The drill campaign to test the soils in anticipation of construction of the third link will cost US$16.2 million, which is US$4.2 million more than originally planned.
• Also read: 3rd link: Legault is not afraid of inflation
• Also read: Third link: Drilling in the river this summer
Last week Transport Secretary François Bonnardel was pleased to unveil the new phase of a geotechnical drilling campaign of eight ground tests conducted in the Saint Lawrence River on the seabed between the central cities of Quebec and Lévis.
This sequence followed an initial drilling campaign that took place two years ago. In fact, in July 2020, the Ministère des Transports (MTQ) awarded a $12 million contract to the SNC-Lavalin / Englobe Corp consortium.
In October of the same year, the experts began field work. Their assignment was to perform “earth and marine drilling and soundings, and soil and rock characterization for the Quebec-Lévis tunnel project.”
Photo agency QMI, René Baillargeon
In this image taken on July 14, a special barge is moored in the river near the Quebec-Lévis crossing to dig the bed of the Saint Lawrence River.
wide territory
At the time, MTQ indicated that the $12 million contract was for a maximum of three years and would be used to cover all geotechnical needs for this project. It affected a very large portion of territory, ranging from the tip of Île d’Orléans to downtown Quebec and Lévis.
However, in July 2021, a contract amendment was made, i.e. an addition of $4,167,875.23, justified by “unforeseen damages or limitations that cannot be known prior to work,” we learn by consulting the electronic system.
In its statement, the MTQ points out that “the offshore drilling section is very complex and additional modifications had to be made to the vessel, particularly to ensure the level of stability and to build a platform and add mobile piles that allow anchoring of the equipment on the seabed”.
No project announcement yet
In addition, this preparatory work is ongoing, although MTQ has not submitted the project notification required to initiate the environmental impact assessment of the third link, Le Devoir announced this week.
This process aims to determine the environmental impact of the tunnel. These will therefore not be known before the next elections, nor will the opinion of the various ministries on the admissibility of the project. It should be noted that the Quebec streetcar had to go through this process.
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