Davie Shipbuilding is a shipbuilding company located in Lauzon, Quebec , Canada. The facility is now operating as Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is the oldest continually operating shipbuilder in North America.
56-631: The Davie shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec has a complex ownership history. The Davie firm was founded in 1825 by English-born ship captain Allison Davie (May 4, 1796 – June 1836) and English born shipbuilder George Taylor (1782-1861); the Davie construction record, however, only dates to 1897. The Davie company was established in the 1830s on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Quebec City in
112-452: A credit union ) from their home. The city is also a major agricultural business research and development centre. More high technology companies, such as Creaform (3D), have been established in Lévis. Lévis is home to the enclosed regional shopping mall Les Galeries Chagnon which has 106 stores. Many small business and entertainment developed in the city during the last decade and finalized
168-538: A $ 7 billion contract to maintain and repair the Halifax -class frigates , and will share with Halifax six ships based on the east coast. This was later clarified as a $ 500 million contract for the maintenance of three east coast frigates. In 2020, Davie was selected to become a partner in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, tasked with the construction of a new fleet of polar icebreakers for
224-709: A cage for several weeks in Saint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Lévy (old part of the former City of Lauzon). This was the first time they had used this practice in North America; it was reserved for persons found guilty of particularly heinous crimes. This punishment had been practised in England since the Middle Ages . From 1854, the railroad was constructed to Pointe-Lévy; it became a major transportation centre for commerce and immigration. As it
280-699: A camp in the territory of Pointe-Lévy and laid siege to Quebec City. The siege succeeded. After being under bombardment for three months and fighting the English in the battle on the Plains of Abraham in front of the walls, Quebec fell to the British. During this time, Pointe-Lévy served as the main encampment of the British army in the Quebec area. The constant cannon firing between Quebec City and Pointe-Lévy discouraged both French and British ships from advancing further up
336-610: A cloud of controversy, as its CEO had resigned in March 2012 . Upper Lakes, which was at the time the only owner of the yard, sold it in November 2012 to Inocea of the UK. Davie launched MV Cecon Pride in October 2013; it was the first ship launched from the yard in over a decade. Davie CEO Alan Bowen said "This is a great day for Davie. There are only a handful of shipyards across
392-575: A contract valued at $ 25 billion to supply the Navy. Each ship is worth $ 1 billion. The Davie bid was only for the Coast Guard contract. Davie had only 15 employees during this time. Provincial politicians had no power over the bidding process due to the federal nature of the contracts. DSME canceled its involvement in the joint venture at this loss. SNC-Lavalin withdrew from the joint venture in May 2012, under
448-519: A land area of 448.07 km (173.00 sq mi), it had a population density of 334.1/km (865.2/sq mi) in 2021. The city is one of the most homogeneous in Canada: around 95% of the population is of European ancestry. Over 95% of residents speak French as their mother tongue. Although a relatively small city, Lévis is not a typical suburb. The presence of several large employers has allowed many citizens to both live and work in Lévis. It
504-424: A part ceased to exist. The new city was divided into three arrondissements or boroughs. Desjardins , Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière-Ouest and Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière-Est , which correspond to most of the territory of the former RCMs (however, Saint-Henri and Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon remained independent and did not amalgamate into Lévis). The ten former municipalities are today districts ( secteurs ) within
560-611: A steel company from Terrebonne, Quebec , purchased the assets of the Lachine plant and restarted operations. Employees who had been laid off following the bankruptcy, many of whom had worked at the plant for over 20 years, were re-hired to work for a new company called ADF Industries Lourdes. In November 2003, ADF closed the Lachine plant due to declining fortunes in the North American steel industry, which had been losing ground to cheaper Asian competitors for many years. To date,
616-528: A total value of CAD$ 33 billion or $ 35 billion. The NSPS had its bidding deadline extended by three weeks specifically to accommodate the Davie restructuring. As part of the restructuring, on 21 July 2011 Upper Lakes Groups Inc. (owner of Seaway Marine & Industrial Inc. in St. Catharines ) bought the assets of the bankrupt Davie Yards Inc. The Canadian engineering conglomerate SNC-Lavalin , Upper Lakes Groups Inc. and South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) had formalized
