Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the Government of Canada has funded investments for the Champlain Bridge through special programs for the maintenance of the bridge to ensure its safety and to avoid closures.
Fiscal year 2012-2013 is the fourth year of delivery of the 10-year $212 million Champlain Bridge maintenance program. Works totalling $ 78.3 million to maintain the bridge in a safe operating condition have been expended to date since the beginning of the program. In addition to the $212 million program, funding of $227.6 million for urgent works and asset preservation for a three-year period was announced in March 2011. The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., JCCBI, is completing year 2 of this program, which also includes funds for Highway 15 and Bonaventure Expressway. A total of $94.8 million of the aforementioned amount was budgeted for the Champlain Bridge and approaches. Works totalling $26.7 million to maintain the bridge in a safe operating condition have been expended to date.
In response to (b), the Nuns’ Island Bridge part of the Champlain Bridge corridor has been affected by deterioration similar to that of the Champlain Bridge. The structures are inspected on a regular basis. In December 2011, JCCBI retained the services of Delcan, a private sector engineering firm, to conduct a structural assessment of the Nuns’ Island Bridge. This report is available on JCCBI’s website. The announcement made in July 2012 to replace the existing bridge by a temporary causeway is the result of recommendations made by JCCBI following its receipt of the Delcan structural assessment.
In response to (c), in 2010, the BCDE Consortium retained by JCCBI and the Ministère des Transports du Québec, MTQ, to draft a prefeasibility report developed options, including a temporary bridge, as a preliminary phase for the definitive replacement of the existing Nuns’ Island Bridge.