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Manitowoc lattice boom crawlers help bridge international gap

manitowoc bridge

Two Manitowoc MLC300 lattice boom crawlers are assisting with the construction of The Gordie Howe International Bridge.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, known during development as the Detroit River International Crossing and the New International Trade Crossing, is a cable-stayed international bridge spanning the Detroit River that is currently under construction. The crossing will connect Detroit, Michigan, United States of America, and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, by linking Interstate Highway 75 in Michigan with Highway 401 in Ontario (through the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway extension of Highway 401). 

The bridge will provide uninterrupted freeway traffic flow, as opposed to the current configuration with the nearby Ambassador Bridge that connects to city streets on the Ontario side. The bridge is named after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, whose celebrated career included 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings, and who died two years before construction began.

Manitowoc’s MLC300 lattice boom crawler crane holds a 350-tonne maximum load capacity, 101 metres of main boom, 96 metres of luffing jib, and 42 metres of fixed jib extension. The crane also holds a maximum load moment of 2,145 torque-metres and a variable position counterweight allowing for the optimisation of the crane’s lifting capabilities.

The main feature of the crane, however, is its VPC-MAX attachment. The counterweight attachment increases lifting capacity on the MLC300 crane, nearly doubling its load moment to 4,119 torque-metres and allowing the main boom to be extended to 120 metres.

Manitowoc expands its MLC300 boom insert options to increase boom lengths for greater reach.

The Wide Boom Plus inserts boost the MLC300’s flexibility to complete more jobs with the crane.

manitowoc lattice boom
The bridge is named after Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe, whose celebrated career included 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings, and who died two years before construction began.

The Wide Boom Plus kit inserts give crane operators extra reach by lengthening their booms up to 131m when used in combination with the VPC-MAX and extended upper boom points. They are particularly useful for assembling wind turbines.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a six-lane crossing of the Detroit River connecting the City of Detroit with Windsor, Ontario. When completed, the 2.5km crossing will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America, with a main span of 850m. The bridge will also have a 3.6m wide pedestrian/cycling path. 

The project also includes building new ports of entry that will connect to both the American and Canadian bridge termini, as well as onward connections to I-75 in southwest Detroit.

The new Canadian Port of Entry will be built on a 52.6 hectare site and will be the largest Canadian port on the US-Canadian border. It will include inbound border inspection facilities for both passenger and commercial vehicles, outbound inspection facilities, toll collection facilities, a maintenance facility, and parking. The US Port of Entry will be developed on a 67.6 hectaresite and will be one of the largest border facilities in North America. It will include inbound border inspection facilities for both passenger and commercial vehicles, together with outbound inspection facilities, commercial exit control booths, and parking.

The Michigan Interchange with I-75 will include connecting ramps to and from the US Port of Entry and associated local road improvements. In order to accommodate the new ramps to the Port of Entry, modifications will be required along almost 3km of I-75. They will include over a dozen roadway and pedestrian bridges ranging from 30 to 518m.

The Windsor-Detroit Gateway – which currently includes the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel – is the busiest commercial land border crossing between Canada and the US and is vital to the economies of both nations, as well as those of Michigan and Ontario. 

The Gordie Howe International Bridge will facilitate the movement of people, goods, and services and ensure that there is sufficient border crossing capacity to accommodate future growth in cross-border trade and traffic.

The bridge is being implemented through a 36-year design-build-finance-operate-maintain availability payment concession. WDBA’s payments to the private sector concessionaire, Bridging North America, are performance-based and can be withheld by WDBA if the agreed-to performance standards are not met. It is anticipated that of the US$4.4 billion contract, US$2.9 billion will be allocated for the design-build phase, including financing, and the remaining US$1.5 billion for the operations-maintenance-rehabilitation phase including financing. 

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