After years of foundation and preparatory work on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the most visible aspect of the project will soon jut from the ground in Windsor and Detroit.

“It was ‘build down’ before you ‘build up’,” says Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority spokesperson, Mark Butler, who points out foundation work on the Canadian side is completed and similar work on the U.S. side is just about done. “And now, we’re going to be starting building the pylons.”

Those ‘pylons’ are the main tower structures that will anchor the road surface and cable-stays on the $5.7 billion bridge between Canada and the United States.

The towers will stand 220 metres tall, or approximately the height of the tallest tower of Detroit’s Renaissance Centre a few kilometres upriver. It will also mark the most labour intensive and visible aspect of the job to date, says Butler.

“It’s going to take some time. It’s a huge amount of concrete and a huge amount of girder work and it has to be done in stages,” says Butler. “You’ll certainly see from both sides of the border the bridge towers starting to take place over the next couple of months.”

With that comes thousands of promised construction jobs, says Butler.

“Towards the middle of the year, end of the year, you’re going to see a huge amount of activity on both sides of the border,” Butler says, adding it will be the busiest the site has been since ground was officially broken at the Canadian port of entry back in 2015.

COVID-19 caused some minor impacts on construction in 2020 due to what Butler calls “supply chain disruptions.” But he says the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and private-sector partner Bridging North America were quick off the mark when the pandemic started, instituting safety protocols that allowed much of the work to proceed on both ports of entry, the Michigan interchanges and the bridge itself.

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