USSR lacked suitable rivers to expand its own hydroelectric network of dams and power stations. Options Two options were considered when Bourassa unveiled his plan for the construction of several large hydroelectric power stations on the rivers flowing into James Bay, either on the Nottaway, Broadback, Rupert and Harricana Rivers in the south (NBR Project), or on the La Grande and Eastmain Rivers to the north. The northerly rivers were selected in May 1972, various studies conducted by engineering firms having concluded the La Grande option would be more cost effective, while having a lesser impact on forestry and would require less flooding, thus minimizing impacts on First Nations fishing and hunting. Another area of concern was the silty nature of the terrain in the NBR area, which would have complicated the damming. The project, as described at the time, would involve the construction of four generating stations on the La Grande River and the diversion of the Eastmain and Caniapiscau rivers into the La Grande watershed. Responsibility for the project would be overseen by the Société d'énergie de la Baie-James, a newly created mixed corporation (public/private) controlled by Hydro-Québec, headed by Robert A. Boyd. As environmental assessments were not then required under Quebec law, construction of the James Bay Road to the La Grande River was begun in 1971 and completed by October 1974 at a cost of about $400 million. In 1973 and 1974, a temporary winter ice road was used to bring in the heavy equipment required for the construction of the roadbed and some 13 major bridges spanning the many rivers of the region. Construction had boomed in Montreal for Expo 67, leading to an inflated workforce, and afterwards times were tough for the construction industry in Montreal. As Bourassa had promised in the 1970 election that his government would create 100,000 jobs in the construction industry, there was much violent competition between various construction unions to have their workers engaged in the James Bay Project. Canadian historian Desmond Morton noted that there were 540 different incidents between the two main construction unions in Quebec on sites associated with the James Bay Project between 1970–74, many of them "very bloody". In the 1973 election, after the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) union had donated generously to the Parti libéral du Québec, Bourassa announced that only companies employing workers from the FTQ-affiliated Conseil des