Jacques Cartier Bridge becomes historic site

On June 30 the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) unveiled a plaque officially commemorating the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal as a national historic civil engineering site.
The Jacques Cartier Bridge is a five-lane bridge about 3.4 kilometres long that spans the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Longueuil. Built between 1926 and 1929, it opened on May 14, 1930.
According to the CSCE, it is the second longest cantilever span bridge in Canada, second only to the Quebec Bridge. However, its profile is more reminiscent of a suspension bridge, combining aesthetics with technical skill. Of the eight caissons required, the one used to construct Pier 24 was one of the largest of its type ever built.
The Jacques Cartier Bridge is also distinguished as the first major bridge to be designed by Montsarrat and Pratley, Canada’s pre-eminent bridge consulting firm. At the time Pratley was “on loan” from Dominion Bridge Company to do the project.
The bridge currently carries approximately 43 million vehicle crossings per year.