It’s been over 1,000 days since construction began on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and there’s plenty of work ahead before the Ontario-Michigan border crossing’s anticipated completion in 2024.

The milestone was reached on July 1, according to the organization leading the project.

The bridge will serve as another corridor for the movement of people and goods between Windsor and Detroit, complementing the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, considered the busiest Canada-U.S. border crossing, as well as the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry.

Construction has continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest challenge now is keeping the project on schedule, said Michael Hatchell, CEO for Bridging North America, the private-sector consortium leading construction.

It will be months before the impact of COVID-19 on the project will be known, since the pandemic has affected supply chains for construction materials.

“So far we are still at the goal,” said Bryce Phillips, CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. “We’re still working toward the end of 2024.”

The bridge tower on the Canadian side stands about 43 metres — about as high as the roadway on the 853-metre cable-stay bridge will eventually stand.

According to the authority, significant progress has been made since the project kicked off in 2018. It includes the near-completion of design, utility and earth work, the start of construction on the bridge towers and the Canadian Port of Entry, and the completion of the tower foundations and perimeter access road at the Canadian port. Three demolished road bridges on the Michigan side are being reconstructed.

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