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OTTAWA — Delays in approving the new Champlain Bridge cost taxpayers $500 million in avoidable expenditures, the Auditor General has found, while “flaws” in Ottawa’s analysis of the project also unnecessarily inflated its initial cost estimates.

In a report released Tuesday, the auditor said it was unlikely the private consortium leading the project would finish construction on time, and said that meeting its December 2018 completion date would be “very challenging.”

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The Champlain Bridge, which spans the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, was approved in October 2011 and is expected to cost $4.2 billion. The old Champlain Bridge was less than 50 years old but had deteriorated quicker than expected, forcing authorities to close lanes and restrict the flow of traffic. Delays in approving the new project inflated government costs by half a billion dollars, while also causing additional economic losses for Montreal and the surrounding area.