Quebec Bridge

Quebec Bridge Pont de Québec
The Quebec Bridge from the west side
Coordinates	46°44′46″N 71°17′16″W / 46.74611°N 71.28778°W / 46.74611; -71.28778
Carries	Route 175 Canadian National Railway and Via Rail 1 pedestrian walkway
Crosses	St. Lawrence River
Locale	Quebec City, and Lévis, Quebec
Owner	Government of Canada
Maintained by	Canadian National Railway
Preceded by	Pierre Laporte Bridge
Followed by	Île d'Orléans Bridge (partial crossing)
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever bridge
Total length	987 m (3,238 ft)
Width	29 m (95 ft) wide
Longest span	549 m (1,801 ft)
Clearance above	(?)
Clearance below	46 m (151 ft) (high tide)[1]
No. of lanes	3
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Structure gauge	AAR
Electrified	No
History
Construction cost	$22 million (Approx. 375M$ in 2024)
Opened	December 3, 1919
Statistics
Toll	none since 1942
National Historic Site of Canada
Designated	1995
Location

The Quebec Bridge (French: pont de Québec) is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became the arrondissement Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec City) and Lévis, in Quebec, Canada. The project failed twice during its construction, in 1907 and 1916, at the cost of 88 lives and additional people injured. The bridge eventually opened in 1919.

The Quebec Bridge is a riveted steel truss structure and is 987 m (3,238 ft) long, 29 m (95 ft) wide, and 104 m (341 ft) high. Cantilever arms 177 m (581 ft) long support a 195 m (640 ft) central structure, for a total span of 549 m (1,801 ft), still the longest cantilever bridge span in the world. (It was the all-categories longest span in the world until the Ambassador Bridge was completed in 1929.) It is the easternmost (farthest downstream) complete crossing of the Saint Lawrence River.

The bridge accommodates three highway lanes (there were none until 1929, when one was added; another was added in 1949 and a third in 1993), one rail line (two until 1949), and a pedestrian walkway (originally two). At one time, it also carried a streetcar line. Since 1993, it has been owned by the Canadian National Railway.

On May 15 2024, the Quebec Bridge was purchased by the Federal Government for a symbolic $1.

The Quebec Bridge was designated a National Historic Site in 1995.