A construction agreement of $ 435 million with Aecon Group Inc. and Pomerleau Inc. He has erased his way to start his work at the port of $ 1.2 billion from the Estrecœur expansion: one of the largest container updates in Canada that is already being published.
The Montreal Port Authority ended the financial closure on October 9 with the joint company of the contractors, the general collaboration of the Terminal de Contrecœur builders, who cover works in the water that include the dredging, the wharf and the return walls and the related marine infrastructure. Pomerleau has a 60% participation and AECON 40%.
The package is the first important component of the largest contract program that includes two berths, a 675 moll an intermodal garden linked to the Canadian National Railway.
The expansion of Contrecœur was proposed for the first time in 2018, received the federal environmental approval in 2021, and in 2023 it adopted a progressive design delivery model that integrates the design and refinement of detailed costs as labor advances.
The work begins at the Holy Llorenç
The port authority confirmed the preparation of the site began on October 9. Work crews are building access roads, installing temporary work platforms and places offices and erasing trees along the southern shore of the Sant Llorenç river in Contrecœur, about 25 kilometers downstream of the existing port.
The main dredging and the construction of the spring wall will begin by 2026, with the end of 2030.
The President and Director General of the Authority, Julie Gascon, called the beginning of the preparation “A milestone” and, in a statement, added: “The port of Mont -Real is growing to support trade, strengthen supply chains and ensure competitiveness in eastern Canada”.
The port is the largest container port in the center and eastern Canada, which manages all kinds of load. According to government officials, port activity admits about 590,000 jobs and generates more than $ 66 billion in economic production each year.
The terminal is designed to increase container capacity of about 60%, allowing the port to manage approximately 1.15 million equivalent units (yours) annual. It will link directly to the railway and road hallways to streamline the movement of goods.
The project was one of the five federal governments identified to monitor quickly through the new major projects office, which coordinates accelerated reviews for strategic infrastructure. Officials estimate that the terminal will generate up to 8,000 construction jobs and add about $ 100 million a year to the national economy.
The financing support includes $ 214 million from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and about $ 107 million from the Québec government, authorized in January. These contributions, together with the Port Heritage and Private Debt, anchor the global financing plan of $ 1.2 million.
Environmental conditions and engineering perspectives
The Canada Impact Assessment Agency approved the project by 2021 by virtue of a decision of decision that imposed 330 environmental conditions, extended to 387 this year through amendments.
A map shows the location of the expansion project of the Port Porta terminal planned, about 40 km downstream from Mont -Real. The new terminal will be located near the communities of Contrecœur and Verchères, next to the existing marine and road hallways, including the Quebec Route 132 and the Canadian national railway line.
Image courtesy of Montreal Porture Authority
The requirements include the creation of fish and bird habitats, restoring wetlands and controlling the endangered copper fish population. Port officials say that habitat and shoreline compensation programs are already underway after public open houses held in August.
Environmental groups, including the Quebec Environmental Law, have criticized federal approval, citing risks for wetlands and endangered species such as copper redhorse. The group has indicated possible legal actions on the possibility of linked to the project.
Mohawk’s Kahnawà Council: KE also raised similar concerns during federal consultations, arguing that the project could affect habitat on ancestral navigable paths.
In a 2019 presentation cited by non -profit environmental news The NarwhalThe Council said that “many of the impacts that can come out of the Contrecœur project will add to the existing impacts on water quality, wetlands, fish and fish habitats.”
Although these concerns continue to circulate, the port authority and the contractors say that design and work allow to move forward in narrow regulatory supervision, with field activity focused now on the water and logistics preparations of the site.
The expansion will add depth of deep water and intermodal connections to the road on the road 30 and the National Railway of Canada, allowing the port to house the boats up to 75,000 dead tons. Aecon and Pomerleau engineers are designing around the conditions of variable sediment and the restrictions of the ice season typical of this section of the Sant Llorenç river.
Although Financial Close eliminates a key obstacle, environmental supervision and complexity of the project’s marine engineering will remain under scrutiny as the complete construction begins.
The port authority says that the expansion “will strengthen the resilience of the Canadian supply chain while contributing to economic growth and decarbonization through an improved ship and rail efficiency”.