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#1732782796423672-556: Is a city in eastern Quebec , Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River , opposite Quebec City . A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges , the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge , connect western Lévis with Quebec City. The population in 2021 was 149,683. Its current incarnation was founded on January 1, 2002, as the result of a merger among ten cities, including
728-425: Is home to Valero's Jean-Gaulin refinery, one of the largest in eastern Canada, Frito-Lay and Davie Shipbuilding are located in the borough of Lauzon (former city). The Desjardins Group , as well as its subsidiary Desjardins Financial Security , are headquartered in the city. The founder, Alphonse Desjardins , lived in Lévis and, with his wife, Dorimène Roy Desjardins , ran the first Caisse Populaire (similar to
784-767: Is now Sorauren Avenue Park . This facility provided steel for the building of the Prince Edward Viaduct . The company built a series of large railway viaducts for the National Transcontinental Railway between 1908 and 1911 including the Cap-Rouge trestle in Quebec and the Little Salmon River Trestle in New Brunswick, Canada's second largest railway bridge. With a lowest bid of $ 6,954,000,
840-682: The Kahnawake and Akwesasne Mohawks , the Mohawks demanded jobs on the project. The company planned to use them as unskilled labour but they climbed all over the bridge, without fear, and asked to become riveters . They proved to have a remarkable aptitude for the work and by the end of the project there were 70 iron and steel riveters in the Kahnawake band, who went on to work on projects throughout Canada. In 1890 civil engineer for various railways James Ross replaced Job Abbott as president of
896-576: The $ 500 million that the firm's fixed price offer would save the taxpayer over the Seaspan bid was rejected "based on the credibility, the viability, the reliability of the companies". In 2018, Davie delivered m/v Asterix, a combat support ship, for Federal Fleet Services Inc. (a sister company of Davie) who then leased the vessel to the Royal Canadian Navy. In 2018 Davie, along with Victoria Shipyards and Halifax Shipyards, agreed to share
952-403: The 1970s, Canada Steamship Lines was owned by Power Corporation and in a 1976 restructuring, it sold the Davie yard to Societé de Construction Navale (Soconav) which was established by former employees of Marine Industries Ltd with the financial backing of the Quebec provincial government's Societé Générale de Financement. In 1981 the Davie shipyard was sold to Dome Petroleum and in 1985 it
1008-440: The 20th century, ranging from wooden sailing vessels and steamers to modern steel ships, both cargo and passenger carriers. During World War II, Davie built 35 warships ( minesweepers , corvettes and destroyers ). On October 27, 1955, the Davie yard was almost destroyed by a massive fire which started in the foundry. It lasted eight hours, and although no one was injured many employees were left unemployed for several months. By
1064-637: The Canadian Coast Guard. This is a list of ships built by Davie Shipbuilding (1825–1986). For ships built after 1986, see MIL-Davie Shipbuilding or Davie Yards Incorporated . Ferries Sailing vessels The shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990. 46°49′49″N 71°09′34″W / 46.83015°N 71.1594°W / 46.83015; -71.1594 Lauzon, Quebec Lévis ( French pronunciation: [levi] )
1120-653: The Confederacy during the war and at times helped its ships evade the Union blockade, so feared retaliation. Those garrisons never had to serve their intended purpose. One of them, Fort-Chambly, still stands to this day and is open to the public. The City of Lévis, named after the successor to Montcalm , the Chevalier de Levis , was developed beginning in 1861. Its founder was Monsignor Joseph-David Déziel (1806–1882). As more settlements developed, there were changes among
1176-709: The Dominion Bridge Company was awarded the contract to design and build the Alexandra Bridge , one of Canada's most notable bridges. At the time of completion in 1901 the Alexandra Bridge was the fourth longest cantilever span in the world. Dominion Bridge opened a manufacturing site in Toronto at Sorauren and Wabash Avenue sometime after 1910, which later became TTC Parkdale Bus garage until 1980 then demolished in 1990s to become what
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#17327827964231232-483: The Dominion Bridge name alive, renaming itself 'Dominion Bridge Corporation' and bundling the four plants under a subsidiary called 'Dominion Bridge, Inc.' However, in 1998 the company made a disastrous decision to purchase the bankrupt MIL-Davie shipyard in Lauzon, Quebec . The Davie purchase drained Dominion Bridge of its cash reserves and pushed the company into bankruptcy. Later in 1998, Groupe ADF Inc,
