Astounding time-lapse shows Ontario's $6.4B record-breaking bridge take shape

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project unfolding at the Canada–U.S. border has captivated the public since construction started back in June 2018.

The megalithic new infrastructure project linking Ontario and Michigan has made impressive strides over the last year, and all of it has been captured in a time-lapse video released on Thursday.

As work on the bridge races along ahead of a planned September 2025 opening, the project team is capping off an eventful year with a look back at the last 32 months of construction, spanning from April 2022 to December 2024.

The project team shared a full version of the timelapse (above) spanning over five minutes, along with a brief 30-second teaser version shared on social media.

Viewers can witness the bridge race through over two and a half years of construction, a period that has included some significant project milestones, including the connection of the bridge deck in June 2024.

That big milestone officially bestowed the title of North America's longest cable-stayed bridge span on the new border crossing.

The time-lapse also offers a look into the work ongoing for the U.S. and Canadian Ports of Entry, where all structures are under construction, and many buildings have already progressed to interior finishing stages. Other aspects of work on this portion of the border complex include paving, landscaping and fence installation ahead of the first cross-border traffic in 2025.

Most of the big news about the bridge in 2024 involved construction progress and the crossing of major project milestones.

However, the most recent major development revealed this fall looked forward to the future of the bridge. Celebrated artist and novelist Douglas Coupland was announced as the lead artist behind a sprawling light installation that will consist of approximately 5,000 LED lights spanning the 2.5-kilometre-long viaduct.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge will link Ontario's Highway 401 and Michigan's I-75 once the first traffic rolls across the border next September, closing a longstanding gap in a busy trucking corridor spanning the core of the Great Lakes region.