Subscribe To Aerial Pros

Just like many U.S. cities, Montreal faces the challenges of stretching roadway and bridge life well beyond their designed intent — and obtaining funding for updates.

Perhaps no structure is more symbolic of this issue than the Champlain Bridge crossing the St. Lawrence River. The nearly 55-year-old bridge and approaches are in a constant state of repair.

In 2008, Transport Canada commenced studies for replacing the failing bridge with a new one that would last more than a century. “The bridge was at the end of its service life and in dire need of replacement,” comments John Moore, president of Dickie Moore Rentals, a Genie equipment distributor in St. Laurent, Quebec.

One of the Largest Worksites in North America

A few years ago, Montreal moved ahead with a $4.2 billion budget for construction of the New Champlain Bridge, part of a comprehensive Champlain Bridge Corridor Project.

Signature on the St. Lawrence Group (SSL) was tasked with completing the entire initiative. With a challenging 42-month timeline set for constructing the new bridge, SSL began the project in June 2015.

Critical Access

In late 2015, SSL sent out a bid to local rental companies for nine boom lifts — won by Dickie Moore Rentals.

The bid called for articulated and stick booms with multiple access requirements. “SSL needed multiple booms offering vertical and horizontal heights similar to the Genie^® Z^®-62/40 articulated boom and three different stick boom height requirements that aligned closely with our S™-125, SX™-150 and SX-180 telescopic booms,” explains Stephane Riggi, Genie regional sales manager, Terex AWP.

Moore adds, “The Z-boom configuration offers a number of different up, out and over positioning capabilities for the Genie Z-62/40 lift. It provides working heights from 40.5 ft (12.5 m) to just under 68 ft (20.9 m), while offering a maximum 40-ft (12.3-m) horizontal reach.”

Ready for Work

The SX-150 and SX-180 telescopic booms fit SSL’s specialized access needs for the bridge structure that has certain points that reach 200 ft (61 m) above the water. “The 150- and 180-ft lifts offer easy, fast and direct reach to working and inspection points,” mentions Houdon.

The Genie SX-150 and SX-180 boom designs include a patented Genie XChassis™ System that extends to provide the necessary stability for working at full boom extension and retracts to a narrow machine profile for transport on a standard trailer.

The Genie lift equipment is efficiently providing SSL workers with the productive access needed on the New Champlain Bridge project. An additional nine Genie boom lifts have been purchased for the job, replacing rented units.