315/25-kV Des Irlandais substation

Major steps in the work

The work to build Des Irlandais substation got underway in spring 2021 and will be completed in fall 2024.

The company is doing everything it can to keep the inconveniences to residents and local businesses to a minimum and is cooperating with all stakeholders to find solutions with the least impact.

Schedule

Site preparation and preliminary work: excavation, decontamination and archaeological digs	Spring to fall 2021
Construction of control and maintenance buildings and connection to utilities	Fall 2021 to winter 2023
Earthwork and civil engineering, including the construction of encasements that cross Rue des Irlandais Installation of electrical equipment and controls	Winter 2023 to winter 2024
Residual work, including the decontamination of the memorial site and landscaping	Spring to fall 2024

Work in pictures

May 6, 2021 – Work begins on the jobsite.
May 6, 2021 – Location of the future control building.
May 6, 2021 – Erecting piles to install retaining walls on the side of Rue des Irlandais.
May 12, 2021 – Remediation of contaminated soil near Rue des Irlandais.
Summer 2021 – On the site, specialists with expertise in various fields of archaeology, including the analysis and interpretation of artifacts, ecofacts and below-ground architectural remains, work together. Soil samples are sent to a laboratory to study the plant macroremains and insect remains. The presence of pips, seeds and pits reflects the diet of the people who lived in the area.
Summer 2021 – Archaeologists Jean-Pierre Henri and Mylène Parisé excavate the site.
Summer 2021 – On the site of the future maintenance building, archaeologists unearthed what they believe to be the foundation walls of houses built along Rue Britannia, in the Victoriatown neighborhood.
Summer 2021 – Archaeologists Maxime Vaillancourt and Charlie Côté trace the stratigraphic profile of one of the open trenches. The vertical pieces of wood, which rest on a horizontal floor, served as a wall plate for the stone wall of this Victoriatown house.
Summer 2021 – A Derbyshire inkwell made of coarse stoneware dating back to 1850–1890 was found on the site.
Summer 2021 – A wooden window partition and frame fell face down in the backyard of a house on Rue Britannia when it was demolished in 1964.
Summer 2021 – Archaeologist Mylène Parisé holds a whole coconut found in a trench that was dug and backfilled. The coconut dates back to the occupation of Victoriatown and provides clues about the period’s food imports.
Summer 2021 – These artifacts were found in 2017 on the site of Des Irlandais substation. The collection of objects sheds light on several aspects of the daily lives of the immigrants who lived in the camp and workers who built the Victoria Bridge. In this photo are objects used to prepare and preserve food: a plate, a bowl, a jar and fragments of a bottle.
Summer 2021 – These artifacts were found in 2017 on the site of Des Irlandais substation. The collection of objects sheds light on several aspects of the daily lives of the immigrants who lived in the camp and workers who built the Victoria Bridge. In this photo are objects that evoke the presence of children in the camp: a wooden spinning top, marbles and fragments of a toy dish set.
June 6, 2021 – The substation site is surrounded by a Berlin wall that retains the soil during excavation. It is made of piles driven into the ground with boards mounted on brackets in between. The name “Berlin wall” refers to the city of Berlin, where the metro was built using this type of retaining wall.
June 6, 2021 – As the excavation progresses, workers build the wall. The wall makes it possible to excavate without creating a slope.
June 6, 2021 – The Environmental Supervisor sorts extracted materials, and the excavator operator knows which truck to dump them into.
June 6, 2021 – These pillars may have been part of the Autostade which was built on this site. It was demolished in 1976.
June 6, 2021 – Claire Richard and Maxime Rivest, environmental technicians at Englobe, prepare soil samples that have just been taken from a wall.
June 6, 2021 – This sample of slag is from an incinerator operated on the old landfill site. Once collected, the sample is placed in an airtight container, which is in turn placed in a cooler where it is kept cool and protected from light for transport to a laboratory for analysis.
June 6, 2021 – The management of contaminated soil, residual materials and hazardous residual materials must be done in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Dump truck movements from the jobsite to their final destination are closely monitored. There is a manifest for each load that guarantees that contaminated soil is transported to an authorized landfill site.
June 6, 2021 – Dominique Boivin regularly meets with Michel St-Laurent, the jobsite manager. Among occupational health and safety issues, there is the potential presence of biogas, which is difficult to detect. Preventive measures were put in place during excavation work to protect workers.
September 29, 2021 – Site of the switching building. Excavation and decontamination activities have been completed, and construction of the building will begin soon. In the background: Viger substation.
September 29, 2021 – Foundation formwork for the future maintenance building.
October 6, 2021 – Site of the switching building. The foundation work is underway. In the background: Viger substation.
