RC122 JanFeb 2026 - Magazine - Page 19
$23 million, divided equally between the adjacent Windsor and Detroit communities. “With that money, we’ve
invested in speci昀椀c priority areas identi昀椀ed through community consultation,” Grondin explains. “Investments
include arts programs, extension of trail networks, programming targeting youth and seniors and food security
programs on both sides of the border.”
This strategy also provided additional bene昀椀ts to
local communities that included planting and distributing more than 1,200 trees to locals and a signi昀椀cant
investment in enhancing the park systems, with building
everything from a gazebo and additional seating areas to
brand-new 昀椀tness equipment. “All of these investments
re昀氀ect what each community wanted,” Grondin adds.
I-75 in Detroit to the U.S. port of entry, creating, for the
昀椀rst time, a direct highway-to-highway link to Highway
401 in Windsor. Additional buildings and infrastructure
constructed on both sides of the border include cold
storage, animal pens (for drug-detection dogs), inspection
warehouses, truck parking, trailer bays and advanced
large-scale imaging.
“We’ve got a massive control room,” says van Niekerk.
“If you are a Star Trek fan, like me, it feels like you’re
sitting in the bridge of the Enterprise!”
Bolstering communities
The new bridge not only connects Canada and the
U.S., but it also bridges the gap between communities,
providing residents on both sides of the border with new
amenities.
“Connectivity is a big part of this massive infrastructure project,” says van Niekerk. “The bridge is not just
connecting the two countries with an additional border
crossing, but it’s connecting the diverse communities on
both sides of the border, along with the surrounding areas
and supporting infrastructure.”
Engaging these border communities and advancing
economic, social and environmental conditions for residents in the environs of this new bridge was a crucial part
of this project. The Community Bene昀椀t Plan, developed
in collaboration—and through ongoing engagement and
consultation—with the Windsor and Detroit communities, outlines the size and scope of these investments. The
plan features two speci昀椀c components: the Workforce
Development and Participation Strategy and the Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy.
The Workforce Development and Participation Strategy
established key metrics that the project team met, like 41
per cent of the labourers hired being local. “We’ve also
had about 250 local businesses contribute goods and/or
services thanks to pre-identifying, as part of this strategy, some low-dollar value contracts that 昀椀t well into the
local environment,” says Heather Grondin, chief relations
o昀케cer, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.
The second part of the Community Bene昀椀ts Plan, the
Neighbourhood Infrastructure Strategy, which totalled
RENEWCANADA.NET
Caring for the environment
The Gordie Howe International Bridge was designed and
constructed with sustainability—and a care for the environment—driving many of the business and engineering
decisions. The project team are proud that the new bridge
achieved ISO 1400135 certi昀椀cation and that all ancillary
buildings supporting the new border crossing are LEED
Silver certi昀椀ed.
“Sure, the bridge is beautiful, but the reason we have
the longest span of any cable-stayed bridge in North
America is because, early on, we decided that we did
not want to touch the water, so that’s one reason why
there are no piers in the Detroit River,” says van Niekerk.
“Also, since there is heavy trade travelling on this river,
we did not want to get into a situation where there is a
con昀氀ict between our infrastructure and ships.”
The project team also did not want any potential spills
on the bridge to impact the water system, so to mitigate
this, they’ve built a fully self-contained water management and processing plant on site. “All the water on
the bridge is captured, so any spills are redirected,” van
Niekerk says. “We can then treat them before they’re
released into the river.”
Future forward
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a forward-thinking design that adapts in real time to tra昀케c volume.
“We’ve got six lanes, three in each direction, with the
ability to change the direction of these lanes to facilitate
growth,” says David Henderson, CEO, Bridging North
America, the consortium created to design, build, 昀椀nance,
operate and maintain the Gordie Howe International
Bridge through a P3 model. The consortium includes
Aecon, ACS Infrastructure Canada and Fluor Canada.
“Without making any structural changes to the existing
bridge, we can also go up to eight lanes—four in each
direction.”
The bridge was designed to incorporate new technologies as new e昀케ciencies and discoveries are made, seamlessly adding to the existing infrastructure. “The sheer
scale of this project and its importance to the local communities is phenomenal,” Henderson concludes. “We can see
the light at the end of the tunnel, and everyone is excited.
We are looking forward to opening the bridge as quickly as
we can, but we want to make sure that we do it right.”
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 – RENEW CANADA 19
