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With just days to go before the main deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is officially connected, workers on both sides have already exchanged high-fives high above the Detroit River after temporary links were installed.
“There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of high fives going on each and every day now as we get closer to the permanent beam installation,” Bridging North America CEO David Henderson said Tuesday.
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Temporary beams have already connected the American and Canadian sides of the $6.4-billion bridge to help with the final alignment, he said, adding the permanent beam installation is expected to occur mid-week.
“This is one of the most visible milestones in the project,” said Henderson.
Henderson was joined Tuesday by Heather Grondin, chief relations officer of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, at a press conference held in the city’s west end to tout the milestone and announce the latest community benefits program recipients.
“I think that a lot of people are going to sigh a little sigh of relief that everything’s coming together. We had no doubt from our team standpoint that everything would match up in the middle and we’d accomplish this task.”
After the gap above the Detroit River is permanently closed, Henderson said there is still more than a year of work to go — but workers are already celebrating.
“It’s a transformative project,” he said.
“It will be part of this community for decades, hopefully centuries to come and is representative of the friendship between the United States and Canada.”
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Henderson said there are already two ports of entry where workers present their passports in order to access the “international zone.”
Once the final concrete pieces are placed, Henderson said the checkpoints will relocate to the top of the bridge, allowing them to deliver the remaining materials and equipment directly to the American side.
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Grondin also announced the 13 latest recipients — seven in Windsor and six in Detroit — of a $200,000 pot from the Community Benefits Plan.
They are:
- Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation
- Windsor Symphony Orchestra
- CJAM Higher Ground Music Festival
- Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
- Bike Windsor-Essex
- Assumption University
- Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
- New City Kids
- Hispanic Police Officer’s Association of Michigan – Detroit Chapter
- Southwest Detroit Business Association
- Trinity-St.Mark’s Pantry and Gardens
- Unity in Our Community Timebank
- Southwest Economic Solutions
Since the program’s inception, $700,000 has been invested in 100 community initiatives.
Grondin said the program is being extended another year. The next application period opens in November.
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