'This is really exciting': Gordie Howe International Bridge's Detroit tower reaches final height, nearly as tall as RenCen

DETROIT (WWJ) – Construction on the Gordie Howe Bridge has hit another milestone.

Officials with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced this week the U.S. tower has reached its full height of 722 feet, just shy of Detroit’s tallest building, the center tower at the Renaissance Center.

The tower on the Canadian side is nearing completion.

The last concrete pour for the sloped architectural heads at the top of the pylon head have now been completed in Detroit, leading to the final steps of completing the bridge. Officials said those who live near the bridge or drive by it regularly will see those changes happening over the next four weeks.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge team is currently working to find a permanent home for the artwork that adorned the jump form – an enclosed scaffolding-like system – as it is disassembled.

Bridge construction began in October 2018 and work on the towers began in 2019, “forever changing the shared skyline between Windsor, Canada and Detroit Michigan.”

“While visually stunning, the bridge towers are integral to the cable-stayed design of the bridge,” a press release from the bridge authority says “They house the anchor boxes that attach the stay cables from the towers to the bridge and road decks. Along with the stay cables, the towers provide the support system for the entire weight of the bridge and the load it will eventually carry.”

When complete, the bridge will become one of North America’s largest stayed-cable bridges. It will not have any piers in the Detroit River.

Speaking to WWJ’s Luke Sloan, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority Vice President Heather Grondin said the bridge’s latest milestone should be a point of pride for the community.

“This is really exciting. There’s been an enormous amount of work that’s been done,” Grondin said. “Before we could start building the towers, we had to do extensive work underground and all the way down to bedrock.”

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.

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