Stainless steel rebar for the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal, Canada

The actual Champlain bridge over the St Lawrence River conveys some 57 millions vehicles per year, the highest traffic for a bridge in Canada. At peak hours, up to 6200 vehicles cross the bridge in a single direction. The bridge is not only remarkable by its length, 3.4 km, but also because its features a sufficient clearance over the seaway to allow the passage of sea-going vessels to and from the Great Lakes.

Commissioned in 1962, the existing bridge was obsolete. The deck and the concrete had been badly damaged by corrosion mainly caused by deicing salts over the years, while the traffic is now much higher than what the bridge was designed for. Maintenance is more and more expensive just to keep it in service.

The new bridge has been built of reinforced concrete. New features include higher traffic capacity, lanes for public transportation vehicles (such a light rail service), larger clearances for ships above the seaway and an elegant design.

Some 15000T of 2304 duplex stainless steel rebar has been used to resist corrosion by de-icing salts in the critical areas.

For more information:

https://www.worldstainless.org/files/issf/non-image-files/PDF/Infrastructure/Samuel_De_Champlain_Bridge.pdf
http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/nbsl-npsl/faq-fra.html#q1