Following almost eight years of construction, the Gordie Howe International Bridge has finally opened for business. Providing an additional connection between the USA and Canada, the crossing features an impressive main span of 853 m (2,798 ft), making it the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.
Designed by AECOM's Erik Behrens, with a large team of collaborators including the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, Bridging North America, Dragados, Fluor, and Aecon, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is named after a famous Canadian ice hockey player. Coming in somewhere around the 10th-longest cable-stayed bridge worldwide, the total length of the crossing is approximately 2.5 km (1.6 miles) and it creates a direct connection between Ontario's Highway 401 and Michigan's Interstate-75, enabling millions of truck crossings per year.
The bridge's deck is positioned roughly 42 m (138 ft) above the Detroit River and has a width of 37 m (121 ft). It consists of six traffic lanes, along with 16 toll lanes and 60 Canada and United States inspection lanes on the approach.
Naturally, constructing it all was a huge endeavor. Beginning in October 2018, it took 15,843 people 20.1 million hours to build. The bridge is supported by 216 stay cables made up of between 38 and 122 strands of steel per cable.
Each of its two imposing towers required 4,500 metric tonnes (4,960 US tons) of steel rebar and 10,000 cubic meters (353,400 cubic ft) of concrete. Rising 220 m (721 ft), they're among the tallest structures in the region. They are anchored by shafts drilled to a depth of 36 m (118 ft) into the bedrock and filled with concrete. At night the entire thing is illuminated with over 6,000 programmable white LEDs.
"The Gordie Howe International Bridge is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in North America, built through partnership, ambition, and a shared belief that investing in modern infrastructure builds a stronger future," says the project's official press release.
The bridge's opening comes at a delicate time for US-Canada relations. Reuters reports that the US declined to send officials to mark the occasion amid an ongoing trade war and disagreement over when the two countries will begin sharing the considerable toll revenue.
Sources: Gordie Howe International Bridge, Government of Canada
