After five years, the two massive tower cranes on either side of the Detroit River are retiring from the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.
The tower cranes arrived on site in 2020 in an assembly process that took 35 hours over three days. They climbed in height throughout construction to keep up with the growing bridge towers in a process known as "tower crane self-climbing." With the bridge towers reaching their full heights of 722 ft. (220 m) in 2024, the tower cranes, too, hit their final heights of 797 ft. (243 m).
The tower cranes on each side of the border are virtually identical, with one exception — the Canadian crane is red, while the United States crane is blue. The colors were chosen in homage to the national colors of Canada and the United States.
A single dismantling crew is taking both cranes down, one at a time. In a reversed dismantling process, the tower cranes are first self-climbed down — beginning at the top — to a reachable height and then removed in sections with the assistance of a 600-ton crawler crane that is fitted with a boom length of 541 ft. (165 m). The crawler crane is required to dismantle the lower part of both tower cranes.
The Canadian tower crane was fully dismantled in May 2025. When the crew finished, the project team transported pieces of the crawler crane on flat beds in 41 separate trips across the Gordie Howe International Bridge to start work on the United States side, which is expected to be dismantled by the end of June.
Throughout construction, the tower cranes were used to lift heavy materials such as rebar, formwork, anchor boxes and all 216 stay cables.
The removal of the tower cranes marks a major achievement in construction.
Bridge work continues on the installation of electrical, drainage, fire suppression systems, barriers, signage, lighting pavement markings and the completion of the multi-use path.
Additionally, work has begun on the technological systems and processes to ensure they all connect with each other. Building and testing these systems is an important part of the project team's engagement with its partner agencies, first responders and the transportation agencies on both sides of the border in preparation for operations.
For more information, visit gordiehoweinternationalbridge.com.
