The opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge will put a North American record right on Windsor’s riverfront. At 853 metres, it’s the longest stay-cabled bridge on the continent. Its imposing span though, is one of the many eye-popping statistics that contextualize the significance of the new border crossing’s opening. Highlighted by two towers, built with a curvature resembling a hockey stick, the bridge’s price tag came in at $6.4 billion. Canada fronted the cost of the bridge in a deal which changed only weeks before the crossing’s official opening. Building a structure of this magnitude required approximately 42,700 tons of steel. Across the bridge, 216 stay cables stretch to help secure the weight of the decks. Inside each cable, there are between 38 and 122 metal strands, with more than 16,000 strands connecting the towers to the deck. Laid out collectively, the strands are about 5,000 kilometres in length, equal to a round trip between Windsor and Salt Lake City, Utah, according to the bridge authority. In terms of strength, the cable system and towers are rated to support the equivalent of 5,660 African Bush Elephants standing together on the bridge deck at one time. Before reaching the deck, drivers, walkers and cyclists will pass through the largest Ports of Entry in North America. On the Canadian side, the port of entry features 24 primary inspection lanes and 16 toll lanes across 130 acres of land. In the U.S., it’s 36 primary inspection lanes on 167 acres. To light a bridge of its size is no simple task and requires more than 6,000 fixtures. Each fixture can last more than 100,000 hours, with the most durable lights capable of illuminating the bridge for over 30 years. When announced in March, the toll rates for the GHIB were aligned with, and in some cases slightly lower than, other crossings in the region. Passenger vehicles will pay C$8 per crossing at the new span, and commercial vehicles will cough up C$12 per axle. Users of the bridge’s Breakaway program will pay a discounted rate. For personal vehicles, the discounted fee is C$6, and commercial vehicles will pay C$9.60 per axle. Under the newly signed bridge agreement, Canada will need U.S. consent to increase the tolls by more than 10 per cent or lower them below regional averages during the first 15 years of the bridge’s operations.
