Canam fears that the new Île d’Orléans bridge will be built outside the country

The Beauceron company Canam is worried that the contract for the construction of the new Île d’Orléans bridge will slip away from it in favor of a foreign company.

This possibility very real worries the managers of the company, whose Canam Bridges division is located in Quebec, 11 kilometers from the construction site of the future bridge.

According to Canam, the concept proposed by Quebec could ensure that it does not obtain this contract. The government wants the future Île d’Orléans bridge to be welded on site before final assembly, which Canam cannot offer due to its facilities.

They want a single, all-welded piece, so that greatly benefits foreign companies that have factories on the waterfront. [Elles] are able to put the product on a barge. It’s coming to Quebec and they’re building it on big chunksindicates Mathias Dutil, vice-president and general manager at Canam Ponts.

The Quebec climate makes such a way of doing things difficult, according to him. Welding them on site, with the Quebec winters… And after that, you have to paint it over the river: there are a lot of complications. We are afraid of not being competitiveadds Mr. Dutil.

Other bolted option

Canam Bridges offers an alternative solution: providing components assembled and bolted on site, as is the case for the majority of works of the genre in Canada and the United States.

The company adds that bolting represents a proven alternative solution.

The Champlain Bridge projects in Montreal and the Gordie Howe Bridge between Windsor and Detroit were initially planned with a concept similar to the Île d’Orléans Bridge, but in the end, the bolted alternative proposed by Canam Bridges was accepted because it provided many advantages during the execution of the project.suggests management.

It ensures that the structures assembled and bolted on site do not change the appearance of the structure in any way. This solution also makes it possible, according to the company, to avoid the difficulties of welding on site during the winter period.

The management of Canam Bridges wonders how it is that the realization of a project of this type does not include any requirement for Canadian or Quebec content as is the case in the United States, where all projects must be produced on American territory with entirely American content.

Canam Bridges says it contributes to several projects in the country, including the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, as well as several railway bridges.

Up to 160 employees could work on such a project for a period of two years, the company predicts.

She is not asking the government to prioritize only Quebec companies, but she would like bolted technology to be considered.

Better quality control

Civil engineer and teacher at Laval University Mario Fafard agrees with the company.

In the field of metal frames, on-site welding is avoided as much as possible for quality control reasons. Factory welding allows for optimal quality controlaccording to him.

The factory welding process is robotic most of the time and the quality of the weld is checked on site. All long bridges are manufactured in pieces and assembled on site with a very standardized and controlled bolting technique.he adds.