Canadian tower tops out on Gordie Howe

The six-lane cable-stayed bridge project includes new customs plazas in both Detroit and Windsor as well as a new link to the I-75 interstate highway in Detroit.
By David Arminas December 21, 2023 Read time: 3 mins
The Americans finished their tower ahead of the Canadians but the Canadian road deck (in foreground) stretching out across from the Canadian tower is ahead of the US deck (image courtesy WDBA)

The tower on the Canadian side of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Canada and the US has reached its full height of 220m.

The tower on the American side of the bridge, across the Detroit River, reached its full height in August, according to Heather Grondin, vice-president for the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority. “People can really start recognising what the cable stay bridge design means for the skyline,” said Grondin, speaking to the CTV News network in Windsor.

The WDBA is the Canadian government corporation responsible for administering the construction and future operation of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor in the Canadian province of  Ontario and Detroit in the US state of Michigan.

Grondin said there is some healthy competition for bragging rights between the US workers on the Detroit side and the Canadians on the other side near Windsor. The Americans finished their tower ahead of the Canadians but the Canadian road deck stretching out across from the tower is ahead of the US deck.

For a 10-minute recap of how the towers were built, click here.

Meanwhile, for a six-minute video on how the cables are being installed, click here.

The six-lane cable-stayed bridge project includes new customs plazas in both Detroit and Windsor as well as a new link to the I-75 interstate highway in Detroit.

The official opening date of the bridge is late 2024, but a Canadian official from the group overseeing the estimated $5.7 billion project said Tuesday the deadline may be put back, according to Stephanie Campeau, director of stakeholder and community relations for the WDBA. According to the Detroit News newspaper, Campeau made the statement at a recent public update about the project in Detroit. Talks between WDBA and Bridging North America, the group of firms building the bridge, are "ongoing".

Bridging North America, a partnership of Fluor, ACS Infrastructure Canada and Aecon Group, is the private-sector partner selected to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the US$4.4 billion bridge the WDBA. The longest span stretches 853m completely over the river and clearance above water will be 42m.

Early work for the bridge started in summer 2018 and when completed, it will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. The Canadian government will receive all toll revenues, the project being totally Canadian with no US funding.

The bridge is named after the Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe who spent most of his professional years with the Detroit Red Wings. There is also a Gordie Howe Bridge, a four lane motorway steel girder structure across the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, where Howe spend is youth.

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