SECTOR SNAPSHOT Ӏ BRIDGES
Two massive 50-tonne (110,000lb) class Comansa 21LC1050 tower cranes stood as landmarks on either side of the Detroit River: one crane in Canada, the other in the United States. They were working to construct a new crossing, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, and after five years of work they have now been retired from the project.
The cranes on each side of the
border were virtually identical — with one exception: the Canadian crane was painted red, while the US crane was blue. This was in homage to the national colours of each country. The colours were chosen by Bridging North America (BNA), the private-sector partner responsible for the construction of the bridge. The project is being financed through a public-private partnership between BNA
and the Canadian government. Windsor- Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) is a Canadian Crown corporation that is responsible for the delivery the project. The cranes arrived on site in 2020. Assembling them took 35 hours over three days. They were used to lift heavy materials including rebar, formwork, cable anchor boxes and each of the 216 stay cables for the two huge bridge towers.
The cranes climbed in height
throughout construction to keep up with the growing bridge towers. When the bridge towers reached their full heights of 220 metres (722 feet) in 2024, the tower cranes, too, were at their final heights of 243 metres (797 feet). The bridge project is now nearing completion. All 216 stay cables have
been installed and stressed, the bridge deck is connected, and the concrete paving that will serve as the road base is complete.
A single dismantling crew took both
cranes down, one at a time. In a reversal of the assembly process, the tower cranes were first self-climbed down to a reachable height and then removed in sections with the assistance of a 600-tonne crawler crane with a boom length of 165 metres (541 feet). The Canadian tower crane was fully dismantled in May 2025. When the crew finished the project team transported components of the crawler crane on flatbeds in 41 separate trips across the new bridge itself to start work on the US side. The US tower crane was dismantled by the end of July.
CRANES TODAY 25
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