When Quebec announced plans to replace the historic Île d’Orléans Bridge, it was clear that the new crossing required mor than simple replication. The new 2.1-kilometre cable-stayed bridge spanning the Saint Lawrence River in engineered to current safety, seismic and vehicular standards, while ensuring uninterrupted access between Quebec City’s north shore and the island throughout construction.
Less visible, but no less critical, is the deep foundation work taking place beneath the river’s surface. As the project moved from concept to construction, contractors faced the challenge of anchoring directly into bedrock in one of Canada’s most dynamic waterways.
“This is out in the middle of the Saint Lawrence,” said David Zanchetta, sales and field services representative with Berminghammer. “There’s not much overburden there; just muck. You can’t rely on driving piles as usual. You have to actually go into the rock to lock them in place.”
Berminghammer was brought onto the project to assist with specialized underwater rock drilling techniques for the bridge’s main pier foundations. The new bridge is being constructed approximately 120 metres west of the existing structure, allowing uninterrupted traffic flow. The Quebec Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility notes that the project includes new approach roads, active transportation facilities and improved seismic and navigational clearances. For the deep foundation teams, the main challenge was the river itself.
“I generally like to describe foundation work as building a structure on top of a cake. There are many ways to strengthen the cake itself to support a structure on top of it,” Zanchetta said. “The plate underneath the cake is your rock. Now, imagine your cake is in water and the water is constantly running along it. You don’t have much of a cake for very long. You have to build the foundation right into the plate.”
“Because it’s a river and there’s not much overburden, you can’t really rely on just driving them with a hammer. You have to actually go into the rock so they don’t get swept away.”
David Zanchetta, Berminghammer
To address these conditions, the team chose an O-pile wall system – interlocking pipe piles drilled and socketed into bedrock. “It’s basically pipes interlocking beside each other, drilled into rock. Every single pile is advanced into the rock and then interlaced with the one beside it,” said Zanchetta. Each steel pipe pile is equipped with a cutting bit and drilled into the bedrock, creating a socketed pile foundation. Interlocks welded to the pipes connect adjacent piles, forming a continuous, rigid wall engineered to resist sustained hydrostatic pressure and provide long-term stability.
“Because it’s a river and there’s not much overburden, you can’t really rely on just driving them with a hammer,” he added. “You have to actually go into the rock so they don’t get swept away.”
The drilling technique used in the project was reverse circulation drilling with a down-the-hole (DTH) hammer, operated from a barge-mounted crane. Zanchetta says that in this process, air is used to operate the DTH hammer inside the pipe, and that both the air and the resulting cuttings are returned to the surface through the centre of the drill string. Rather than dispersing spoil into the river, the cuttings are captured and directed to a controlled discharge point.
“They direct them into what’s called a dump scow, and then they control where they put all those cuttings,” he said. “It’s not like you have cuttings flying everywhere, disrupting habitats. It’s a very controlled process.”
The general contractor, Centurion Fondation, selected a Manitowoc 2250 crawler crane paired with Berminghammer’s H28 lead system and BRC 200 rotary drill, which allowed for the handling of large-diameter piles while maintaining flexibility for future work.
“They wanted the possibility of doing larger diameters later,” Zanchetta said. “Instead of using a smaller system, they already had a big crane going to the project, so a larger system made sense.” Timeline pressure added another layer of complexity. Berminghammer was awarded the order in early August 2025, with equipment delivery required by October 2025. But since the same equipment had just been used on a Lake Ontario project, it could be turned around quickly, allowing work to begin sooner.
Rather than relying on traditional cofferdam systems that would later require additional scour protection, the O-pile wall itself acts as both temporary and permanent works. “A different technique people use would be toe pins on cofferdam walls,” Zanchetta explained. “But O-pile walls are effective because you don’t have to go back and put all those pins in later or create really elaborate falsework. You just drill the piles into the rock.”
Barge stability was essential for drilling accuracy. “You can imagine when you’re drilling that if your platform is moving around, you’ll snap a drill bit,” he said. “They worked really hard to get a large barge, so there was minimal sway out on the river.”
Beyond the drilling operation itself, the project also showcased newer Berminghammer innovations, including hydraulic power pack brackets mounted at the rear of the crane.
Beyond drilling operations, the project also showcased Berminghammer’s recent innovations, including hydraulic power pack brackets mounted at the crane’s rear. “These brackets take the place of some of the counterweight but create the same load chart,” he said. “Now you have the power pack up and out of the way.” He says a key advantage to the most recent power-pack bracket is its serviceability. Since the units are hydraulic, they can be lowered to ground level for oil changes and maintenance, eliminating the need for built-in walkways around power packs and simplifying the overall process.
Due to Quebec’s environmental regulations, the company needed a very biodegradable oil in the power packs. Berminghammer chose MVR 46, a biodegradable hydraulic fluid which reduces environmental risk in the event of a spill. Zanchetta says the Île d’Orléans Bridge stands out not only for its technical demands, but also for its setting.
“It’s a pretty beautiful spot – right next to the Montmorency Falls,” he said. “You can see the skyline of beautiful Quebec City from the jobsite.”