December 20, 1967
The Laviolette Bridge was officially opened in the Canadian province of Quebec. This arch bridge, which spans the Saint Lawrence River, carries two lanes of vehicular traffic in each direction via the major highway Autoroute 55. The Laviolette Bridge links the city of Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the river with the city of Bécancour on the south shore. (The bridge’s namesake is Sieur de Laviolette, a 17th century French settler who is widely acknowledged as the founder of Trois-Rivières.) The Laviolette Bridge has also been a vital connection between Quebec City on the river’s north shore and the southwestern part of the province.
Local demand for such a bridge dated back to the late 19th century, and the structure replaced the ferryboat system that had been the primary means for crossing that section of the Saint Lawrence River. During the dedication ceremony for the bridge, Quebec highways minister Fernand-Joseph Lafontaine highlighted the new structure’s benefits. The next day’s edition of the Lethbridge Herald reported, “In a brief speech, Lafontaine said the bridge will make a major contribution to the economy of the whole region in assuring better communication, direct and free, between the two sides of the river.” The Laviolette Bridge has since also become a popular landmark in Quebec.
Photo Credit: John White (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on the Laviolette Bridge, please check out https://structurae.net/en/structures/laviolette-bridge
Transportation History 