Gordie Howe International Bridge

Ontario's record-breaking U.S. border bridge zips through construction in timelapse

One of the most monumental Ontario infrastructure projects of a generation is taking shape in the massive new cross-border bridge that will soon connect Detroit and Windsor.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge has made substantial construction progress since 2022, and is well on its way to breaking the record for the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.

Just for a recognizable frame of reference that better illustrates the bridge's mind-melting span of 853 metres across the Detroit River, the  main span between towers of San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge is roughly 1,280 metres.

So, yeah, this thing is absolutely massive.

Knowing they have an instant icon taking shape, the international consortium building the bridge has commissioned constant photography of the Gordie Howe Bridge's construction throughout the now-five-year process, making for some captivating imagery certain to live on in the history books.

Aerial photography and videography have gone to great lengths in highlighting the immense scale of the project since its 2018 start, but the updates have, until now, failed to show just how far work has progressed and in such short a window.

The team behind the bridge shared a different kind of update this week, posting a timelapse video that condenses four months of construction progress into under 90 seconds.

The clip documents the rapid progress on both ports of entry, the soaring highway approaches to the bridges, and forming of the final few metres of the massive 220-metre-tall concrete support towers that will support the bridge's 2.5-kilometre route over the river.

The enormous cable-stayed bridge's construction has only grown more fascinating in the months since the timelapse's recording concluded. Crews on both sides of the border have begun installing the 216 cables which will support the road deck now gradually extending from each end below both support towers.

Completion of the bridge is currently scheduled for 2025, filling in a missing link between Highway 401 and I-75, and relieving traffic on existing overly-congested international crossings upriver.

Lead photo by

Gordie Howe International Bridge


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