Île d'Orléans Bridge, Suspension bridge in Quebec City, Canada.
The Île d'Orléans Bridge is a green steel suspension bridge over the Saint Lawrence River, linking Beauport in Quebec City to Île d'Orléans. Its two towers, built of crossed diagonal steel beams on pale stone bases, rise 65.8 m; the central span measures 323 m. The deck is an under-deck truss, and the total structure with approaches runs 3.43 km.
Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau promised a bridge to Montmorency County as a Depression-era job-creation project. Built in 1934 by the Foundation of Canada Ltd and the Dominion Bridge Co. Ltd, it opened to traffic on 6 July 1935 and was first named Taschereau Bridge. Before it, islanders crossed by chaloupe, canoe, winter ice bridges marked with small firs, or the Sainte-Pétronille–Quebec steam ferry.
The bridge transformed how islanders lived by ending their dependence on seasonal ferry routes and winter ice roads. It connected a once-isolated community to the mainland in a way that changed daily routines permanently.
The bridge carries vehicle traffic on Quebec Route 368 and connects to the main highway on the north shore, making it the primary road access to the island. Walking or cycling across is not permitted, so a vehicle is necessary to use this crossing.
The bridge does not cross the entire Saint Lawrence: it only spans the narrower North Channel to Île d'Orléans, making it the furthest downstream fixed crossing of the river. Its suspended deck was built from two inverted T-shaped steel sections welded together and filled with concrete, a lighter, stronger slab for its time. The steel structure weighs 3,265 tonnes.
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