1288-585: The Lachine plant remains closed and ADF is looking for a buyer. Of the other three plants that survived to 1998, two were never reopened following the Dominion Bridge bankruptcy. The third, in Amherst, was purchased in November 1998 by Amherst Fabricators Limited (part of the Cherubini Group of Companies). Amherst Fabricators rehired 43 former Dominion Bridge employees and conducted a $ 2.1 million expansion program to add 3,000 square feet (280 m ) to
1344-473: The Lachine plant were mothballed or torn down following the dissolution. Employment at the Lachine plant alone dropped from approximately 2,000 in the early 1970s to about 250 in 1990. In 1993, the Cedar Group (led by Michel L. Marengere) acquired United Dominion Industries' Dominion Bridge subsidiary, which was then a four-plant operation (Lachine, Amherst, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Regina). Cedar Group kept
1400-425: The Royal Canadian Navy's Canadian Patrol Frigate Project . After the warship project was finished in the early 1990s, MIL-Davie Shipbuilding, along with the Davie yard in Lauzon went into receivership. After being bought by the Quebec government, Davie was sold to Dominion Bridge Company for $ 1. In 1998, the parent Dominion Bridge Company went into bankruptcy and the Davie shipyard went into trusteeship in 1998. It
1456-587: The St. Lawrence, and reinforcements and supplies did not reach other major cities such as Montréal. In 1763, after the English took over French territory east of the Mississippi River in North America, a jury convicted Marie-Josephte Corriveau , "la Corriveau" , of murdering her husband with a pitch-fork and she was condemned to death. She was hanged in Quebec City, and the British displayed her body in
1512-408: The city; each of the three boroughs is composed of either three or four districts. The pre-2002 Lévis had already merged with Lauzon and Saint-David-de-l'Auberivière in 1989. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Lévis had a population of 149,683 living in 65,751 of its 68,205 total private dwellings, a change of 4.4% from its 2016 population of 143,414 . With
1568-704: The community of Lauzon, Quebec (now part of the city of Levis, Quebec ). Davie's father-in-law, George Taylor, had begun a shipbuilding business in 1811 after his arrival from England on the southwest shores of Île d’Orléans at Trou St. Patrice (closed briefly 1812 due to the War of 1812 to build ships in Upper Canada and permanently after 1827), became partners in 1825 and built their shipyard at rue de Saint Thomas and Cote de la Canotiere around 1827 and moved to north side of St Lawrence in 1832) and Davie apparently purchased those assets as well. Following Allison Davie's death,
1624-564: The company secured the contract to erect the steel superstructure of the Jacques Cartier Bridge linking Montreal to the South Shore on October 25, 1925. The last girder was placed on 10 July 1929, seventeen months ahead of schedule In 1957 and 1958 Pratley returned to the bridge as the consulting engineer when the company jacked up the span from 40 feet (12 m) to 120 feet (37 m) to enable free passage of ships on
1680-424: The company was headed by his wife Elizabeth Davie until 1850, when it became "George T. Davie & Sons" under Davie's son George Taylor Davie (1828–1907). It changed its name in 1914 to "Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing." The Davie family sold the shipyard to Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) in 1929 but started the " George T. Davie shipyard " immediately next door to the larger Lauzon facility. The second shipyard
1736-599: The company. Although credited to the drive of Ross, vice-president James Pawley Dawes lead the developed via joint-venture the St Lawrence Bridge Company to construct the Quebec Bridge . George Herrick Duggan joined the Engineering Department in 1886, becoming Chief Engineer in 1901, and rose to become President of the company. Another notable employee was Philip Louis Pratley , a Person of National Historic Significance . In 1898
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1792-519: The confluence of the Chaudière and the St. Lawrence rivers. Many archeological sites reveal evidence of human occupation dating to 10,000 BP . Some historians theorize that Pointe-Lévy could have been one of the main centres of Native American population development in what became the province of Québec. In 1636, approximately 28 years after the French founded Quebec City , the seignory of Lauzon
1848-568: The core business of steel bridge component fabrication, the company diversified into related areas such as the fabrication of holding tanks for pulp mills and skyscraper framing. Other Canadian plants were located in Amherst, NS , Toronto, ON , Winnipeg, MB , Regina, SK , Saskatoon, SK , Calgary, AB , Edmonton, AB , Richmond, BC and Burnaby, BC . In the 1960s and 1970s, Dominion Bridge expanded internationally and renamed itself AMCA International (AMCA name effective June 1, 1981). This name
