without disrupting river traffic.

it opened traffic on may 14, 1930, inauguration ceremony took place few days later, on may 24. bridge inaugurated harbour bridge renamed jacques cartier bridge in 1934, following petition citizens honor explorer discovered canada in 1534.

modifications

the bridge seen in 1930.

the bridge designed road, tramway, , pedestrian bridge. original bridge had 3 lanes of road traffic , 2 sidewalks. space in each direction left free possible installation of 2 tramway lines. tramway tracks installed never used. parallel empty space used exist right of roadway in each direction, through bridge s girders seen.

the space on east side converted additional traffic lane in 1956, , on west side in 1959, bringing total capacity of bridge 5 lanes. roadway expanded additional traffic lane on east side in 1956 , west side in 1959 include space allocated tramway tracks, adding lane of traffic in each direction. 2 sidewalks outside bridge proper.

to accommodate large ships using new st. lawrence seaway, span on east channel of river (the warren truss) raised additional 80 feet (24.4 m) (to 120 feet or 36.6 metres) in 1957 , 1958. traffic flow on bridge uninterrupted construction, through installation of 2 bailey bridges.

originally, bridge constructed 1 ramp saint helen s island, located on western side of bridge. in 1961, second ramp built on east side prevent cars traveling montreal having cross path of heading toward longueuil, major source of accidents.

during 2001 , 2002 entire deck of bridge replaced. sidewalks widened width of 8-foot (2.44 m), , sidewalk on western side of bridge made bike path.

in 2004, suicide prevention barrier installed. until bridge saw average of 10 suicides year.

there 4 3-metre high finials, @ 4 high-points of bridge, architectural ornaments. shape resembles eiffel tower without being replica.

the jacques cartier bridge seen parc jean-drapeau.