Detroit-Windsor | Gordie Howe International Bridge | 2,800' main span | U/C

[animatedmartian]

January 2020 update.

This is the Detroit side.

• Video Link

[rlw777]

September Construction Update

• Video Link

[deja vu]

Several photos were posted on the official website yesterday, taken on the Canadian side.




















Source

[subterranean]

Thanks! This thing is going to be massive and fun to watch being built. Are there any other bridges even close to this magnitude being built in the U.S. today?

[mrnyc]

i take that is the waterfront anchor for the bridge?

what a project — long overdue.

its getting fun to watch now and will only get more so!

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by subterranean

Thanks! This thing is going to be massive and fun to watch being built. Are there any other bridges even close to this magnitude being built in the U.S. today?

Not in the US but the Champlain Bridge in Montreal just wrapped up construction and it's a similar size and scale. It was also a federal bridge project.

A bunch of large bridges have been completed recently in the US as well, but I'm not aware of any still under construction. The Tappan Zee, Goethels, and Koscuiuszko bridges in NYC are all large bridges that were replaced recently, though only Tappan Zee is comparable in scale to this one. The Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of LA also just opened like last week and is huge like this as well.

I believe this will be the tallest bridge on the continent by structural height though, so it's scale is going to be huge. It'll be the tallest freestanding structure in Michigan and one of the tallest in Ontario (Ontario has Toronto's highrises as well as a few smokestacks that are taller).

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

i take that is the waterfront anchor for the bridge?

what a project — long overdue.

its getting fun to watch now and will only get more so!

I believe those are the footings for the main piers, yes.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I believe this will be the tallest bridge on the continent by structural height though, so it's scale is going to be huge. It'll be the tallest freestanding structure in Michigan.

has the height for the bridge towers been finalized?

SSP's database has them at 722', which would place them right behind the golden gate's 746' tall bridge towers in the US.

and the ren-cen at 727' tall, would also be ever so slightly taller as well in michigan.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Not in the US but the Champlain Bridge in Montreal just wrapped up construction and it's a similar size and scale. It was also a federal bridge project.

A bunch of large bridges have been completed recently in the US as well, but I'm not aware of any still under construction. The Tappan Zee, Goethels, and Koscuiuszko bridges in NYC are all large bridges that were replaced recently, though only Tappan Zee is comparable in scale to this one. The Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of LA also just opened like last week and is huge like this as well.

I believe this will be the tallest bridge on the continent by structural height though, so it's scale is going to be huge. It'll be the tallest freestanding structure in Michigan and one of the tallest in Ontario (Ontario has Toronto's highrises as well as a few smokestacks that are taller).

Ahh, cool. For some reason I was thinking this would be shorter than the Renaissance Center, but you're right. At 750 feet tall, the bridge is going to best it by about 25 feet. It will also be the longest span of any cable stay in North America at 2,799 ft. and basically tie for 5th place in the US for longest main span when compared to suspension bridges. Mighty Mac will still best it by a thousand feet at the main span.

[The North One]

Over a thousand feet longer?? How is that possible? Especially when Gordie Howe's towers will be about 200ft taller than Mackinac.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by The North One

Over a thousand feet longer?? How is that possible? Especially when Gordie Howe's towers will be about 200ft taller than Mackinac.

I don't know the exact engineering reasons, but cable stayed bridges like the gordie howe bridge typically seem to require taller towers relative to their span than suspension bridges like mighty mac.

Thanks for the rendering, subterranean. This is going to be one hell of a spectacular bridge, probably the most spectacular bridge in the Midwest after the mighty mac itself. In fact, it'll be one of the most impressive bridges in the nation, no "Midwest" qualifier needed.

Upon it's completion, Michigan will have the top 5 longest spans in the Midwest:

1. Mackinac main span - 3,800'
2. Gordie Howe - 2,800'
3. Ambassador - 1,850'
4. Mackinac south span - 1,800'
5. Mackinac north span - 1,800'
6. Stan Musial Bridge (St. Louis) - 1,500'

[The North One]

I'm struggling to wrap my head around the fact that Mac will still be a full supertall skyscraper length longer just on the span alone. Not even considering the full length of the bridge, it's truly a marvel.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Upon it's completion, Michigan will have the top 5 longest spans in the Midwest:

1. Mackinac main span - 3,800'
2. Gordie Howe - 2,800'
3. Ambassador - 1,850'
4. Mackinac south span - 1,800'
5. Mackinac north span - 1,800'
6. Stan Musial Bridge (St. Louis) - 1,500'

That's a neat statistic that I never thought about. I mean, it makes sense, with the expansive waterways. Still, pretty cool.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by The North One

I'm struggling to wrap my head around the fact that Mac will still be a full supertall skyscraper length longer just on the span alone. Not even considering the full length of the bridge, it's truly a marvel.

Yeah, Mighty Mac is a true beast of a bridge, one of the most magnificent on the planet (especially for its time).

it's still the longest in the US in terms of "total suspended length", and i think still top 5 (or maybe now top 10) in the world for that category.

Just think about it this way, its two side spans are each about the same length as the Ambassador's main span!



