include foundation design for all road and pedestrian bridges, tunnels, culverts, retaining walls, stormwater ponds and other critical structures on the project. AMEC is also managing geotechnical instrumentation and settlement monitoring of all permanent structures during construction as well as engaging in a number of environmental services at the site including: coordinating ecological restoration, Species at Risk mitigation measures, noise mitigation, and other related environmental mitigation input required for project compliance. Dillon Consulting is a Toronto,
Ontario based, international consulting fi rm that seeks to blend science, technology and management in a balanced approach to providing their client’s with satisfying solutions. For the parkway project, Dillon has dedicated over 150 members of their staff to provide professional services in highway design, bridge design, municipal services, utility re-locations, drainage, traffi c staging and consultation.
THE CONTROVERSY If building the NITC is largely funded by Canada, and it’s seen as a crucial infrastructural project and job-generator, why are our northern neighbors already building their way to the border while we have yet to break ground on our side of the river? T e leader of the No-NITC movement is Manuel “Matty” Moroun, a trucking industrialist who has owned the Ambassador Bridge since 1977. According to the latest Forbes list, the Moroun family is worth $1.5 billion. Some of that wealth comes from the $60 million Moroun earns annually from his bridge tolls and the estimated millions more he takes in at the duty free stores he owns at the border-crossing. Moroun seems to have taken a carrot- and-stick approach to defending his private monopoly of the border. He’s responded to the need for more security by off ering to build a fl oating emergency bridge that could be quickly put in place in case of an emergency. He’s also off ered to add another span to his existing bridge, but the Canadians have declined to issue permits for the addition.
Moroun has also tried to allay fears about the bridge’s condition, citing a 2010 study that found the bridge to be very well maintained. On the other hand, Moroun has also
played hardball with his opponents. He’s sued the governments of Canada and the State of Michigan. He’s also fi led what T e Windsor Star called a “massive lawsuit” against several federal departments including the Department of Homeland Security, the Departments of Transportation, the State Department and the U.S. Coast Guard. Moroun claims his exclusive right to the border crossing is based on agreements signed in the 1920’s by the U.S. Congress and Canadian parliament. But Michigan Governor Rick Snyder isn’t letting Moroun’s machinations deter him from
seeing the project started on his side of the river. Snyder is quoted in T e Windsor Star: “T ey have lawsuits outstanding and they
are likely to fi le more,” Snyder said. “We are just going to keep moving ahead. Our track record is very good on winning lawsuits.” T is past spring Snyder snagged a
U.S. presidential permit from the Obama administration to build the Detroit corridor that will connect to the bridge. T e permit was the fi nal piece of legislation needed to begin building the American half of the project. T e smoke has yet to clear on our side of the border, but when it does, the NITC Bridge seems more inevitable than ever. T e latest projections estimate a ribbon cutting sometime in 2020. y
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 23 23
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