The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
has made a long-awaited announcement
about the private contractor that
will build the new Gordie Howe
International Bridge. That
contractor is Bridging North
America, which is made up of an
international consortium of
companies including ACS
Infrastructure Canada and Fluor
Corporation. Other private partners
include engineering, architecture,
and financial firms. (The latest
rendering of the Gordie Howe
International Bridge.
WINDSOR-DETROIT BRIDGE AUTHORITY)
Groundbreaking
ceremony
held for
new
bridge
between
Windsor
and
Detroit
By
Cory
Williams
APNews.com
DETROIT
- U.S.
and
Canadian
officials
touted
the
friendship
between
the two
countries
while
acknowledging
the
economic
benefits
a new
international
bridge
between
Detroit
and
Windsor,
Ont.,
will
bring.
A
groundbreaking
for the
advance
construction
of the
Gordie
Howe
International
Bridge
was held
Tuesday
in
southwest
Detroit.
article
continues
below
The
six-lane,
cable-stayed
Canadian-financed
span
over the
Detroit
River is
expected
to
provide
direct
connections
to
existing
highway
networks
in
Windsor
and
Detroit.
Construction
could
start in
earnest
by early
October.
The
bridge
is
scheduled
to open
in 2020.
"Make no
mistake,
we are
starting
to build
this
bridge
and it's
going to
be built
and the
people
of the
United
States
and
Canada
will be
using it
very
soon,"
Windsor-Detroit
Bridge
Authority
Chair
Dwight
Duncan
said at
Tuesday's
ceremony.
The
Windsor-Detroit
trade
corridor
is the
busiest
commercial
land
crossing
on the
border
between
the U.S.
and
Canada,
handling
more
than 30
per cent
of trade
hauled
by
trucks.
"The
Gordie
Howe
International
Bridge
will
play a
vital
role in
supporting
and
growing
the
local
economies
on both
sides of
the
border
and will
create
opportunities
for
residents
and
businesses
alike,"
said
federal
Infrastructure
Minister
Amarjeet
Sohi.
"This
project
is also
an
important
symbol
of our
deep
friendship
and
mutually
beneficial
relationship
with the
United
States."
Currently,
the
privately-owned
Ambassador
Bridge
and the
Detroit-Windsor
Tunnel
are the
only
commuter
crossings
between
the two
cities.
Michigan
Gov.
Rick
Snyder
called
the
Gordie
Howe
bridge
an
"economic
engine"
that
will
provide
good-paying
jobs. He
also
said a
second
span
would
provide
economic
security
in the
event of
an
Ambassador
Bridge
closing.
The
Detroit
International
Bridge
Co.,
which
operates
the
Ambassador
Bridge,
has been
unsuccessful
in suing
to stop
the
future
construction
of the
new
bridge.
The
company
has been
seeking
permits
to build
a
six-lane
replacement
span for
the
Ambassador
Bridge.
That
span
would be
about
two
miles
upriver
of the
Gordie
Howe
International
Bridge.
The
Gordie
Howe
bridge
is named
after
the late
hockey
legend,
who was
born in
Canada
and grew
up in
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan.
Most of
his 26
years in
the NHL
were
with the
Detroit
Red
Wings.
He died
in 2016.
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