Jacques Cartier Bridge
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{{Infobox_Bridge |bridge_name= Jacques Cartier Bridge |image= Jacques Cartier Bridge.jpg |caption= |official_name= |also_known_as= |carries= 5 lanes of Quebec Route 134 |crosses= St. Lawrence River |locale= Longueuil, Quebec and Montreal, Quebec |maint= The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated |id= |design= Cantilever bridge |mainspan= 334.35 meters |length= 2,687.42 meters |width= |clearance= |below= |traffic= |open= May 14, 1930 |closed= |toll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |coordinates= |lat= |long= }} Image:JacquesCartierBridge View.JPG The Jacques Cartier Bridge (French: pont Jacques-Cartier) is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec to the south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada.
The Jacques Cartier Bridge is the site of more suicides than any other single structure in the world besides the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco [1]. Pictograms, Police Patrols and, more recently, suicide barriers have addressed this somewhat.
Together with the Champlain Bridge, it is administered by The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., a federal agency.
The Story Bridge, in Brisbane, Australia, was modelled on the design of Jacques Cartier Bridge.
The bridge can be seen at Google Maps, here
Specifications
Construction was undertaken in 1925 and completed in 1930. It was opened to traffic on May 14th. Originally named the Montreal Harbour Bridge (pont du Havre), it was renamed in 1934 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's first voyage up the St. Lawrence River. It was originally designed as a road, tramway, and pedestrian bridge. The tramway tracks were removed in 1959. It is now a five-lane highway bridge of 3,400 m (11,236 ft) in length including the approach viaducts. There are approximately 43 million vehicle crossings annually, making it the second busiest bridge in Canada, first being the Champlain Bridge.
- Length of bridge structure: 2,687.42 m
- Length of main bridge: 590.35 m
- Length of centre span: 334.35 m
- Span lengths of support structures 128.00 m each
This bridge follows the general design concept of the Quebec Bridge.
The bridge crosses Île Sainte-Hélène in the centre of the river, where offramps allow access to the Parc Jean-Drapeau and La Ronde amusement park.
There is a new 8 foot wide bike path and sidewalk on both sides of this bridge. The bike path is part of the Route Verte bike path network. The sidewalk has a newly built suicide barrier.
See also
{{Crossings navbox |structure = Bridges |place = St. Lawrence River |bridge = Jacques Cartier Bridge |bridge signs = Quebec Highway 134 |upstream = Concorde Bridge |upstream signs = |downstream = Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel |downstream signs = Quebec Autoroute 25 }}Template:Bridge-struct-stub