Conneting
Montreal to the southern littoral of the
St. Lawrence to the height of Longueuil,
the Pont Jacques Cartier (or Jacques Cartier
Bridge in English) is of 11 236 feet or
2 1/6 miles (3,4 km) long. Used by over
43 million vehicles each year, the bridge
is a steel truss cantilever bridge that
crosses Île Sainte-Hélène
in the centre of the river, where off
ramps allow access to the Parc Jean-Drapeau
and La Ronde amusement park.
Started in 1925 and finished in 1930,
the bridge was designed to handle the
passage of road traffic, a tramway, and
a large amount of pedestrian traffic.
In 1959 the tramway tracks were removed,
and it was modified to be a five-lane
highway.
Strangely
enough the Pont Jacques Cartier is the
site of more suicides than any other single
structure in the world besides the Golden
Gate Bridge in San Francisco. There is
currently an effort to construct an anti-suicide
barrier to stop people from jumping off
into the frigid waters below.
Pont
Jacques Cartier Travel Links |
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