Port of Trois-Rivières
Nucor Skyline assisted in bringing the almost
200-year-old port into the 21st century
By Janet Himstead, Nucor Skyline
The Port of Trois-Rivières is on the St-Lawrence River,
between Québec City and Montréal, at the conflu-ence
of the St-Maurice River. A large multi-modal fa-cility,
it combines sea, rail and road, and serves both
domestic and international markets.
One of the largest ports in Québec and Eastern Canada,
the port handles approximately 55,000 trucks, 11,000 freight
cars and 240 ships per year. The products that flow through
the port are varied and include general cargo, dry and
liquid bulks.
The Port of Trois-Rivières was established in 1824, with
the first dock and warehouse built by the owner of the Forges
du Saint-Maurice, Mathew Bell. John Molson, a powerful
ship owner of the day, immediately followed suit and built
three docks in 1825, and acquired several more in 1840. As
GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
these were private facilities, the municipal administration
determined that a public dock was needed for the ferries
connecting the city to the village of Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval,
on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. The year was
1858, and this was the first public initiative for the port. Since
then, the port has gone through many changes and has been
overseen by several different agencies, including the Council
of National Ports, a federal agency that manages many large
Canadian ports.
The Trois-Rivières Port Authority, which has managed the
port since 1999, has undertaken a large project to overhaul
some of the outdated wharfs and facilities at the port. One of
the major construction projects extends Pier 10. This exten-sion
replaces the aging and obsolete Pier 9, which was built
in the 1930s. The extension of Pier 10, with a berthing length
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NUCOR SKYLINE
PILING CANADA 49