Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Verdun's 4th avenue Bridge Makes the List (crumbling infrastructure list that is) and We Thought it Dangerous To Walk Over the Arch,Now Walking on it Period is in Question--

                                                                                                                       MONTREAL - Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said Wednesday that 12 bridges, tunnels and overpasses in the city identified by engineers as being in critical condition are safe or have been restricted enough to make them safe.

“We have the reports from our engineers that these structures are safe,” Tremblay told reporters at city hall, where technical details on 35 structures were made public.

“From the moment one of our engineers or technicians informs (us) they are not safe, we will close the structure or limit access to it either by (reducing the number of) lanes or limiting the load.

“Just because it is critical doesn’t mean it isn’t safe.”

The mayor also said his administration is raising the annual average amount needed for repairs to $50 million from $30 million because of the advancing age of the 586 structures in the city of Montreal's network. The request for more funds will be made in a new three-year infrastructure plan to be unveiled Thursday, Tremblay said.

On Wednesday, the city of Montreal made public inspection reports for 36 infrastructures on its territory. Of the 12 listed in "critical" condition, two are closed to the public, and one has undergone major repairs since the information was collected late last year.

The 12 in "critical" condition are:

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Pie IX Blvd. overpass

* The former Wellington St. Tunnel under the Lachine Canal

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Metropolitan Blvd. E overpass

* Rockland Ave./Bates Rd. overpass

* Beaudry Tunnel, north side of Notre Dame St. E., near the Port of Montreal (private roadway)

* Jean Talon St. W. overpass (west of Wilderton Ave.)

* Jolicoeur St. bridge over Montreal Aqueduct

* CN Rail bridge crossing l'Acadie Blvd., north of de Louvain St.

* Park Ave. overpass/Highway 40 and service roads

* Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Sherbrooke St. E. overpass

* Upper Lachine Rd./St. Jacques St. overpass

* Snow ramp at St. Michel Quarry (no public access)

The reports detail the sites' deterioration:

The Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Pie IX Blvd. site has support walls that are severely cracked. Exposed reinforcement bars have also been badly corroded.

Pillars have a series of cracks in them, with eroded concrete.

The Wellington Tunnel, which has been out of service since the roadway was rebuilt as an overpass, suffers severe corrosion on 66 per cent of the structure’s support system.

The Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Metropolitan Blvd. site has corroded beams and severe damage to the structure’s decking, with a risk of falling concrete.

The Rockland Ave. overpass's support structure has lost about 10 per cent of its load-bearing capacity. Concrete is eroding and exposing reinforcement bars to rust and corrosion.

The Beaudry Tunnel has severe water damage.

Jean Talon St. W. overpass has severe corrosion to its support structure.

The Jolicoeur St. Bridge has cracks covering 30 per cent of the supporting walls’ surface.

The CN Rail bridge crossing l'Acadie Blvd. has cracks covering 100 per cent of its supporting pillars. About 15 per cent of the supporting walls' surface is severely damaged.

Park Ave. overpass/Highway 40 and service roads: Expansion joints have been paved over. About 40 per cent of the joints’ surface is defective.

On the Henri Bourassa Blvd. E./Sherbrooke St. E. overpass, about 80 per cent of the concrete on the eastern wall is severely chipped.

At the Upper Lachine Rd./St. Jacques St. overpass, 40 per cent of the support walls’ concrete is severely chipped, exposing reinforcement bars to corrosion.

At the snow-dumping ramp at the St. Michel Quarry, 90 per cent of the support wall is covered in cracks, chips and ruptures.

No immediate repairs are planned for the Wellington Tunnel and the Beaudry Tunnel, as both sites are off-limits to the public.

An additional site, the St. Jean Baptiste Blvd. overpass at Highway 40/Metropolitan Blvd. E., was missing waterproofing membrane along its expansion joints, causing moisture to seep in. Concrete was also badly damaged along the joints. Repairs have begun at this site.

View The worst of the worst in a larger map

                   So does this mean they repair the landmark 4th avenue bridge (Jolicouer)
----------------or Replace it with a flat generic boring (but functional) bridge...?  HF&RV

3 comments:

Les F said...

This one surprised me, I don't see how something not in use & closed off completely from traffic can be on the list:
* The former Wellington St. Tunnel under the Lachine Canal

--Hasn't this been Closed & Wellington continues over the old canal at surface level ?

Les F said...

Ok I overlooked this sentence dealing with the Wellington Street Tunnel
- No immediate repairs are planned for the Wellington Tunnel and the Beaudry Tunnel, as both sites are off-limits to the public.


.....mea culpa, I should have read twice & type once.....lol

James & Linda Merriman said...

good picture of the person on the bridge i have heard of people doing that but never seen it
what year was that picture taken in ?