Much has already been written about the $5.7-billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, in late 2024. The new span will cross the Detroit River and provide an international crossing for truck traffic as well as an alternative to the tolled options that exist today. The bridge’s public-private partnership has been scrutinized as have the local politics surrounding the project, but the construction challenges have received far less attention.
This summer, two A-frame bridge towers to suspend the cable-stayed structure, one on the Canadian side and the other in the U.S., will start to rise 750 ft above Detroit’s skyline, as high as the city’s GM Renaissance Center. The towers will support the longest main span in North America, at 2,799 ft.