Having delivered the busiest year of construction to date, the Gordie Howe International Bridge project team is able to confirm a new completion and opening timeline. Construction completion is planned for September 2025 with the first vehicles expected to travel across the bridge that fall.
Originally, the $5.7 billion (CDN) project was scheduled for completion in November 2024 with opening anticipated by the end of that year. However, the project, like many others, experienced unprecedented disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The disruptions were even more prevalent for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project given the differing applicable restrictions in the US and Canada, combined with the ramping up of construction activities in early 2020.
Charl van Niekerk, CEO, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority expressed satisfaction with the new timeline. “After a three-year pandemic and considering the size and complexity of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted completion date and that we could agree on a reasonable adjustment to the contract value. With safety as our top priority, we will continue to work together to deliver this much needed infrastructure to the thousands of eager travellers ready to cross North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge.”
Like most public-private partnerships (P3) contracts, the contract between Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) and Bridging North America (BNA) provides for the schedule and cost impacts of certain risks to be shared. As a result, WDBA and BNA have agreed to amend the contract to include the new September 2025 construction completion date, new measures to ensure this date is achieved, and an updated overall contract value of $6.4 billion (CDN).
Recognizing that an extended construction period impacts the project host communities, WDBA has budgeted for a one-year extension of the Gordie Howe International Bridge Community Benefits Plan. With $3 million (CDN) to be divided equally between Canada and the US and expended over the 2025-2026 fiscal year, residents and business owners in Sandwich/west Windsor and Delray/Southwest Detroit will see positive outcomes from further regional investments.
Click the video below to watch the time lapse construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge from April 2022 to November 2023.