Record-breaking $6.4B U.S. border bridge with Ontario months from opening

There will be a new way to cross into the U.S. from Ontario in just a few months, and crews are now racing to meet a promised fall opening of the gargantuan Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor.

At a cost of $6.4 billion, the record-breaking project — now laying claim to the title of the longest cable-stayed bridge span in North America — is in the process of crossing another significant milestone on the road to completion.

Now structurally complete and making the push to welcome the first cross-border traffic this fall, the behemoth bridge spanning the Detroit River has spent the spring and summer months shedding the huge tower cranes that were used to construct it. 

In June, the project team announced that "After five years, the two massive tower cranes on either side of the Detroit River are retiring from the Gordie Howe International Bridge project."

The matching cranes were installed over a three-day stretch in 2020, with a red-painted machine working the Canadian side of the river and a blue-painted crane on the U.S. side. These self-climbing cranes assisted in the forming of the bridge's massive towers, and eventually stood 243 metres/797 feet over the river at their peak heights.

Removal of the U.S. tower crane continues into the summer, according to a statement shared earlier this month.

In a July statement shared via newsletter, the bridge team explained that "After five years, the two massive tower cranes on either side of the Detroit River are retiring from the Gordie Howe International Bridge project," adding that "the Canadian tower crane was dismantled in May while the U.S. crane is coming down this month."

The Canadian crane's disassembly freed up the crawler crane to repeat this process across the border, requiring the dismantling of the crawler, which was then transported across the bridge using over 40 trips.

The self-climbing cranes have been disassembled in a reversal of their climbing process, descending until short enough to be taken apart in sections using a temporary 600-ton crawler crane with a boom arm that can reach 165 metres.

Removal of the U.S. crane was previously scheduled to be completed in June, though a July 11 statement notes that the process is still ongoing.

It would mark a minor delay for the process, but one already cutting rather close to the bridge's projected opening timeline.

The bridge had previously announced a late 2024 opening date before revising the bridge's debut to the coming fall.  According to the bridge team, construction completion is planned for September, with the first vehicles expected to travel across the bridge at a yet-to-be-announced date this fall.