Workers link US, Canadian sides of new Gordie Howe International Bridge over Detroit River

DETROIT -- Workers have linked the U.S. and Canadian sides of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge spanning the Detroit River, a major step in bringing the monumental project to completion.

The connection between southwest Detroit and northwest Windsor was completed on Wednesday, the Detroit News reported. The work took six years, with about 2,000 workers on site every day. The bridge still isn't finished, though. Work is expected to continue until the fall of 2025.

Named for Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe, who spent 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, the bridge will provide another link between one of the busiest points on the U.S.-Canadian border. About a third of all trade between the U.S. and Canada occurs between Detroit and Windsor.

The finished bridge will measure 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers). It will stand 150 feet (45.7 meters) above the river and 720 feet (219.4 meters) high, making it the largest Canadian and United States land port along the two countries' border and one of the 10 longest bridges in North America.

“The impact (the project) is going to have on our country is going to be felt for a generation,” Brian Fraser, the Canadian minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, said during a news conference on the bridge deck in Windsor on Wednesday.