An exact replica model of what the Gordie Howe International Bridge crossing and plaza will look like once finished has been created by a Toronto-based architect and design team and was made available to the public on Friday.

A six-minute video of the process to create the Howe bridge model and interviews with the architects involved was unveiled online by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and the Howe bridge design team.

The painstaking detail of the replica involved designers spending 2,000 hours to reproduce an exact 1:750-scale of the project, including vehicles, plaza building, bridge tower and roadways carefully placed onto the model.

Peter McCann Architectural Models Inc. has produced countless models for other major construction projects that range from condo towers and hotels, to stadiums and office buildings around the world.

It is just one of four replica models of the bridge project that will be completed by the design team before the end of this year.

Eventually, the models will be available for Windsor residents to view and get a more intimate feel for the entire Howe bridge project.

“Models such as this are always completed as part of any large-scale infrastructure project,” said Mark Butler, spokesman for the bridge authority, which is overseeing construction of the Howe project. “They help to show the level of detail and full scope of the project.”

Creating such a model also helps illustrate how all the pieces of the project — including a connection to the Herb Gray Parkway, Canadian and U.S. inspection plazas, the bridge itself, plus a new three-kilometre feeder road and interchange connection with I-75 freeway in Detroit — all work together.

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