The replacement of the actual Champlain Bridge crossing the Saint-Lawrence River at the height of Montréal and Brossard in the province of Quebec, Canada was tendered as a PPP project. The design of the new bridge required extensive geotechnical investigations in order to use construction techniques adapted to the timeline specified in the contract.
Firstly, innovating investigation techniques that were used to determine the sound rock level for the installation of the pier foundation footings for the main bridge will be presented.
Secondly, large scale in situ tests, using an Osterberg cell which were carried out to optimize the caissons design of the main tower will be described.
Finally, the results of these investigations will be presented and the construction techniques put in place in order to allow quality control during construction of the foundations.
D’Amours, L.
Grenier, S.
