Tour showcases Gordie Howe Bridge progress on both sides of the border

A media tour meant to showcase how far along the Gordie Howe Bridge project is on both sides of the border revealed a stark contrast Thursday.

• Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority set to begin 'significant construction' in 2018

• Contractors bidding on Gordie Howe bridge project request more time

Thirty shiploads of fill have been dumped at Brighton Beach in Windsor to transform the wetland into an area solid enough for traffic to come off the Herb Gray Parkway and onto a plaza before crossing the bridge-to-be.

About $200 million has been spent there so far, some of it to bury high-voltage cables underground.

But on the American side, signs of work are harder to come by. 

Watch as CBC's Dale Molnar describes the difference.

Gordie Howe Bridge construction update

7 years ago

Duration 0:55

A media tour meant to showcase how far along the Gordie Howe Bridge project is on both sides of the border revealed a stark contrast.

Some homes have been demolished, but there are still 20 properties officials have yet to acquire, including many that belong to Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun, who is fighting the process in court.

Americans ready for Moroun

An official with the state of Michigan stated they are prepared for the appeals Moroun is expected to file and are ready to take any cases all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, where they are confident they will win. 

"We have the vast majority, 93 per cent, under effective control. Meaning either they've been vacated or we have a court order for their vacation," said Andrew Doctoroff,​ special projects advisor for the Michigan governor's office.

"You can never say for sure when a court is going to rule or when we're going to get a certain decision, what I can say is we are aggressively litigating these matters," he added.

Doctoroff pointed to the eminent domain law which the allows government to take private property for public use as long as compensation is made to the owner. 

He added American officials will have all 636 parcels of land ready when construction on the bridge structure begins next summer.

Mark Butler from the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority stated the Americans are about where they're expected to be, given the different legal processes on the other side of the border.

Canadian side needed prep work

He explained Canadian side appears to have more work accomplished because more prep work was needed to get the land ready for use.

"On the Canadian side we had some issues we had to address, the ground was more soluble, the geography was such we had to get a lot of fill and aggregate to make sure the ground became stable," he said.

So far, $350 million has been spent on both sides of the Detroit River.

The WDBA can't give a firm amount for how much the bridge will cost or when it will be complete, because they still need to wait on bids, but the project is expected to cost at least $2 billion.