October 6, 2021 – Foundation formwork for the future maintenance building. In the background: Canada Post building.
December 16, 2021 – Site of the switching building. The foundations are being prepared for winter temperatures. In the background: Viger substation.
February 9, 2022 – Construction of columns to support the switchroom’s structural slabs.
February 26, 2022 – Construction of the foundation walls and installation of the formwork for the structural slabs.
April 26, 2022 – Reinforcement to build the concrete slab for the switching building.
July 14, 2022 – Foundation and structural slab for the control building, 25-kV cable pulling vault and settling pond.
September 22, 2022 – Steel frame of the control building and start of the bridging work.
October 27, 2022 – Final steps to erect the steel frame and install the roof of the control building.
November 16, 2022 – Installing the concrete cladding panels of the combined building.
March 29, 2023 – Finishing the outer cladding of the control building.
September 15, 2022 – Final steps to erect the steel frame of the maintenance building.
September 22, 2022 – Installing the aluminum cladding panels of the maintenance building.
October 27, 2022 – Installing the outer cladding and roofing of the maintenance building.
March 29, 2023 – Finishing the outer cladding of the maintenance building.
March 29, 2023 – View from the roof of the maintenance building: starting the civil engineering work on the 315-kV substation yard.
August 8, 2023 – Site of the control and operations building. Work on the retaining walls and distribution encasements. Background: Viger substation.
August 9, 2023 – Distribution encasements from Des Irlandais substation to three access shafts on the side of Rue Bridge. Background: Sazerac distillery.
August 8, 2023 – Foundations of the structure in the equipment yard.
September 7, 2023 – View of the control and operations building and equipment yard. Background: Viger substation. Right: REM platform. Left: Autoroute Bonaventure.
October 3, 2023 – Building basins to house the 315/25-kV transformers.
October 4, 2023 – View of the equipment yard (right) from the control and operations building. Foreground: preparing the formwork for the basin that will house a 315/25-kV transformer.
October 3, 2023 – View of the equipment yard from the mezzanine at headquarters, adjacent to Canada Post. The activities on site include (left to right) formwork on retaining walls, assembly and installation of 315-kV equipment and drilling to install the architectural fence piles.
November 8, 2023 – View of the control and operations building from the Sazerac distillery. Foreground: work on the pavement structure of the access road on the Chemin des Moulins side.
November 8, 2023 – View of the equipment yard from the roof of the control and operations building. Left to right: formwork for the basin that will house the first 315/25-kV transformer (T1), formwork for the ground wire tower, removal of the formwork for the basin that will house the third 315/25-kV transformer (T3).
November 8, 2023 – Work on the access road to the control and operations building and headquarters on the Chemin des Moulins side.
November 9, 2023 – Left to right: drilling to install the architectural fence, equipment yard and formwork for the basin that will house a 315/25-kV transformer.
December 7, 2023 – Drainage work to build the access road to transport the 315/25-kV transformers.
December 7, 2023 – Work on storm sewer in the parking area.
December 7, 2023 – Storage or stacking area at headquarters.
February 8, 2024 – View from Rue des Irlandais. Left to right: equipment yard, firewall and control and operations building.
February 8, 2024 – Foreground: first 315/25-kV transformer (T1) basin.
February 2, 2024 – Foreground: third 315/25-kV transformer (T3) basin.
March 27, 2024 – Backfill after decontamination work on Rue des Irlandais side.
March 27, 2024 – Left: 315/25-kV transformer (T1).
March 27, 2024 – Left: clean stone in third 315/25-kV transformer (T3) basin.
March 27, 2024 – Access to Hydro-Québec property: installing the guard rail on the retaining wall.
June 20, 2024 – Parking area at headquarters.
June 20, 2024 – Access road to Hydro-Québec property by Chemin des Moulins.
June 14, 2024 – Headquarters.
August 20, 2024 – Members of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Irish Monument Park Foundation visit the dig site during the decontamination work conducted for the future commemorative park, led by archaeologist Luis Trudel-Lopez (Ethnoscop).
August 20, 2024 – During the decontamination work conducted for the future commemorative park, remnants of homes along Rue Britannia in the former Victoriatown neighbourhood were uncovered.
August 20, 2024 – Between two homes in the former Victoriatown neighbourhood, the original soil still reveals evidence of occupation of the land beginning in 1847 by Irish immigrants, who were housed in temporary wooden hospitals. Traces of ruts may indicate the presence of a frequently travelled route between the fever sheds.
August 20, 2024 – Wooden poles associated with the temporary hospitals from 1847 and reused by the workers who built the Pont Victoria were found. Here, we see the traces left by the poles once they were removed.
August 20, 2024 – The dig conducted inside a home in the former Victoriatown neighbourhood revealed a floor, a cellar stairway, occupation debris and a sandstone drain. The phases of construction both inside and outside the building are visible.