Transportation Award of Excellence
Vendôme Station Entry and Pedestrian Link AtkinsRéalis
30
CANADIAN CONSULTING ENGINEER
tween the station and the hospital, thus improving the travelling experience for all users, but especially for those with reduced mobility. In addition to improving accessibility, the project has improved evacuation and response time for the station in emergency situations, prioritized intermodality and pedestrian traffic flow to improve travel times and improved capacity to accommodate increased ridership. A first-in-Canada technique To limit train service disruptions, AtkinsRéalis' engineers took a different approach to constructability. A 12-m long, 9-m wide, 650-t concrete tunnel would be slid into place. The bottom slab of the tunnel was designed with a tapered geometry toward the front, resembling the tip of a ski, thus facilitating the sliding of the tunnel on the ground to its final position. This specific sliding technique,
developed by Freyssinet, is called Autoripage and was a first in Canada. The reinforced concrete tunnel was prefabricated directly on-site, next to its final location, and was designed by AtkinsRéalis' team for the loads induced by the chosen construction technique, then pushed into place by computer-assisted hydraulic jacks. This operation was completed in less than 60 hours. Due to a lack of space on the adjacent MUHC grounds (vehicle and ambulance traffic), poor soil capacity and time constraints (another 72 hours), the team designed the tunnel under the existing third track in four prefabricated sections, to be assembled on a steel beam mattress filled with grout to limit differential settlements. Prior to the construction phase, the design team met specialized contractors after a call of interest, to collect risk management information regarding the challenging pro-
“Before they built this, it was a long trek to the hospital for a wheelchair user in the winter.” – Jury
September/October 2023
PHOTO ©J U L I E N PE R RON-GAG N É , COU RT E SY AT K I NS R É A L I S.
T
he Vendôme intermodal hub project stemmed from the Société de Transport de Montréal’s (STM’s) universal accessibility policy, which provided a mandate to connect the metro station with an exo train station and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). As a result of this project, the Vendôme station is now certified Envision Gold—making it the first STM metro station to obtain such distinction. The project originated when STM announced plans in 2015 to build a second entrance building for one of its busiest intermodal stations, to make it accessible to people with reduced mobility. This would also involve adding tunnel connections to Exo’s station and the MUHC. AtkinsRéalis (operating as SNC-Lavalin at the time) would provide multidisciplinary engineering—including structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, automation, acoustical and vibration, air quality, traffic and urban engineering—and human health and ecological risk assessments. Prior to the renovation, travel between the hospital and the station was a challenge, due to poor accessibility and safety issues. Today, the station is equipped with five elevators, enlarged motorized doors and swing gates that meet the highest standards of universal accessibility and provide a well-flowing link be-