1904-661: The designs by Rolf P. Harder. Lévis covers an area of 444 km (171 sq mi): 10% urban, 48% farmlands, 36% forests and 6% wetlands. In addition to the Saint Lawrence River, the Etchemin and Chaudière rivers also run through the city before ending their journey into the Saint Lawrence. The Chaudière River also boasts a waterfall with a suspended bridge, which can be accessed from Autoroute 73 . Lévis County existed until January 1982 when it
1960-520: The first caisse populaire in Lévis. He began developing what later became the Desjardins Group by travelling throughout Quebec and helping people in other cities start their own credit unions. On June 28, 1985 Canada Post issued "Fort No.1, Point Levis, Que.", one of 20 stamps in the "Forts Across Canada Series" (1983 and 1985). The stamps are perforated 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 x 13 mm and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited, based on
2016-548: The globe, mainly in Europe, capable of building a vessel to this specification and with this level of technology." It was the 717th ship built at the yard. The 130-metre (427 ft) vessel was scheduled for final delivery to Cecon ASA in February 2014. "It's used for multi-purpose applications. From pipe laying to subsea construction to deep sea well intervention, it's really about the deep sea," said Alex Vicefield , chairman of
2072-482: The mid-1970s at a 15-acre (61,000 m ) property located at 2400 Boundary Road. After being sold, this property was repurposed to become The Bridge Studios , the site of the largest special effects stage in North America. In 1886, the company began to build a cantilevered bridge over the St. Lawrence River for the Canadian Pacific Railway . Because part of the bridge lay in the reservation of
2128-521: The municipalities in the territory of present-day Lévis; many were merged between 1861 and 2002, reflecting changes in governance. The Village of Pointe-Levy (or Saint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Lévy) was renamed as the Village of Lauzon in 1867 and incorporated as the City of Lauzon in 1910. In the late 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Alphonse Desjardins pioneered the credit union movement, establishing
2184-515: The new St. Lawrence Seaway . The company also raised the Honoré Mercier Bridge as part of the same programme. It had built the original bridge between 1932 and 1934 using steel caissons assembled by Dufresne Engineering from plates manufactured at Dominion's Lachine yards. The company's Canadian operations experienced a major decline after work was completed on projects for Montreal's Olympic Games in 1976. The Burnaby plant
2240-424: The older city of Lévis founded in 1861. Lévis is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec , coextensive with the city of Lévis. Its geographical code is 25 as a census division, and 251 as an RCM-equivalent territory. First Nations and prehistoric indigenous peoples settled in this area for thousands of years due to its ideal location at
2296-462: The paint shop, install new roofing over exterior crane rails, and purchase new fabrication equipment. The plant reopened in May 1999. On July 9, 2008, a numbered company (3010864 Canada Inc.) that had been dissolved in 2003 was revived under the name 'Dominion Bridge Inc.' Michel L. Marangere is one of two listed directors (Search for a Federal Corporation - Corporations Canada - Industry Canada). To date, there have been no public communications about
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2352-684: The shipyard from TECO. This deal fell through in July 2011. After the Fincantieri deal fell through, the yard underwent financial restructuring in July 2011 in order to qualify to bid for a portion of the first stages of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) which will see ships built for the Canadian Coast Guard , Royal Canadian Navy and Department of Fisheries and Oceans , for
2408-474: The shipyard. Export Development Canada forgave a loan to Cecon ASA of approximately $ 216 million during the Zafiro-Cecon sale process, which had tied up for many years three partly finished keels: the above-mentioned Cecon Pride , Sovereign and Excellence . In 2014, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Diane Finley turned down Davie's bid to build Canada's next icebreaker, saying that
2464-540: The transformation from a Quebec City suburb into a small city. Commission scolaire des Navigateurs operates Francophone public schools. There are many schools of different levels, including the Cégep de Lévis and a UQAR campus (Université du Québec à Rimouski). Dominion Bridge Company The Dominion Bridge Company, Limited was a Canadian steel bridge constructor originally based in Lachine, Quebec . From
2520-546: The week before a joint venture to bid for the contract. The new company bore the name Chantier Davie Canada Inc. Davie was not selected for the first contracts in the NSPS program, which went instead to Vancouver Shipyards , a subsidiary of Seaspan , and Halifax Shipyards , a unit of the Irving Group of Companies . Vancouver Shipyards obtained an $ 8 billion contract to supply the Coast Guard, while Halifax Shipyards obtained
