Despite its monumental structure, the bridge is a highly flexible structure, adapted to the thermal contraction and expansion caused by the local climate and to the strong northerly winds in Québec City. The construction of this bridge, which involved several of the province’s top French-speaking engineers, was of great symbolic importance for Quebecers at the height of the Quiet Revolution.

1968 - 2015

The Pierre-Laporte Bridge, a feat of Quebec engineering

As automobiles became widespread in the 1950s and 1960s, the Quebec Bridge reached capacity. In June 1966, construction began on a second road link between Québec City and Lévis, 200 metres from the Quebec Bridge. It would connect several highways. Originally intended to be called the Frontenac Bridge, it was renamed before its inauguration in November 1970 as a tribute to Pierre Laporte, a minister in the Bourassa Administration who died during the October Crisis. It is considered the longest main span on a suspension bridge in Canada. Today, 120,000 vehicles cross it every day.

Under the bridge

Auteur inconnu Despite its monumental structure, the bridge is a highly flexible structure, adapted to the thermal contraction and expansion caused by the local climate and to the strong northerly winds in Québec City. The construction of this bridge, which involved several of the province’s top French-speaking engineers, was of great symbolic importance for Quebecers at the height of the Quiet Revolution.

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Depicted period: 1970

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