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LAVAL METRO EXTENSION

Mission accomplished!

On April 26, 2007, 40 years after the Montréal metro first began operation for the Universal and International Exposition of 1967, the Laval metro extension was officially inaugurated with Québec Premier Jean Charest, Montréal mayor, Mr. Gérald Tremblay, and Laval mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt present. As the principal contractor of this large scale project – the biggest urban worksite Québec has seen in recent years – the AMT, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Joël Gauthier, officially handed the keys to the three new Laval stations to Mr. Claude Trudel, chairman of the board of directors of the STM, which operates the Montréal metro network.

On April 28, 2007, the three new metro stations in Laval opened their doors to the public two months ahead of schedule. During the two weekend open houses, approximately 150,000 people tried them out, which was a clear sign that this mode of transport was badly needed. After five years of intensive work, it was time for a toast to success.

The project, which started in March 2002, was completed on time and within budget. The opening date was two months ahead of the initial schedule, which called for the metro to be opened in July 2007. The total cost of the project came to $745 M, representing savings of $58.6 M versus the approved $803.6 M budget. That amount breaks down to $143.2 M/km, which is 22% lower than the international average of $175 M/km for similar scale projects.

Thank you to all our partners and stakeholders who in their various ways, each contributed to the success of the Laval metro extension project.

Photos Major phases of the project Scope of project Project description

The extension of line 2 east (orange) of the metro to Laval involves a total of 5.2 km of railway track and includes the implementation of three new stations: Cartier, de la Concorde (intermodal with Montréal/Blainville–Saint-Jérôme commuter train) and Montmorency. The work was spread over a period of five years, going from March 2002 to April 2007, with the AMT as the principal contractor. Given its scope, its complexity, its structuring effects and its benefits, this Laval metro extension project is the biggest project to be realized recent years.

New stations
Cartier station : Occupying the quadrangle comprised of the Cartier and des Laurentides Boulevards and of Labelle and Montée Major Streets, it includes an aedicula, a bus terminal with many feeder bus services (10 covered bus-loading zones and 30 waiting positions), a building hosting concessions, a 525-spot park-and-ride lot, a short-term parking and quick drop-off area, as well as a fleet of bicycles and a taxi stand, right at the station exit.

De la Concorde station : Situated off the de la Concorde–Ampère intersection, and bordering the de la Concorde viaduct, it includes an aedicula with two access levels, an off-street short-term parking and quick drop-off area, a fleet of bicycles and a taxi stand, right at the station exit, as well as a train station. This station is intermodal with the Montréal/Blainville–Saint-Jérôme commuter train.

Montmorency station : This station is part of the Montmorency Complex. Facing Collège Montmorency, in the the quadrangle comprised of the de la Concorde, Le Corbusier, du Souvenir and de l’Avenir Boulevards, this complex incorporates a metro station, two auxiliary structures, a bus terminal, a marshalling yard, a garage and a maintenance workshop for trains, located underneath the 1500-spot (including 800 underground) multi-storey parking, an off-street short-term parking and quick drop-off area, a fleet of bicycles and a taxi stand, right at the station exit.

Platform, auxiliary structures and tunnel
The project was handled primarily by SNC-Lavalin, the lead underwriter of the SGTM consortium. The EPCM mode (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management) was adopted for the project, which also involved the construction of:

eight complete auxiliary structures with mechanical ventilation stations, ventilation shafts, traction and distribution sub-stations, signage and communication stations, dewatering stations and emergency exits;
an underground garage capable of holding five sets of metro cars underneath the Montmorency station parking structure;
a by-pass track, a third platform and new developments (access corridors) at the Henri-Bourassa station

A tunnel 5.2 kilometers long had to be dug. The section between the Henri-Bourassa station and Cartier, the first station on the Laval territory, required that a tunnel be driven under water, which was a particularly complex task. The engineers working on the project had to use non-traditional construction methods to drill, while protecting the existing underground infrastructures and to make up for unfavourable local soil conditions. Before the tunnel driving was begun, the rock was reinforced and a temporary vault built for the junction of the two tunnels under the rivière des Prairies with limited rock cover. A model structural and freestanding tunnel was developed, along with a specific excavation approach, for drilling through a tunnel located so close to underground infrastructures, in order to avoid damage during the actual construction and to prevent any delays in the operation of the metro service.

Technical challenges
This being the first metro extension in 20 years, technologies have evolved significantly, and so new technologies had to be adapted to accommodate older ones. Moreover, there was the need to adapt to current conditions of the metro (tracks, tunnels, fixed equipment) and to comply with rock conditions, tunnel drilling and excavations in an urban setting (dust, noise, vibrations, vacant lots). The stretch retained made things even more complicated in terms of linking the new leg at the level of the existing station, Henri-Bourassa. Regarding management, the process was complicated by the large number of contracts and agreements involved, in addition to the multidisciplinary and multipartner coordination needed.