The consortium building the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal says it is aiming to have the structure ready as planned by December 2018.
The reassurance comes as a published report says the bridge won't be ready on time and that the current Champlain Bridge will have to be kept in service a while longer.
A spokesperson for the consortium building the new bridge says meeting the December 2018 target date for completion will be a challenge, but they are doing whatever they can to meet that timetable.
Six months ago, the Signature on the St. Lawrence group hired 300 more workers, and added more shifts, in order to speed up construction.
On Friday, the group said the bridge was 65 per cent complete — with the most complicated part of the job, laying down the bridge's span, to come.
The consortium faces substantial penalties if the bridge isn't ready on time — $100,000 per day for the first week, and $400,000 for every day after that.
The federal government has instituted a backup plan to make sure the old Champlain Bridge is maintain through to the summer of 2019. It has set aside tens of million of dollars for the inspections and repairs needed to keep the bridge in operation.
-CJAD 800's Richard Deschamps contributed to this report.