Group wins bid to build landmark bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit
Multibillion-dollar structure will be longest of its kind in North America
WINDSOR, ONT. The long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge on the continent — and it will be constructed by an international group called Bridging North America.
The winning team — one of three finalists to bid on the landmark multi-billion-dollar project — was announced in downtown Windsor on Thursday morning.
“This is history in the making,” said Dwight Duncan, chair of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority’s board of directors.
The announcement is one of the project’s most significant since its beginnings in 2001 and its official naming in 2015.
Once complete, the cable-stayed bridge will extend 853 metres between its Windsor and Detroit piers, making the main span the longest of its kind in North America.
According to the WDBA, the bridge’s “A”-shaped towers will rival the height of Detroit’s 73-storey Renaissance Center.
There will be six lanes for motor vehicles — two more lanes than the current Ambassador Bridge — with a separate pathway for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
The Canadian plaza will be the largest Canadian port of entry anywhere on the U.S. border.
Estimates of the project’s total cost have ranged from $2.1 billion to $4.5 billion.
Mark Butler, the WDBA’s director of communications, said financial close of the agreement with Bridging North America will be reached by the end of September, and the WDBA will be able to announce a more definite contract cost and construction schedule at that time.
Duncan said he expects Bridging North America to begin working on the project this month, and major construction should begin in the fall of this year.
The terms of the public-private partnership include delivery of the project at a predetermined price, payment on performance, and guarantees that the infrastructure will be well-maintained for the duration of the agreement.
“A public-private partnership is just that — It is a partnership,” Duncan declared. “In this case, a long-term partnership that will last 30 years once the crossing is in service.”
The question of who will build the bridge has been under careful consideration for more than three years. Six international teams initially applied for the job, boiled down to three proponents in early 2016.
Bridging North America includes the firms:
ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc.
Dragados Canada Inc.
Fluor Canada Ltd.
AECOM
RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
Carlos Fernandez Casado and FHECOR Ingenieros Consultores, S.A.
Moriyama and Teshima Architects
Smith-Miller+ Hawkinson Architects
The team originally had the involvement of Canadian construction firm Aecon, but Aecon abruptly withdrew from the group in May — likely due to the potential takeover of Aecon by a Chinese state-owned company, which was then blocked by the federal government.
Heather Grondin, WDBA vicepresident of communications and stakeholder relations, said a third-party “fairness monitor” has been ensuring that the bridge authority’s procurement process is being conducted in a “fair, open, and transparent manner.”
Grondin also said there will be a regional focus in the recruitment efforts to come.
Previous forecasts have suggested a four-year construction schedule upon the announcement of the winning bid.
Asked about the continued efforts by the owners of the Ambassador Bridge — the Moroun family — to block the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Duncan said Thursday ’s announcement marks “the beginning of the end” of the battle.
“We have fought off every challenge imaginable,” Duncan told assembled media.
“I can assure you that the governments of Canada and Michigan … remain committed not only to get this thing built, but to get started just as soon as we can. And that is literally days and weeks away.”
Work has already begun on the Canadian end of the crossing, in Windsor’s Brighton Beach area, and on the U.S. end, in the Delray neighbourhood of southwestern Detroit.