Reuters AlertNet Lite - Quebec flags 135 road overpasses on safety concern

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Quebec flags 135 road overpasses on safety concern

19 Jul 2007 21:24:29 GMT
Source: Reuters

MONTREAL, July 19 (Reuters) - The Quebec government identified 135 highway bridges and overpasses on Thursday that it said require detailed inspections because of concerns about structural safety, and warned heavy trucks to stay off them.

During the inspections, which could take several weeks, maximum weight allowances for trucks in the Canadian province will be lowered, likely forcing detours around the 135 sites for vehicles carrying extra heavy loads.

The move stemmed from a public inquiry into the collapse of an overpass in suburban Montreal last September in which five people were crushed to death, including a pregnant woman.

In testimony at the investigation, construction industry officials and experts raised questions about the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of the overpasses.

Former Quebec Premier Pierre Marc Johnson, who led the inquiry, said his staff had alerted the province's transport department about safety concerns regarding other overpasses.

The Quebec Trucking Association has asked Quebec's transport department to publish the list.

Transport officials said the province has 332 elevated concrete road decks made of thick concrete slabs, and 135 of those were built without the additional support of embedded reinforcing steel.

The 135 sites are spread throughout the province, but 47 are in the Monteregie region south of Montreal, the province's biggest city, on roads that link to routes leading to the U.S. border.

"If we see that any risk whatsoever might require the closure of a site, we will close it," Transport Quebec official Jacques Gagnon told reporters.

Transport Quebec said it would lower maximum weight allowances for trucks on the 135 overpasses and help trucking companies find alternative routes. The department said it had no immediate plan to close any lanes to traffic.

The inspections will include taking core samples of concrete pillars and road decks.

The inquiry is expected to publish its final report this autumn.

Earlier this week, Quebec shut two lanes of a major thoroughfare near Quebec City after inspections showed cracks in two overpasses spanning the road.

($1=$1.04 Canadian)

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Last updated:Thu Jul 19 21:25:10 2007