The Gordie Howe International Bridge which was scheduled to open last November has now been delayed until at least September 2025. News of the delay was accompanied by an additional price tag of $700 million.
The bridge was initially set to cost $5.7 billion but is now expected to be closer to $6.4 billion, according to a press release from the various construction groups contracted to oversee the project.
The delay has violated contractual obligations, resulting in substantial monetary penalties, prompting the federal government to step in to waive those fees and pay the extra cost, adding another $700 million to the project.
Heather Grondin, spokesperson for the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, called the budget increases a “shared risk.”
“In our contract, we did allow for some instances where some things could be a shared risk,” Grondin told the Windsor Star. “This would be an example of that.”
“Understanding the pandemic that we’ve gone through, our contract did allow for schedule and cost risks to be shared in certain circumstances” she added.
“So, in a circumstance such as the pandemic — something that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to plan for — our contract allowed for those circumstances to be taken under consideration.”
The Authority is overseeing the construction along with Bridging North America, a consortium of contractors.
They released a joint statement saying that they have agreed to amend the cost and timeline for the federal government on Thursday due to the project facing “unprecedented disruptions” brought on by the pandemic.
“After a three-year pandemic and considering the size and complexity of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted completion date and that we could agree on a reasonable adjustment to the contract value,” said bridge authority CEO Charl van Niekerk.
“With safety as our top priority, we will continue to work together to deliver this much needed infrastructure to the thousands of eager travelers ready to cross North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge.”
Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk, who represents Windsor-Tecumseh said that “a delay is not entirely unexpected” given the disruption in the supply chain during the pandemic.
“The way I see it, you’ve got more local workers working longer on this project,” said Kusmierczyk. “You’ve got more workers bringing home good paycheques on this historic project, which is important especially as we pull ourselves out of the COVID aftershocks.”
However, it wasn’t solely the pandemic responsible for the delays as there were also disputes between the parties involved, which have reportedly since been resolved.
“I know there had been some speculation about timing and extension of the construction schedule,” said Grondin. “But really what we needed to do was see how much progress could be made over 2023 and where we were at over that time.
“What’s different now is we’re able to present with more confidence the schedule and confirmation of our overall timeline of being able to open in 2025.”
The Authority went on to say that despite these delays, 2023 was the busiest year thus far regarding progress on the project, with Grondin noting that the bridge’s towers have now reached their full height.
“We’re all very happy with the progress that was made over 2023,” she said. “It put us in a good position to be able to continue that same level of progress in 2024.
“So full steam ahead. And a lot of work still ahead of us this year and into next.”
