https://youtu.be/08zF3VMT0dU

France's VINCI 's awarded the  $1.1-billion contract for overhauling the 53 year old  Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel in Montreal.

VINCI press release:

VINCI awarded contract by Quebec authorities for the rehabilitation of Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel, Montreal

. Enhance safety and optimise traffic
· 4 years of work
· A €726 million contract

The Quebec Ministry of Transportation has selected consortium Renouveau La Fontaine, comprising VINCI subsidiaries (50%) – Eurovia, consortium leader, and Dodin Campenon Bernard – and Canadian company Pomerleau (50%), to rehabilitate Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel and its access roads.

The tunnel was opened in 1967 and is the longest underwater structure in Canada, covering a distance of 1.5 km beneath the Saint-Lawrence River. It is a strategic transport corridor for the Montreal urban area, linking the eastern part of the Island of Montreal to the city of Longueuil. Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine Tunnel carries 120,000 vehicles a day.

The rehabilitation aims to improve tunnel safety, optimise traffic and promote carsharing and public transport.

The contract, worth €726 million (C$1,142 million), calls for the financing, design and execution of rehabilitation works. The financing package includes a bank loan from a syndicate of five Canadian banks and a Japanese bank.

The works will be carried out between early 2021 and July 2025. They include:

  · Access roads: widening the A20 motorway with the addition of a new bus and carsharing lane, as well rehabilitating 25 km of pavement (on the A25 and A20) and an interchange.

  · Tunnel: repairing the structure; installing new fire protection facings; landscaping and architectural finishes; modernising all electrical, electromechanical and supervisory infrastructure, as well as deploying new technologies to increase operator and user safety (fire safety equipment and smoke evacuation systems).

Throughout the works, the consortium will be responsible for the operation, upkeep and maintenance of the various sites and roads, which will remain open to traffic at all times.

https://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/en/press-releases/pages/20200730-1830.htm