The Ambassador Bridge is North America's most important international border crossing. Built over the Detroit river it connects Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario in Canada.At the time of its completion in 1929 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.It was conceived as a privately financed link between the US and Canada, and was built by financier Joseph A. Bower, who hailed from Detroit. The Bower family retained control of the bridge till 1979. On 21st July 1979 they sold the bridge to Central Cartage Company of Detroit owned by Manuel J. 'Matty' Moroun, a billionaire transportation businessman who recognized its true potential. In order to gain control of the bridge he had to fight off a challenge from Warren Buffet.
Canada is the largest trading partner of the US. Since the signing of NAFTA bilateral trade between the two nations has grown to about $489 billion per annum.About a third of the trade, in physical terms, passes over the bridge.Almost 6,200 truckloads of vehicles manufactured by Detroit's Big Three, Toyota and Honda cross the bridge each day. The bridge and nearby ferries and tunnels carry almost $122 billion worth of goods each year.
'Matty' Moroun now wants to build another 6 lane bridge alongside the existing one.Construction is projected to begin in 2010 and will be completed by 2013. The Detroit River International Crossing or DRIC, a joint project of the US,Canadian, Michigan and Ontario governments plans to build a rival crossing about a mile downstream from the present bridge. The reason DRIC wants to build some distance away from the Ambassador is to prevent a single terrorist attack from destroying both crossings.
The need for an additional bridge has arisen because of increasing congestion. Traffic has slowed down both because the number of vehicles using the bridge has increased and also because security inspections put in place following the 9/11 terrorist attacks take time. It is feared that unless a new bridge is put in place, 150,000 new and existing jobs in the region will be put at risk by 2035.