Where the Chicoutimi River meets the Saguenay River in Northern Quebec the old Arnaud Road bridge was no longer safe and was needed for normal road traffic. However, the old bridge also carried a municipal water main as well as high tension electrical power cables, so some sort of replacement structure was needed. Town leaders settled on a steel truss structure that could also provide pedestrian and Ski-Doo/snowmobiling access.

In this project the large galvanizing baths of the nearest Galvanizer provided the opportunity to build the structure in only a few extremely large sections. This greatly reduces overall cost especially on-site erection. This part of Canada has the highest on-site construction labor costs in the world, so these giant sections had a meaningful impact on reducing the overall budget and timeline. The amazing impact resistance of hot-dip galvanizing also provides dividends by preventing erection damage that otherwise would occur to paint systems. This is particularly important in this kind of environment where on site repairs are very costly, time consuming or worst of all, often missed entirely.

This winter many outdoor enthusiasts will be traversing the beautiful Chicoutimi River on their preferred conveyance, be it hiking boots, skis or Ski-Doo without likely considering all the benefits hot-dip galvanizing provides to the day-to-day infrastructure we all need to live.