Fugro tested the Gordie Howe international bridge’s massive foundations using its Osterberg Cell (O-cell) bidirectional tests combined with SONICaliper inspections.

Fugro has completed foundation testing services for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, a new border crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.

The 2.5km-long structure will improve travel and commerce across the Detroit River, which is responsible for 25 % of commercial traffic between Canada and the US. The project’s foundation contractors, GFL Environmental in Canada and Malcom Drilling in the US, engaged Fugro to confirm that the massive foundations met the design requirements.

Fugro’s Osterberg Cell (O-cell) bidirectional tests were combined with SONICaliper inspections to provide accurate foundation load performance measurements on sacrificial test piles on each side of the river. To confirm the structural integrity of the production foundations, Fugro also performed shaft concrete quality evaluations using thermal integrity profiling and cross-hole sonic logging technology. Together, these technologies assured the foundation design requirements were being met, supporting the demanding project schedule completion date of 2024.

“The Gordie Howe International Bridge project is an ambitious infrastructure project, impressive in its design and significant in its long-term value to the Canadian-US border,” said director of land site characterisation and consulting for Fugro in the US Ray Wood. “Our work with the foundation engineering team provided the critical Geo-data needed to help ensure the safe and efficient transport of people and goods across North America’s busiest border crossing for generations to come.”

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