Champlain Bridge: No contingency plan after 2018 construction deadline

The company that runs the Champlain Bridge said it can guarantee the safety of the bridge only until the end of 2018, when construction of the new bridge is scheduled to be finished.

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When asked if the company could keep the structure safe longer than the 2018 deadline, a spokesman for Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated said it's difficult to tell right now.

"I think right now it's a question that we're not really ready to answer ... There too many unknown factors for us to be able to say today how long we can keep the Champlain Bridge going in the future," said Glen Carlin, the CEO of Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated.

Carlin added that there is no contingency plan if the new bridge’s construction runs behind schedule.

"Right now we have to be very positive that this new bridge will in fact be put into service at the end of 2018." 

Construction on the new span is set to begin in the new year.

Repair costs rising

Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated said today it spent $80 million on repairs for the Champlain Bridge in 2013, and next year, costs are expected to be even higher.

The company could confirm it has a plan to keep the bridge in usable condition until the new bridge is supposed to be finished at the end of 2018.

Between then and now, the corporation is planning to carry out major repairs, mostly done under the bridge itself.

This includes workers installing 30 beams over the next two years to ensure the structure can last.

"If we have to we will install more trusses beyond 2016, we will do so. We will take whatever measures that are required to ensure that this bridge will come to the end of it's useful life, which is at the end of 2018," Carlin said.