Skip to main content
Go back

In-Depth Cleaning

Colour photograph of a yellow mechanical shovel doing clean-up work on the Des Prairies River on a sunny summer day.

Société d’histoire et de généalogie de l’île Jésus, P19 Fonds Association pour l’aménagement de la rivière des Prairies, P19/A,17.008, Clean-up of the Des Prairies River: Cheval Blanc rapids and Île Paton Channels, 1988.

The Association pour l’aménagement de la rivière des Prairies was active in the 1980s. The organization’s goal was to make changes to certain stretches of the river. The Cheval Blanc rapids in Sainte-Dorothée district were a central issue. The Association was seeking government support to excavate and dredge the river. That would secure the area and put an end to accidents caused by the reefs. In November 1987, the City of Laval awarded $110,000 to clean up the Cheval Blanc rapids and the channels at Île Paton. The work involved breaking up and removing large stones in order to make the water safer for boating.