Montreal's new Champlain Bridge, which will span the St. Lawrence River and replace the existing bridge, is an enormous project. The $4.25-billion project began in 2015 and is expected to be completed by December of 2018, and already employs nearly 500 people.

And continuing a tradition that stretches back generations, a small but growing number of the ironworkers involved in the huge project are Mohawks from the nearby community of Kahnawake, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.

"We currently have close to 470 workers on the new Champlain Bridge corridor project and there will be close to 1,000 at its peak," says Véronique Richard-Charrier, the media relations advisor for Signature on the Saint Lawrence, the consortium which is overseeing the project.

Joey Barnes is one of the 10 Mohawks who are among those currently working on the bridge. He says he's doing the same thing people from his community, including close relatives, have been doing for generations, and he's helping to keep what he calls "a community tradition" going.

"I'm the part of the new generation," of ironworkers, he said.

Ironworkers from Kahnawake like Barnes often work across Canada and in the United States, where their skills are in demand.

When work slowed down last fall in New York City, the 23-year-old returned to Kahnawake and found work on the Champlain Bridge project. While the money isn't as good in Montreal as in the U.S, living 20 minutes away from the worksite is an advantage for him.

For now, he's close to his family, friends and his dog, Forest.