Gordie Howe bridge to cost $5.7 billion
The six-lane, 2.5-kilometre cable-stayed bridge will open in late 2024
OTTAWA — A new bridge that will span Canada’s busiest border crossing with the United States is expected to cost $5.7 billion, take six years to build and will rely on steady tolls to pay back the federal investment needed to make it happen.
The price tag for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, announced Friday, includes $3.8 billion for its design and construction, as well as $1.9 billion more to operate and maintain the span and its ports of entry on both sides of the border for 30 years.
The cost of the bridge has steadily increased since the previous Conservative government found a way to bypass American lawmakers and the funding stalemate that had threatened to thwart the long-discussed project.
Officials overseeing work on the bridge named after the National Hockey League Hall of Famer — who was a legendary figure in the two cities and countries the span will connect — say the contract unveiled Friday with a consortium of private construction firms largely sets the final price.
But there are still risks that could drive up the cost, including any labour disruptions and additional environmental work.
The consortium will have to swallow any increases in labour or materials costs. And federal officials could decide to withhold payments if construction timelines fall behind schedule.
The major risk for the bridge authority is that the project doesn’t earn enough from user tolls to cover the federal investment.
The bridge authority says the cost would have been more than $6.2 billion if the Canadian government had decided not to partner with a private-sector consortium and to foot the entire bill itself.
Construction of the six-lane, 2.5-kilometre cable-stayed bridge will provide a second span connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit — but it won’t be open to traffic until the end of 2024.
BY THE NUMBERS
Here are some other key figures about the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
• $3.8 billion — Estimated cost to design and build the bridge, ports of entry and a highway interchange in Michigan.
• 6 — Years it will take to build the bridge.
• $1.9 billion — Anticipated cost over 30 years to operate and maintain the bridge and its ports of entry.
• $559 million — Amount the federal government has spent since 2005 to get to the point where construction can begin.
• 400 — Anticipated number of commercial vehicles such as trucks expected to cross the bridge every hour.
• 2,500 — Expected number of jobs directly related to construction of the bridge.
• 225 — Size, in American football fields, of the green space at the two ports of entry.
• 162 — The same space, roughly, in Canadian football fields.
• 2.5 — Length of the bridge in kilometres.
• 125 — Lifespan of the new bridge in years.