Bids requested for new bridge linking Detroit, Windsor

DETROIT – The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has issued a formal request for proposals to three teams of finalists vying to build the massive Gordie Howe International Bridge linking the two cities.

The three teams now have several months to submit their bids. Each team consists of multiple international companies with expertise in architecture, engineering, construction, finance, law and bridge operations.

The Canadian bridge authority will choose a winning team about a year from now, and formal negotiations for a completed agreement should be finalized in about a year and a half.

Construction of the six-lane, 1.5-mile bridge, which will span the Detroit River and connect Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, is expected to take four years, with an expected opening in 2022. The time needed to build the bridge could change depending on what the winning team decides it needs.

Detroit and Windsor are linked by the Ambassador Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1929, and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, which opened a year later.

Officials have said the new bridge will create thousands of jobs and will leave a lasting legacy of the essential partnership between Canada and the United States.

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge will open doors to global markets and enhance the essential trade relationships between Canada, Michigan and the United States,” Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement.

Work has already begun on the ports of entry on both sides of the border, officials said.

The new bridge is named for Detroit Red Wings hockey legend Gordie Howe, who died in June.