LOOK Gordie Howe International Bridge Project Marks 1K Days of Work
By Gord Bacon
It's been 1,000 days since work began on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge.
Design work, earthworks, utility work, and access roads are done and construction of the towers are well underway on both sides of the border.
AM800's Patty Handysides spoke with Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority CEO Bryce Phillips and Bridging North America CEO Michael Hatchell Thursday.
Hatchel tells The Afternoon News the pandemic has pushed things back, but the project continues to move forward.
"You have the towers behind us, they're about 140 ft. right now, and the elevation you see here is about where the traffic's going to be when the bridge if finished," he says. "The tower itself is going to be around 720 ft. in height, so we still have a long ways to go from that standpoint."
Hatchel says there's some friendly competition between crews on both sides of the river.
"The Canadian side was a little bit ahead of the U.S. side, but right now the U.S. side is probably one lift higher than the Canadian side, but we're staying fairly even as we go all the way up," he says.
Phillips says that friendly competition is being done safely as the site hasn't had a lost time accident in 3-million hours.
"That's a record to be proud of as you can see. There's four segments of the bridge; you can see the towers behind us," he added.
Construction began in October of 2018 with a projected budget of $5.7 billion.
More information on the first 1,000 days of construction can be found on the bridges website.