Montreal, QC Canada

Construction of the A30 Express highway is the biggest public-private highway infrastructure project ever undertaken in Canada. Construction was carried out in a Public-Private Partnership worth $1.5 billion.  Its 54km length (34 miles) connects the western and southern suburbs of Montreal and in doing so required crossing not only the St. Lawrence Seaway but the mighty St. Laurence River itself.

This toll highway creates the first southern ring, connecting several major highways in the Greater Montreal area (10, 15, 20, 40 and 540) into one seamless network. 40,000 vehicles per hour will use this route, thereby avoiding countless hours of lost time on the perpetually congested bridges and inner highways of the city. Car and truck traffic travelling between the eastern seaboards of both Canada and the USA, southern Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada can now entirely avoid the center of Montreal.

To complete the highway the following structures were needed in addition to the roadbed itself:
• 1 tunnel
• 2 major bridges
• 5 bridges over secondary rivers
• 23 overpasses
• 2 major highway interchanges
• 8 road interchanges
• 1 bicycle path overpass

These structures were a mixture of steel and traditional and precast concrete construction. In total, well over 25,000 tons of galvanized steel was used in the project over a four-year construction span. This is the most intensive highway project ever built with galvanizing used for everything from steel structures, expansion joints, guard rails, bridge rails, lighting poles, signage structures, sound barriers and thousands of tons of reinforcing bar (rebar).

This widespread use of galvanizing will reap exceptional rewards for both the ownership consortium and the people of Quebec. These include a lower initial cost, much lower maintenance costs and dramatically extended service life. With so much of North American highway infrastructure in urgent need of replacement, this high profile project is a breakthrough for such an intensive and widespread use of galvanizing.

The main Beauharnois bridges make up one of the longest “pushed roadway” bridges in the world, second only to the famous Millau Viaduct in France. It is also the first new bridge crossing of the St. Lawrence River in almost 50 years.

This highway will contribute to the economic growth of the Montreal and Quebec region by creating 18,900 new jobs direct and indirectly. It will remove tens of thousands of cars and trucks from the rush hours of Montreal thereby increasing productivity and safety while reducing transportation costs and air pollution. It is estimated this highway alone will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Greater Montreal Area by over 1%.

Montreal, QC Canada

The Autoroute 40 (a six lane Interstate style highway) is the main East-West artery through the city of Montreal. Built for the most part in the 70’s a major rebuilding project was launched a dozen years ago to replace the failing concrete roadbed and related structures. Ravaged by de-icing corrosion and very high traffic volume this highway suffered from the same environmental challenges faced by all highways in Quebec.

In 2004 a section of the highway was rebuilt and the Quebec Ministry of Transport chose to perform a test. Based on the succesful use of galvanized rebar for several years for concrete structures a decision was made to galvanize one direction of the new roadbed with epoxy coated rebar used in the opposing direction.

The exceptional performance of rebar in this application as well as bridges with HDG rebar dating to the 60’s still free of corrosion led to the decision to galvanize all the rebar in this new 8 km section of highway.

The corrosion caused expansion of steel rebar is the Achllies heel of concrete road construction, especially in areas where de-icing salt usage is widespread. Hot-dip galvanized steel rebar was a standout for its cost benefit ratio.

Epoxy coating has now been de-specified due to very poor performance and non steel alternatives like stainless steel cost many times more than HDG and has no proven track record. Fiberglass rebar is also very expensive to manufacture, can not be formed or modified on site and has very limited production capacity, it also does not have a proven track record.

The advent of after galvanizing bendable HDG rebar has been the key to the success of rebar galvanizing in Quebec and hot-dip galvanizing is now specified for many high corrosion apllications throughout our road infrastructure.

Montreal, QC Canada

The construction of this privately funded highway and bridge is part of Quebec’s plan to expand and revitalize its highway infrastructure across the province. Quebec’s cold, humid and rigorous winters contributed to galvanizing being chosen for this project, the most important effect of this climate is the severe corrosion damage caused by very heavy de-icing salt applications for almost six months of every year.

This highway and bridge was built to support the development of eastern Montreal by facilitating the mobility of people and movement of goods between economic centers of the region. It will allow Laval, the Laurentians and Lanaudière regions to be connected to the east of Montreal and the Montérégie without having to use the heavily congested Metropolitan highway through the city center.

The project connects highway 40 in Montreal and highway 440 in Laval, a distance of over 7.0 km, including a 6-lane bridge with a length of 1.2 km spanning the La Prairie River and several overpasses and interchanges. It also includes a multipurpose path for cyclists and pedestrians. Motorists and truckers who wish to avoid the Metropolitan highway will have the possibility to do so with this toll road that will bypass the center of the town.

