Magazine

Recommendations

Info

i Jacques Cartier Bridge The Jacques Cartier Bridge is an icon of the great Montreal because of its relevant function which is to connect Longil with Montreal. It is considered as one the busiest bridges in Canada because of its dense traffic which approximately is 35.8 million vehicles crossing annually. Its total length is around 2,725 m, but including its approaches it would be 3,425.6 m long. It was originally opened in to traffic on May 24 of 1930, and its creation was due to the strong need of a new link between Montreal and the South Shore. Its construction kept workers busy for 4 years and had to face problems such as a pronounced curve on the highway due to a property owner who did not budge to sell his territory, a total of five accidental deaths, a deep excavation on rocks to stabilize the piers and some precautionary measures for people who became ill working at that depth. Although the bridge was not created with the technological automatic toll system that was installed later in 1956, this system was abolished years later of its installation because of a scandal of tolls collectors pilfering money in 1962. Since December 21st of 1978, The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated became responsible of the management, maintenance and monitoring of the Jacques Cartier bridge. The corporation has maintained successfully the bridge in many occasions, such as the “Full redecking of the Jacques Cartier Bridge (2001 – 2002)” and the “Painting of the steel structure (1989 – 2000)”. The corporation is also in charge of six others infrastructures throughout Montreal. J a c q u e s Cartier Several places in Canada honor Jacques Cartier, the French explorer who discovered Canada, including the “Jacques Cartier Bridge”, which was first named as “Harbour bridge” and then changed because of Cartier’s anniversary, and the “Place Jacques-Cartier”, which is a street located at the entrance to the Old Port of Montreal. Philip Louis Pratley Dominion Bridge Its Architecture The principal builders and firms who gave a futurist look to the bridge were Philip Louis Pratley (a consulter engineer), Dominion Bridge (a steel expert and sculptor) and the firms “Monsarrat and Pratley of Montreal” and “J.B. Strauss of Chicago” which were hired as consulting engineers. At first, the bridge had four vehicular traffic lines and two exclusive lines for the use of the streetcars, but currently those two are not used anymore. Construction was undertaken by the Dominion Bridge Company starting in 1925
Project “Living Connections” Architecture The Jacque Cartier bridge’s structure is divided into three sections, but the most remarkable one is located between Montreal and Saint Helen’s Island. This section made engineers face a big challenge in order to combine aesthetics with technique, as well as create a remarkable interplay of proportions. This one is also the highest part of the bridge, measuring 49.4 m from the ground. Recently in 2017, a project called “Living Connections” change totally the bridge’s architectural design, specifically in the section located between Montreal and Saint Helen’s Island, highlighting its structure with colorful lights. jacque cartier bridge in montreal (martine doyon) In order to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada and the 375th anniversary of Montreal, the project “Living Connections” in 2017 refitted the bridge’s architectural design by lighting it up colorfully. This seems like a magnificent concept until people’s opinions are taken into account. Several comments in popular social networks such as Facebook or Twitter express that many people enjoyed the light Moment Factory in collaboration show but they are disagreeing with with six local partners developed the concept which synchs the lights of the bridge with Montreal-related social media activity, mood hashtags, the costs of the illumination of the Jacques Cartier bridge, which were around $40 million. Lisa Vincelette commented on Facebook “It’s weather, seasons and traffic by gorgeous…but why spend mi- using 365 different shades of color. llions upon millions of this when there is so much that could have been done with that money to help out city,” as well as Christine Marlow who posted on CBC’s Facebook page: “Beautiful, but it should not have cost $40 million. Feed the poor and then light the bridge,”. Although most people comment that it did not worth such high price, Jean-Marc Fournier, the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, thinks that it will give a new life to the bridge and will be a center of attention for Montreal.
Page 1: JAQUES CARTIER BRIDGE JAQUES CARTIE

Magazine

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?