The cables and the platform of the future tram, two topics that stir up passions in the public debate. Will Quebec be enveloped in a web of threads and divided in two by an impassable platform? The newspaper I spoke to two experts from the project office to get a clearer view.
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The tram platform that has been the subject of much discussion for months is already in the landscape and you can see it on a stretch of track in Sainte-Foy.
The experts of the project office regret the statement made by some opponents of the project that the tram platform “will cut the city in two”. However, a section of the Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois lets you see for yourself what it really is in terms of height and width.
In fact, during the reconstruction of the viaduct that runs over the Henri-IV motorway, we have already designed and laid out the concrete slab that will house the tramway in the middle of the carriageway, explains Benoît Carrier, Head of the Design and Integration Department , at the tramway’s project office Quebec.
To the distracted viewer it looks like an embankment. Its height is 15 cm, which is about the height of a mobile phone.
At the moment it is partly green and partly covered with asphalt. It’s only temporary, confirms Mr. Carrier. It is in fact designed to accommodate the tram rails and trains running in any direction. “The entire width of the right of way on the viaduct is planned according to the geometry of the tram. The sub-foundation carries the vehicle.
In some places in the city the platform will be lower. In the Cartier Avenue section, for example, it will be 5 cm high because there will be a common lane for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
Currently, almost a third of the tram route (7.2 km x 19.3 km) has electric overhead lines in the landscape. “We want to bury them with the tram,” confirms Benoît Carrier, design director at the tram project office. Result: There will be fewer cables along the public road. This will be particularly noticeable on René-Lévesque and Limoilou, where the wired networks are above the public road. The tram, on the other hand, requires a thin electric wire of 1.5 cm in diameter in each direction and transverse suspension cables that are connected to the light poles every 40 meters. For 88% of the way, these posts will be the only ones necessary. Thus, the wooden posts will also disappear. “It will be much more integrated and aesthetic. “The posts are becoming less heavy and less imposing,” explains Mr. Carrier.
Wires are present in the landscape on René-Lévesque Boulevard near Maguire, particularly three-phase sleepers. They will disappear with the arrival of the tram. Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The current state at the René-Lévesque and Maguire crossroads, with wires and electricity poles. Quebec
The landscape at the Maguire René-Lévesque crossroads, after the installation of the tram. Several wires were buried. The two lines for the tram and the cross lines remain. Quebec
“There won’t be a spider web of wires,” stresses the tram’s design director, Benoît Carrier, in Quebec. He regrets the “misinformation” circulating. Like these photos of transportation systems elsewhere in the world that claim to show the situation that will prevail in Quebec. The intersections of wires at crossings refer to networks where multiple lines intersect, he corrects. In Quebec, where there is only one tram line, this will not be the case. And even if you add more lines, you won’t see this configuration, he adds, because there are branches at the alternating poles. In addition, special care was taken not to place the poles in the middle of the platform so as not to obscure the landscape, but instead to use the lighting poles that will be installed behind the walkways. The 750 volt voltage also allows the use of finer wires than required for a 1500 volt light rail.
We see here the Murray-René-Lévesque crossing, where we can see the two wires of the tram and a transverse support wire. Quebec
Pictures and videos of the tram, fake models to embellish reality? The specialists of the project office have often heard this criticism and assure that, on the contrary, citizens can rely on the images of the future tram. In their communication with the public, they want to represent the embedding of the tram in the landscape of the various districts as faithfully as possible. For this purpose, the images are created with the greatest possible precision, explains Benoît Carrier. “Everything we see in the video, 100% of these images and the video, came from our reference and design plans that we created for the entire tram system.” Architects, civil engineers, forest and electrical engineers, and urban planners “worked together to achieve this result”, studying “down to the smallest detail”.
The experts from the project office ensure that the images of the tram correspond to reality. Quebec
“It’s not the snow and the cold, the problem is the ice,” says Benoît Carrier. He explains that the choice of wiring for the tram’s power supply goes hand in hand with managing the ice build-up that can form in winter. However, everything is being planned to deal with it and avoid business interruptions, emphasizes the project office. When the weather forecast announces ice, we will first act “upstream” to clear the wires of the ice layer. The pantograph, the device that ensures that the tram is in contact with the power supply cable, will be equipped with a scraper to remove the ice, explains Mr. Carrier. Also, we will increase the frequency of train traffic, which will limit the formation of ice on the cable.
In winter, a scraper is placed on the pantograph, which is in contact with the tram’s power cable, to remove the ice in the event of icing. Quebec
In some cities like Bordeaux, the tram is powered from the ground in the historical part. “In Quebec, we ruled out that option because of the climate,” explains Benoit Sechet, systems manager at Systra Canada, who works in the project office. He also participated in the commissioning of the Bordeaux tramway. “Here in Quebec, the issue of climate is an essential element when considering what type of diet to choose. The few very rare episodes [de neige ou de verglas] we may have in Bordeaux, service disruptions will occur immediately. In Quebec, we required a system that would perform in similar environments and withstand accumulations of snow, road salt, abrasives and ice. “It’s our main line, the backbone, we can’t make it vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather,” explained Benoît Carrier. For this reason, the energy supply via overhead lines, called “overhead lines” in technical jargon, was chosen.
In Bordeaux, there are no power lines in the historical center because the tram there is powered by electricity from the earth. Here we see the Mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, on a mission to the French city last April. Photo Stephanie Martin
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