With speeches and ceremonial shovels of dirt, work started Tuesday morning in Detroit's Delray district on the long-delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge.
Over the coming months, what officials called "advance construction" will see digging of test piles for the future bridge foundations, prep work at Interstate 75 for a future interchange and further studies of the site.
Full-scale construction is expected to begin in the fall once the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, the Canadian entity overseeing the project, signs a final contract with the winning bidder, a consortium of firms known as Bridging North America.
Gov. Rick Snyder, who pushed for the bridge project even as Michigan opponents were doing what Snyder called "dumb things" to stop it, was on hand Tuesday morning to celebrate the moment.
"This is an exciting day for Detroit, Windsor, Michigan, Ontario, the United States and Canada," Snyder said told the large audience at the event. "After more than seven years of hard work, today we broke ground on what will be a thriving legacy named for a legend. Gordie Howe represented the best of Canada and the United States. And, thanks to the hard work of many people on both sides of the border, now this bridge to the future will represent our prosperous partnership for generations to come."
Amarjeet Sohi, Canada's minister of infrastructure and communities, echoed that.
"Today's milestone is an important step in the building of one of Canada's top infrastructure priorities," he said. "The Gordie Howe International Bridge will play a vital role in supporting and growing the local economies on both sides of the border and will create opportunities for residents and businesses alike."
The Gordie Howe Bridge, a six-lane span, will cross the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit about 2 miles downstream from the Ambassador Bridge. Final cost estimates are expected in the fall. The project will be co-owned by the State of Michigan and the government of Canada.
The road to the groundbreaking was nothing short of torturous. When Michigan legislators refused requests by both Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Snyder to pay for Michigan's half of the project, Snyder cut a creative deal with Canadian authorities. Under that so-called Crossing Agreement, Canada will pay upfront the entire cost of building the bridge and be paid back through future tolls.
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Many of the delays in the project stemmed from ferocious opposition by the Moroun family, which owns the Ambassador Bridge. The new Gordie Howe project is likely to draw significant traffic and toll revenue away from the Ambassador Bridge, prompting the Morouns to file multiple lawsuits in courts in the U.S. and Canada contesting the project. All such Moroun lawsuits have failed to date to stop the project.
Even with the groundbreaking Tuesday, it will be awhile before the public sees steel rising against the skyline. Probably a year or more of design and site preparation lies ahead before actual erection of steel begins.
But when completed in 2022 or 2023, the towers of the new bridge will create a dramatic new silhouette on the skyline, rising a little taller than the center tower of Detroit's Renaissance Center.
Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jgallagherfreep.