DETROIT (WWJ) – The Gordie Howe International Bridge is close to another milestone.
Back at the end of August the tower on the U.S. side of the Detroit River reached its full height of 722 feet – the second tallest structure in Detroit. Now officials with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority say the tower on the Canadian side is getting close.
While good progress is being made on the towers, as well as the bridge deck itself sitting at about 50% complete, officials on Thursday shared new drone footage of the progress being made on the Michigan interchange.
With traffic flowing on I-75, the footage shows the ramps leading to and from the U.S. port of entry beginning to take shape.
Heather Grondin, Chief Relations Officer with the bridge authority, told WWJ’s Dan Jenkins officials are still expecting the bridge to be completed by the original contracted end date of 2024, despite giving that timeline before the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Aside from the completion of the Canadian tower this fall, Grondin says the next biggest milestone will be the one people have been waiting to see.
“Looking into 2024 I think one of the big achievements people are going to be looking forward to is when that bridge deck connects,” she said. “I do want to tell people, though, that just because they’ll see the bridge deck connect, it doesn’t mean we’re gonna be done working on the bridge; there’s a whole host of activities that we have to do once that deck is fully formed.”
Drone footage from last Friday shows the bridge deck making huge progress, reaching out across about a quarter of the river from each side.
As for this winter, Grondin says crews will still be working on the bridge, but the colder months will give them “a good opportunity to focus on some of the interior work at the buildings at our ports of entry.”
There will be a Community Appreciation Breakfast this Saturday morning at Clark Park Ice Rink in Detroit, while one will be held in Windsor on Nov. 4. Information can be found on the bridge’s website.