Documents detail Transport Canada concerns with concrete on Ambassador Bridge
OTTAWA — Internal government documents show Transport Canada officials quietly expressed concerns last year about the structural integrity of the busiest bridge connecting Canada and the United States.
The concerns focused on the long-term health of the concrete deck on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge that supports the roadway thousands of vehicles use annually to carry people and goods between Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, Mich.
The president of the company that owns the bridge said Transport Canada can shoulder blame for decaying concrete over the federal government’s reluctance to let the company build a second span as it pursues construction of its own international bridge along the Detroit River.
“The concern is for the future and that’s why we’re doing the work we’re doing now,” said Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Company.