The Honoré Mercier bridge was selected in 2011 as one of the top 50 precast concrete projects of the last 50 years and was published in CPCI’s 50th Anniversary Commemorative Book as well as the 50th Anniversary Imagineering Magazine.

The project was a three-way agreement between the governments of Canada, Quebec, and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, representing the first of its kind in Canada. It was the largest bridge rehabilitation project ever undertaken in Canada and, as a major transportation artery for Montreal, the project needed to be completed quickly.

The initial design involved replacing one ramp with precast and the remaining ramps with cast-in-place concrete. The objective also was to reduce the number of construction workers on site.

The precaster designed and proposed a modification with shorter sections that were the full width of the ramp. This proposal eliminated all transverse post-tensioning and all poured in place connections to the bridge structure. The Mohawk Council and the project engineers immediately adopted the proposal and proceeded with all the ramps of phase 1 as precast.

The Mercier Bridge’s entire deck was replaced panel by panel, mainly at night, allowing full access to the bridge at peak times. Four lanes were open to traffic during rush hours and one lane was opened to traffic in each direction during the evening work. Phase II proceeded with the same modified design making the whole deck project a precast concrete solution. The resulting new deck consists of more than 1,300 prefabricated concrete panels.

Precast Concrete offered numerous benefits to the owner on this project. It was fast and effective, it facilitated and accelerated the daily opening of traffic lanes, it met the strictest safety criteria, and it offered a life expectancy of 75 years, superior to other alternatives that were initially considered.

Infrastructure for Life
Government authorities are realizing that precast concrete components can be used to minimize interference to the public during municipal construction projects. Traffic holdups also have an adverse impact on the environment. Many bridge, water/sewer and public building projects whether new or replacement projects using precast components have demonstrated significant reductions in construction time, reduced impacts on traffic flow and the environment, as well as long life performance. The Honoré Mercier bridge was selected as one of the top 50 precast concrete projects of the last 50 years and was published in CPCI’s 50th anniversary commemorative book as well as the 50th anniversary Imagineering magazine.