Chaudière Crossing: Southern Structures Renewal (SSR) – Advanced Utility Works – Public Comments Invited

June 11, 2025 – The authorities must determine whether the proposed Chaudière Crossing: Southern Structures Renewal (SSR) – Advanced Utility Works, located in Ottawa is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, the authorities are inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments must be submitted by July 11, 2025 to:

Environment, Health and Safety

Public Services and Procurement Canada

11 Laurier St, Portage III, Place du Portage
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0S5

Email: TPSGC.RCNLVEEListedeControle-NCRECMPChecklist.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

 

The Proposed Project

The Chaudière Crossing, the oldest crossing in the National Capital Region, remains a critical link between Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec. It is a complex infrastructure asset consisting of 8 structures. Recent inspections and studies show that the southern structures of the Chaudière Crossing need repair and replacement work to keep the crossing safe for users.

The southern structures of the Chaudière Crossing will be renewed by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). This overarching renewal project includes replacing the Bronson Channel Bridge, rehabilitating the Ottawa Hydro Electric Power Commission Channel Bridge (Power Channel Bridge) substructures and replacing the Power Channel Bridge superstructure, and rehabilitating the Buchanan Channel Culvert. To facilitate this work, the existing utility infrastructure owned by Hydro Ottawa, Bell and Enbridge, which are currently supported on the southern structures, must be temporarily removed from the structures and relocated to a suitable alternative location.

This specific component of the southern structures of the Chaudière Crossing project involves constructing a temporary shared alternate path for Hydro Ottawa, Bell, and Enbridge. A utility truss bridge, founded on bedrock at both ends of the structure on federal land owned and managed by the National Capital Commission (NCC), will be built to span the Bronson Channel on the east side of the existing Bronson Channel Bridge. From the southern project limits at Booth St to the utility truss bridge, a common trench will house underground conduits and a gas line for rerouting the utilities. The utilities will then cross the Bronson Channel, supported on the utility truss. The common trench will continue on the north side of the truss bridge to cross Middle St. Beyond Middle St, the utilities will be surface-mounted, with a bond breaker placed over the existing building foundation before installation. To cross the Power Channel, steel conduits and a gas line will be surface-mounted on the intake channel walls and across the GS#4 generating station intake deck. Finally, all three utilities will reconnect to their original alignment at the northern project limit on Booth St. Coordination with PSPC to manage potential lane closures needed to remove the existing utility infrastructure will be required. The temporarily relocated infrastructure (including the utility truss) will be decommissioned once the renewal of the southern structures of the Chaudière Crossing project is completed by PSPC, and the utilities have been relocated to their permanent position on the southern structures.

The temporary utility infrastructure relocation on NCC lands is anticipated to commence in the summer/fall of 2025 and be completed prior to the winter of 2026.

The NCC lands where the infrastructure will be temporarily relocated include a segment on the southern shore of the Bronson Channel immediately east of Booth St and north of a multiuse pathway, and Victoria Island, a 5.6-hectare island located in the Ottawa River recognized as a place of special significance for the Algonquin Peoples. Victoria Island has a long history of mixed industrial, commercial and residential land uses dating back to the late 1800s. Soil, groundwater and sediment at the site are contaminated from these former land use activities. The NCC is currently remediating the site. The island will remain closed until the remediation is completed in 2028. Coordination will be required with the NCC as landowner and manager of the site remediation and other projects in the area.

The overarching renewal of the southern structures of the Chaudière Crossing project includes the reinstallation of the Hydro Ottawa, Bell and Enbridge infrastructure onto the rehabilitated and replaced structures on a long-term basis.

As the project proponent, owner and provider of funding and authorizations enabling the overarching infrastructure renewal, PSPC will be the lead authority responsible for coordinating the section 82 determination required under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA). As the provider of federal land and an approval under the National Capital Act to enable the temporary relocation of the infrastructure owned by Hydro Ottawa, Bell and Enbridge, the NCC also has a trigger to make a section 82 determination for this project component.