2576-625: Was called "M.I.L. Tracy" (for Tracy, Quebec , a neighborhood of Sorel) and the former Davie yard in Lauzon was called "M.I.L. Lauzon." Shortly after the merger, the new company, MIL-Davie Shipbuilding closed the Sorel shipyard along with the Versatile Vickers shipyard in Montreal , resulting in a total loss of 1,700 jobs but kept the Lauzon yard open as it was working on building two large vessels for Marine Atlantic and three warships for
2632-407: Was divided into Desjardins Regional County Municipality and Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Regional County Municipality . On January 1, 2002, ten cities were merged by the Quebec provincial government to form the new city of Lévis. Previously, the former cities of Lauzon and Saint-David-de-l'Auberivière had been merged to Lévis in 1989. The regional county municipalities of which these cities were
2688-459: Was founded on the eastern part of this territory. In the following years, other seignories were founded near the St. Lawrence River. Pointe-Lévy was primarily developed as an agricultural domain, in which several land-owners ("Seigneurs") controlled their part of land in a medieval feudal system. The land of the Lauzon seignory remained unoccupied until 1647, when Guillaume Couture became the first French settler installed by Quebec City . Couture
2744-467: Was later changed to United Dominion Industries. To keep name recognition alive, the company continued to call its Canadian division 'Dominion Bridge'. Between 1979 and 1988, the company's Lachine plant operated under the auspices of a subsidiary called Dominion Bridge-Sulzer Inc., which was co-owned by AMCA International and Sulzer Inc. The Dominion Bridge facility in Burnaby, BC operated from 1930 until
2800-553: Was located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, Pointe-Levy could be connected by rail to Ontario and the Maritime Provinces, as well as to Maine and all the United States. Between 1865 and 1872, the British constructed three forts in order to protect the City of Quebec and its surroundings, from the threat of an American invasion in the aftermath of its civil war. The British had maintained relations with
2856-407: Was managed by sons Allison Cufaude Davie and George Duncan Davie, with the former taking full control following the death of the latter in 1937. Davie's Brothers Limited remained in family ownership until 1951 and was owned by Logistec Corporation (1971) and finally, Équimer (1987) before the yard closed for good in 1989. The company built a wide range of vessels in the 1800s and the first half of
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#17327827964232912-464: Was restructured into a new company called Davie Yards Incorporated . In February 2010 TECO received protection from its creditors. It employed at the time, 1,000 people. Investissement Québec held CAD$ 28 million in share capital, so Davie can be considered partly an SOE . In early 2011, TECO announced that Davie Yards Inc announced a bid by Fincantieri – Cantieri Navali Italiani of Italy and Fincantieri subsidiary DRS Technologies Canada to purchase
2968-757: Was serving as the first Administrator, Chief Magistrate, Captain of the Militia, and member of the Sovereign Council ; he was widely considered a hero among colonists in New France . Couture, however, was not the first 'Seigneur' of the Lauzon Seignory, as the land had been previously owned by Jean de Lauson (French Governor between 1651 and 1657). During the Seven Years' War , in the summer of 1759, British General James Wolfe established
3024-461: Was shut down in the mid-1970s and the Toronto plant was closed in 1990. Furthermore, the company reduced the scope of its Montreal-area operations between the early 1970s and 1990: the satellite facility in Montreal's Longue-Pointe district was closed, two large shops in Lachine were acquired by Sulzer Inc. after the dissolution of Dominion Bridge-Sulzer Inc., and several buildings on the property of
3080-476: Was sold again in 2000 and became "Industries Davie, Ltd". During this period, the company undertook a number of projects involving vessels and rigs which serve the offshore oil and gas market. These included the upgrade of a semi-submersible platform for Petrobras and the conversion of a vessel for pipe laying. In 2006, the shipyard was almost auctioned in June, before it was sold to TECO Maritime ASA of Norway and
3136-654: Was sold to Versatile Corporation which changed the name of the shipyard to " Versatile Davie Incorporated ". In the 1970s to 1980s the Davie yard built oil rigs and some warships. However, after CSL ended its ownership the company began to fail. By the 1980s, the company was in financial trouble and was bailed out by both the provincial and federal governments. In 1986 the federal government asked Quebec to rationalize its shipyards. Marine Industries Ltd (MIL) merged with Versatile Davie Inc to become MIL-Davie Shipbuilding. Under this new arrangement, MIL's shipyard in Sorel, Quebec
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