A peek at Highway 410 bridges
Over a dozen construction workers were already laying down concrete on Tuesday evening as Ghislain Roy, engineer and supervisor for the Quebec Transport Ministry (MTQ), Dominique Gosselin, MTQ communications coordination, and Rémi
Bouchard, head contractor, gave members of the media a tour of the two new bridges being built over the Massawippi River and Winder Street for the Highway 410 project.
The project aimed to solve safety, fluidity, and circulation issues in Lennoxville, by diverting the many heavy trucks passing through the Queen and College streets intersection. The MTQ believes Highway 410 will help connect the two universities in Sherbrooke, simplify the access to Sherbrooke’s commercial district and will help improve the quality of life for riverside residents, pedestrians, and cyclists. It would also help preserve the infrastructures in Lennoxville’s busy center.
CONT’D
CONT’D
Work is well underway for Phase II of the highway. “Phase II for Highway 410 is separated in three different construction packages. The first package was the relocation of Route 108 between Glenday and Spring roads,” explained Gosselin. “It became active last year but it was officially completed this spring.”
“Here, we are working on the second package, which consists of building two bridges above the Massawippi River and Winder Street. There is a bridge in each direction, with two lanes for each bridge. We began this package last year in August, and it will be done in 2020 when Highway 410 becomes active,” she added.
“We started working on the third package in mid-july. It’s the construction of the rest of the highway, including the roadway and pavement, culverts and two overpasses that will be located above the railroad track,” described Gosselin. “We’ve begun the foundation work for the highway and the overpasses.”
Construction workers were laying down concrete on the Northern bridge on Tuesday. Its traffic will head towards Rock Forest once completed. “Each bridge is separated in nine different sections. Tonight, we’re working on the fourth section,” said Roy. “We’ve started laying down the concrete, and we then put down a tarp once the structure is finished. As the concrete dries, we spray it with hoses for seven days to keep the concrete wet. This helps ensure the quality of the concrete so that it doesn’t crack. We only do this type of work in the evening, because concrete can also crack if it’s too hot outside.”
Head contractor Bouchard made sure that workers respected the Winder, James, and Carl Streets’ residents throughout the evening construction. “There are noise limits, so we take noise tests often throughout the process to make sure we are respecting the neighbouring residents. We’re asked to deliver the northern lane for November 15. The bridge in the Cookshire-eaton direction is required to be done by June 26, 2020.” he mentioned. “It will take more time because we cannot lay concrete between October 31 and March 31 because of the cold weather. Laying down the concrete on one section usually takes one night, but then we hose it seven days straight without interruptions. It takes about four to five hours to complete the concreting of a section.”
The MTQ established an environmental committee for the Highway 410 project since its beginning in 2004. Over 15 regional partners were consulted throughout the project to target the environmental issues that could arise with the completion of the highway.
A Northern pike spawning bed was established to encourage the reproduction of the native fish. The Massawippi floodzone is surrounded by a vegetated floodplain and will remain flooded for longer, permitting pike and other species to complete their reproductive cycle, from spawning to incubation, hatching, and the nursery period. The waterbed has also been expanded by engineers under the bridge to allow the water to travel there. Vegetation will be introduced in that area as pike lay their eggs. This is part of the MTQ’S mitigation and compensation measures for the 410 project.
The construction of the bridges will cost nearly $28M and is due for the summer of 2020. The MTQ predicts that by 2021, over 6,200 vehicles will use these bridges on Highway 410, therefore avoiding serious traffic in downtown Lennoxville. Both bridges will be over 15 metres high, just under 20 metres wide, and over 300 metres long.