Quebec probes international appetite for its third link

Photo: Francis Vachon Le Devoir This call for interest is a way to take the pulse of the market, according to the entourage of the Minister of Transport and Deputy Premier, Geneviève Guilbeault.

Sébastien Tanguay in Quebec

Published yesterday at 16:33

• Quebec

The government wants to know if the bridge it promises to build between Quebec and Lévis will whet the appetite of international consortia. Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault is set to announce on Friday the launch of a global call for interest so that conglomerates from around the world interested in building the third link can raise their hands.

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This is a way of taking the pulse of the market, according to the minister’s entourage. The government intends to determine a definitive corridor at the end of this first stage, as early as next summer.

In June, Prime Minister François Legault had favoured the choice of a bridge to the east, near the tip of Île d’Orléans, without moving forward on a specific route. The sector presents a certain complexity: the height of the largest cruise ships that dock at the Port of Quebec requires an air draft of at least 74 m above the waterway and the rock, under the waters of the St. Lawrence, is sometimes at a depth estimated at several dozen metres, according to studies carried out in 1972 and 2016.

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The government is no longer promising a groundbreaking ceremony before the end of its mandate. The first signatures will appear at the bottom of a contract no earlier than 2027. The costs and schedule for the project will be refined in the same timeframe.

This new corridor, which is to span the St. Lawrence, would become the first project developed in “collaborative mode.” Bill 62, defended by the Minister responsible for Infrastructure and the National Capital Region, Jonatan Julien, must reconcile government orientations and private sector expertise from the very beginning of a public project to address unforeseen circumstances and facilitate compliance with budgets and the construction schedule.