Gordie Howe International Bridge temporarily links in the middle as construction continues

The two sides of the Gordie Howe International Bridge are connected — albeit temporarily — as work continues before the bridge's fall 2025 opening. 

Temporary bracing beams are in place to ensure the alignment of the bridge, Bridging North America CEO David Henderson said Tuesday.

"This is one of the most visible milestones in the project," Henderson said. "We already have temporary beams connected to the two sides of the bridge to help us with our final alignment.

"Midweek we'll actually complete the installation of it with the closure section ... and then of course following that there will be the precast panels and the balance of the construction."

The distance between the two sides is 11 metres, or 36 feet. 

But the lifting of the beam into place was enough that workers were able to walk and shake hands on one of the beams, as captured on the CBC Windsor tower camera. 

The Gordie Howe International Bridge now connects over the Detroit River — sort of

6 months ago

Duration 1:18

The Canadian and American sides of the Gordie Howe International Bridge have connected over the Detroit River. But it's a temporary link, Bridging North America CEO David Henderson told the CBC's Michael Evans on Tuesday. The temporary beams have been put in place to ensure alignment, ahead of the final section of the bridge being lifted into place.

And, Henderson says, it's now an international border crossing — which means workers must go through customs on their way to work each day. 

"We actually have two ports of entry. They're not nearly as large as the permanent ones, of course, but our team that's working on the bridge and that international zone has to go through the checkpoints with the same documents just like you and I would," he said. 

But even with the bridge nearing closure, Henderson says there's still plenty of work to go before the public will be able to use the crossing. 

"We had no doubt from our team standpoint that everything would match up in the middle ... It's been a long time coming and we look forward to the completion in the coming year." 

On Tuesday, Bridging North America announced the recipients of its community benefits plan. Seven Windsor projects are among the 13 selected for funding, including:

• Windsor Symphony Orchestra for education, community outreach and concert programming.
• CJAM Student Media for the 2024 Higher Grounds Music Festival.
• Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation for Kickstarting the West.
• The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for a fridge/freezer purchase and programming support.
• Bike Windsor Essex for virtual guided bicycle tours.
•  Assumption University for the Father Joe Quinn Education Series.
• Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary for family activities and events.

"It's always been important to us to not just build the beautiful piece of infrastructure behind us, but to also recognize the impacts of this project on the community and have a plan, have an approach that can directly respond to community need," said Heather Grondin, the chief relations officer with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. 

"This is a very unique community benefits plan. It's an international plan. It includes both the workforce side as well as community investments, community enhancements, efforts to make the community better and to improve quality of life for those people that we work with every single day outside of the project footprint."