The opening ceremony for the new Champlain Bridge will take place today in Montreal, a 3.4 km-long engineering masterpiece over St. Lawrence River built by ACS Group will connect USA and Canada.
The bridge has been built in less than four years and shows astonishing figures: 74,000 tons of steel, 93,000 cubic meters of concrete, and 25,000 tons of asphalt have been processed into one of the most important construction projects of the North American transportation infrastructure. The length of the cable-stayed reaches 364 m, while the bridgeÂ’s total length accounts for 529 meters excluding the approach viaducts. Furthermore, the deck of the bridge consists of 8 car lanes and an urban railway line, which ACS is also building within the framework of a different project. It has been executed through proximity infrastructure and the realignment of the adjacent highway sections has also been carried out.
Champlain Bridge is one of the busiest bridges in Canada, with up to 60 million vehicles every year, and it is considered one of the main East access to Montreal Island. Its location is also considered as a key strategic point; it is one of the main routes for trade exchange with the United States. The consortium where ACS participates (Iridium, Hochtief PPP Solutions, Dragados and Flatiron) will operate the route for the next 30 years.
It is, therefore, an iconic piece being the first bridge in Canada awarded with a platinum prize for its sustainable infrastructure, granted by the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure.
OTHER INFRASTRUCTURES
Champlain BridgeÂ’s opening ceremony will take place only few weeks after Rande Bridge (Spain) was acknowledged as the second best bridge in the world, according to the International Association for Bridges and Structural Engineering (IABSE).
This masterpiece also achieved the finalist position in the Outstanding Structure Awards (OSTRA), which since 1998 recognizes the most impressive projects worldwide. These rewards aim at highlighting the uniqueness of these works, its innovation and respect for the environment.
Other large infrastructure works built by ACS, which have been acknowledged, are the Harbour Bridge (the largest cable-stayed bridge in the USA), the Gordie Howe bridge (connecting Canada and the USA), and the Constitution Bridge in Cádiz (Spain). In essence, ACS leads the construction of large bridges all around the world and today it also wants to celebrate de opening of this landmark work as Champlain Bridge is, which will connect Canada and the USA.
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