Source: https://www.localmemphis.com/article...e/69-487957890

[ardecila]

Ah, makes you nostalgic for the era when the US did megaprojects like this, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, etc.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Ah, makes you nostalgic for the era when the US did megaprojects like this, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, etc.

yeah, big spans (>2,000') have been few and far between in the US/canada in recent decades.

that's one more reason why this new bridge in detroit is so damn exciting!

we don't build a whole lot of big spans these days (unlike china, dear god! 69 big spans completed + 31 U/C!!!)




2000'+ spans in the US/Canada:

1. Verrazzano Narrows - 4,260' - 1964

2. Golden Gate - 4,200' - 1937

3. Mackinac - 3,800' - 1957

4. George Washington - 3,500' - 1931

5. Tacoma Narrows #1 - 2,800' - 1950

5. Tacoma Narrows #2 - 2,800' - 2007

5. Gordie Howe - 2,800' - 2024 - U/C*

8. New Carquinez - 2,390' - 2003

9. Bay Bridge West - span 1 - 2,310' - 1936

9. Bay Bridge West - span 2 - 2,310' - 1936

11. Bronx-Whitestone - 2,300 - 1939

12. Pierre Laporte - 2,190' - 1970

13. Delaware Memorial #1 - 2,150' - 1951

13. Delaware Memorial #2 - 2,150' - 1968

15. Walt Whitman - 2,000' - 1957

(*) Gordie Howe is the only cable-stayed bridge on the list, the rest are all suspension bridges.




all but 3 of the above big spans were built between 1931 and 1970.


and another notable exception for Mighty Mac is that it's the only one on the list that's in the relative middle of nowhere.

all of the rest are in or around major metropolitan areas.

the closest large-ish city to the mackinac bridge is grand rapids, over 200 miles to its south.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

yeah, big spans (>2,000') have been few and far between in the US/canada in recent decades.

that's one more reason why this new bridge in detroit is so damn exciting!

we don't build a whole lot of big spans these days (unlike china, dear god! 69 big spans completed + 31 U/C!!!)

2000'+ spans in the US/Canada:

1. Verrazzano Narrows - 4,260' - 1964

2. Golden Gate - 4,200' - 1937

3. Mackinac - 3,800' - 1957

4. George Washington - 3,500' - 1931

5. Tacoma Narrows #1 - 2,800' - 1950

5. Tacoma Narrows #2 - 2,800' - 2007

5. Gordie Howe - 2,800' - 2024 - U/C*

8. New Carquinez - 2,390' - 2003

9. Bay Bridge east span - 2,310' - 1936

9. Bay Bridge west span - 2,310' - 1936

11. Bronx-Whitestone - 2,300 - 1939

12. Pierre Laporte - 2,190' - 1970

13. Delaware Memorial #1 - 2,150' - 1951

13. Delaware Memorial #2 - 2,150' - 1968

15. Walt Whitman - 2,000' - 1957

(*) Gordie Howe is the only cable-stayed bridge on the list, the rest are all suspension bridges.

all but 3 of the above big spans were built between 1931 and 1970.

and another notable exception for Mighty Mac is that it's the only one on the list that's in the relative middle of nowhere.

all of the rest are in or around major metropolitan areas.

the closest large-ish city to the mackinac bridge is grand rapids, over 200 miles to its south.

The 1936 East Span of the Bay Bridge was replaced by a 2,048.51' cable-stayed span that opened in 2013.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by craigs

The 1936 East Span of the Bay Bridge was replaced by a 2,048.51' cable-stayed span that opened in 2013.

The east and west spans of the bay bridge on my list above refer to the two main suspended spans of the western double suspension bridge that connects SF to yerba buena island. Neither of them have been replaced.

The western bridge that connects yerba buena island to Oakland was recently replaced by a new giant bridge, but it's not a cabled-stayed design. It's a rather unconventional single tower asymmetrical self-anchored suspension bridge whose longest clear span is 1,263' according to wikipedia.

It gets confusing because people refer to the bay bridge as a single bridge, when it is in fact two separate bridges joined together on yuerba buena island. To clarify things, I've edited my list to remove "east" and "west" from the bay bridge's two big spans.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

The east and west spans of the bay bridge on my list above refer to the two main suspended spans of the western double suspension bridge that connects SF to yerba buena island. Neither of them have been replaced.

Ah, okay. In all the decades I lived in San Francisco, I've only heard the term 'east span' or 'eastern span' refer to the bridge system on the east side of Yerba Buena.

The western bridge that connects yerba buena island to Oakland was recently replaced by a new giant bridge, but it's not a cabled-stayed design. It's a rather unconventional single tower asymmetrical self-anchored suspension bridge whose longest clear span is 1,263' according to wikipedia.

That's weird, I got the figure I posted from wikipedia as well. And I just don't know enough about 'single tower asymetrical self-anchored suspension bridges' to disagree, so I'll defer here.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by craigs

A
That's weird, I got the figure I posted from wikipedia as well. And I just don't know enough about 'single tower asymetrical self-anchored suspension bridges' to disagree, so I'll defer here.

The figure you posted is the "total suspended length" of the single tower asymmetrical SAS bridge.

But bridges are conventionally ranked by their longest single unsupported span, which in the case of the new east bay bridge is 1,263'.

But even though its not in the 2,000'+ span club, it's still a pretty damn big and cool bridge, thanks in no small part to it's very unconventional engineering solution.


Source: wikipedia