This was the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project of its kind in Quebec. The combination of strict governmental standards combined with a disciplined need for the lowest possible life-cycle cost to insure profits for the ownership consortium was a significant challenge. Both hot-dip galvanizing in general and the galvanizer were more than up to the challenge. The unbeatable cost to benefit ratio of galvanizing and the galvanizer’s ability to deliver technical knowledge and deliver all the many components with consistent high quality and fast turnaround contributed to this cost effective durable road link being completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

PPP’s will be the method used for all planned major highway projects in the province and the success of this project and its unparalleled depth of use for galvanizing bodes well for our industry.

Sept-Iles, QC Canada

The Port of Sept-Îles  (Seven-Islands) despite it’s remote location, is the largest port (as measured by tonnage of cargo) in Canada handling over 30 million tons of cargo per year with an emphasis on raw materials.

The vast mineral and energy resources of Northern Quebec are beginning to be harnessed as part of a strategic development plan.  A major impediment to this plan is the limited transportation infrastructure of this very remote and harsh region.  As part of this strategy, the Government of Canada decided to make a major investment in the upgrading and modernization of the Port of Sept-Îles.

This large-scale project was a challenge in many respects.  This new loading structure will accommodate the world’s largest ships loading up to 8,000 tons per hour!  The completed pier reaches well over a quarter mile into the Gulf and the wharf itself is also well over a quarter mile in length.

The depth of technical knowledge the galvanizer had permitted them to make compelling presentations to decision makers that helped cement the decision to hot-dip galvanize.  Another important factor is the large size of the galvanizing baths which minimize the need for redesign of large steel sections.

The use of hot-dip galvanizing here was intensive, totaling more than 5,000 tons including all structural steel, rebar, and everything else from bearing plates to railings and ladders.  The remote location and harsh environment of the port make durability and long service life a must.  The high cost of labor in such locations only improves the competitive position of galvanizing. Low cost, high performance hot-dip galvanizing fit the bill perfectly.

Stoneham, QC Canada

This suspended arch bridge is an aesthetically pleasing solution to a unique site requirement. The choice of hot-dip galvanizing was preferred by the engineer because of its durability and cost compared to Cor-ten steel in this highly corrosive environment. The resulting bridge is a beautiful and cost-effective marriage between structural steel and reinforced concrete.

The arched bridge design, unusual for a highway overpass, was chosen primarily to overcome two problems; uneven and rocky field conditions, as well as the very obtuse angle at which the road passed over the highway, which did not fit well with typical overpass construction. Steel beams were chosen for the deck because of the lower weight as compared to concrete. These beams were also designed to be galvanized rather than metallized, again, for economic and performance reasons. As for the reinforcing steel, the choice of hot dip galvanizing was obvious since the concrete arches needed to be protected both structurally and aesthetically.

This type of bridge design, combining steel and concrete, is not often used. The unique design of this type of bridge makes it very interesting both architecturally and structurally. The use of galvanizing in all aspects of the bridge breaks new ground for our industry. Galvanized structural steel, galvanized reinforcing steel in the concrete, and even the supporting cables are galvanized (cables were supplied galvanized by the cable manufacturer).

The province of Quebec has a long history of being a leader in the use of galvanizing, going back to fully-galvanized road bridges from the early 1960s and galvanized reinforcing steel since the 1990s in road structures. The new ministry standards for an expected 75-year lifespan further drove the need for galvanizing in road infrastructure.

Matane, QC Canada

Being part of the huge province wide network of snowmobile trails used by winter sports fanatics around the world, this showcase bridge, the largest of it’s kind, needed to look good now and far into the future.

The origin of the city name is from a Mi’kmaq word meaning ‘beaver pond,’ and it is not surprising Matane is a great natural destination! Situated at the junction of the Matane River and the mighty St. Lawrence River, which at this point is now 50 miles wide and salt water with 12 foot tides, Matane was primarily a maritime city but tourism has now become the biggest industry.

After nearly three years of effort, the 353’ multipurpose bridge now connects the Grand Detour Park and Camping de la Rivière Matane replacing an old wooden dam demolished in 1981. This cable-stayed bridge is unique in Eastern Québec. It crosses the Matane River with a span of 107 meters and 3.6 meters of roadway. With a carrying capacity of 8000 kg, it facilitates the movement of quads, snowmobiles, and the much heavier trail grooming machines that maintain 352 km of trails. When the snow disappears, hikers and cyclists, golfers and their karts take over.

The project is unique in that apart from the regular needs for durability against corrosion and architectural considerations, an extra element made long life critical. The light duty design of this sleek span does not permit heavier maintenance machinery to access the bridge.