'First real piece' of $3.8B Gordie Howe bridge revealed, marked as major milestone

The first tangible piece of the $3.8-billion Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Michigan has popped off the page and come to life.

The creation of the crossing's soffit — material to hide the "guts" of the bridge, and make it more aesthetically pleasing — is being labelled as a major milestone for the project.

"I think what's important is, it's the first real piece of the bridge, the first real component of the bridge that people can actually see being manufactured," said Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority spokesperson Mark Butler.

Colour of bridge now visible

Bridge officials went to Quebec City to inspect the test piece that was made earlier this year. That's when they got to see the whitish-grey colour up close, which will be the tone for the entire bridge.

Over the next few years, construction of this soffit will continue before being delivered to Windsor. Residents won't notice any construction of the bridge itself until at least 2021 through 2023.

Right now, a lot of the work isn't visble to the public because some of it is underground. This work includes the relocation of utilities, as well as the testing of seawalls on both sides of the border.

Divers were sent down this week to examine the stability of those seawalls as construction continues and to determine if any additional rehabilitation is needed.

'Massive undertaking'

Another notable sign that the project is ramping up is the fact that Bridging North America — the consortium chosen to build and maintain the structure — has opened "modular" offices totalling 70,000 square feet on both the Canadian and American sides.

"These are modular offices which were shipped in, they're joined together," said Butler. "This is a massive undertaking, that mobilization of getting on-site premises."

The crossing is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.