Welcome friends, grab yourself a ‘Cup of Joe’, pull up a chair and let’s chat about two of Windsor’s greatest assets…the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit Canada Tunnel.

Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated with the expression “familiarity breeds contempt”. Part of my fascination has been rooted in the fact that not only is it a cool sounding expression, but one that is generally misunderstood. Many see the expression as only highlighting a condemnation for certain people, places, or things in our daily lives. While this interpretation is valid at times, the expression can also be understood in a broader sense as meaning that too often we fail to recognize what a good thing we have in our lives because we see it every day. The value of the things in our lives is often blinded by our close acquaintance to them.

For me personally, familiarity breeding contempt is nowhere better illustrated as a Windsorite than in how much we take for granted two of our most important assets, the Detroit-Canada Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge. Their uniqueness as conduits between two countries is often overlooked by natives of this region, but something not lost on visiting tourists. In fact, many first time visitors to our region specifically take a trip to Detroit through the tunnel and return to Windsor by way of the bridge – just to say they have done it. Nowhere else in all of Canada – in fact, in all of North America – can this occur.
Yes, there are other bridges joining our two countries, but nowhere in all of Canada can you enter the US from Canada by a sub aqueous tunnel and then return to Canada on a suspension bridge.

This is one of the selling features that attracts vast throngs of marathon runners to the annual Detroit Free Press International Marathon each fall. What a thrill it is for these runners to depart the United States over the Ambassador Bridge and then a half hour or so later return to the United States through the tunnel.

Having enjoyed a 26 year career with the Canada Border Services Agency, formally known as Canada Customs, I have worked at both the tunnel and the bridge. Because of this, I too, have at times failed to recognize what a good thing we have with these marvels of engineering excellence from the late 1920s. I guess, I call it an occupational hazard.

Let me provide you with a few facts about the construction of both the bridge and tunnel.
Construction on the Ambassador Bridge began August 12, 1927 opened on November 11, 1929 – a full nine months ahead of the projected opening at a cost of $23.5 million. At the time, it was the world’s largest suspension bridge. The roadway of the bridge is supported by suspension cables raising it 152 feet above the Detroit River below. The entire length of the bridge from each port of entry spans 7500 feet.

Its initial years after it opened it became a real novelty for residents on either side of the border. Small aircraft conducted aerial maneuvers flying underneath the bridge; people were pushed across the bridge in wheelbarrows; some women toe danced their way across the bridge; some couples married at the international border marker; and a few even parachuted off of the bridge.

I remember my days as a youngster when I could walk across the bridge for ten cents. On July 31, 1962 a British freighter, the MV Montrose, collided overnight with a barge carrying concrete. It tore a gigantic hole in its hull and took on water, causing it to partially sink on its side. The ship remained in that position until it was finally repaired and raised in November.

The 400 foot long 7000 ton ship became one of Windsor’s most popular tourist attractions that summer. Before the bridge had to be temporarily closed to pedestrians for safety concerns, my friends and I walked to the halfway point across it and peered over the side at the sunken ship directly below us. We dropped loose change down on the Montrose – our made up version of a good luck gesture.

Today the Ambassador Bridge is the busiest commercial border point between the United States and Canada. Over 7500 trucks cross the bridge each day. In 2004 a Border Transportation Study reported that hundred 150,000 jobs and $13 billion (USD) in production in this region is dependent on the bridge border crossing.

As remarkable as the construction of the Ambassador Bridge was in the late 1920s, I find the construction of the Detroit Canada Tunnel all the more remarkable. It’s one thing to build over the Detroit River, and quite another to build underneath it.

The tunnel has long been recognized as one of the greatest engineering wonders of the world. It opened November 1, 1930, almost one year after the opening of the bridge. And like the bridge, it was completed nearly one year ahead of schedule at a cost of $23 million – almost the same cost as the bridge construction. It is the only international underwater tunnel in the world. It links up the downtown area Detroit with the downtown area of Windsor. On the day it opened US President Herbert Hoover turned a symbolic golden key in Washington DC which set off the ringing of bells in Detroit and Windsor to signal the tunnel’s official opening.

The Tunnel is 5,160 feet long with a height clearance of 13 feet 2 inches. The roadway is 22 feet wide and allows for two lanes of traffic in opposite directions. The maximum depth of the roadway beneath the river surface is 75 feet. The roadway of the tunnel is actually built inside a tunnel within a tunnel. Both above the roadway ceiling and below its road surface is space for the ventilation system and the electrical conduits carrying miles of cable.

There are approximately 12,000 vehicles passing through the Tunnel daily. Each year almost nine million vehicles use it, of which 95% are cars and 5% are trucks.

A fact unknown to many is that the current location of the Detroit Canada Tunnel is actually the third location it was attempted. The first attempt was in 1871 at the foot of St. Antoine Street in Detroit. This was quickly abandoned when sumptuous gas emerged and caused many of the workers to fall ill. A second attempt in 1878 to build a tunnel between Grosse Isle Michigan was scrapped when excavation costs for the limestone deposits made the project impossible.

However, in 1906, construction began on the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel in Detroit and was completed four years later with a total length of two and one-half miles and at a cost $8.5 million. Due to its success discussions on the construction of a vehicular tunnel were revived, and thus the Detroit Canada project undertaken and completed in 1930.

We need to remember that both these amazing structures were built in the early decades of the 20th century. The bridge and the tunnel are engineering marvels not only for the manner in which they were constructed, but also for the fact that both were completed far ahead of schedule and within budget.

Today the Ambassador Bridge remains a privately owned asset, a contentious point for many. Due to its aging structure the current owners are seeking government approval on both sides of the border for the twinning of the structure. Meanwhile, a new bridge – The Gordie Howe International Bridge – is due to be built a mile or so downriver from the existing bridge. It will not be a private asset, but will have government oversite as P-3 project. Current timelines forecast a completion date of the early 2020s for this project.

The Detroit Canada Tunnel, unlike the Ambassador Bridge, is not a private asset but jointly owned by the cities of Detroit and Windsor. Massive renovations have occurred to the tunnel over the past decade, ensuring its viability for decades to come.

As a lifelong Windsorite, I still get a sense of awe when crossing over the bridge or through the tunnel. We have something so uniquely “ours”, that no other place in North America has. This makes me very proud of where I live.

For a fascinating, more in-depth understanding and appreciation of the construction of the bridge and tunnel, I invite you to view the following YouTube videos. They will be worth your time ….