He’s one reason why it’s taking so long for the Gordie Howe bridge to open

Phil Saoud says he’s heard it many times. 

“People are telling me I have a target on my back,” he said.

“It’s a challenge we were up for.”

Saoud is the vice-president and senior commissioning agent with Michigan-based engineering consulting firm Peter Basso Associates, and his team is responsible for making sure every system on the Gordie Howe International Bridge works properly, safely — and cohesively.

The team is one of the reasons behind why the new crossing set to link Windsor, Ont., and Detroit has yet to open.

There are roughly 3,300 tests that need to be performed at the U.S. and Canadian ports of entry before the go-ahead can be given, he says — and that doesn’t include ones on the bridge deck itself and the connecting highways.

“On the Canadian port of entry, I’d say we’re very close to 100 per cent complete with the testing,” Saoud told CBC Radio’s Windsor Morning on Tuesday. 

“There are a handful of things remaining. The U.S. port of entry is probably closer to 80 per cent complete, but of the remaining 20 per cent, all of those are well underway in various stages of completion. Most of those are close to 90 per cent done as well.”

The span has already missed a few of its originally planned opening targets — most recently in the fall of 2025. And since that time, the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) has reiterated similar messaging around when it could eventually open.

“Our focus right now is that testing and commissioning and going through that process,” said WDBA chief relations officer Heather Grondin recently. 

“It’s getting through that process, which is dictating our timeline for opening.”

An example of the work that’s going on, according to Saoud, is testing of the chilled water systems — which support the air conditioning for the air handlers — at the U.S. port of entry that took place Monday.

“Some of that was weather dependent,” he said. “We had to wait for obviously enough warm weather for the system to be able to be filled and run.”

Saoud says the systems have to be run under normal conditions to verify design sequences and their ability to work under alarm conditions.

“We have to simulate alarm, simulate failures, and make sure those get reported properly and accurately. That can be an iterative process because if we find an error or something that’s not correct, we have to either report that to the installing contractors or to the design team, get a response from them, get a corrective action, and then retest to verify that it’s all corrected.”

The WDBA has repeatedly said the latest plan was for the bridge to open in spring 2026.  However, Saoud says he’s still unclear of when exactly that might be.

“Honestly, nobody does at this point because we can’t say for sure when the commissioning work will be done. The answer you’re getting from WDBA and others that are posted on social media is honest.”

He says once the commissions are complete, he thinks it will be a “pretty short-term period” to get it open.

Political disruption

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to stall the opening of the new link, saying it wasn’t a good deal for Americans.

Canada has covered the entire bill — in the billions of dollars — for the bridge to be built. Both the State of Michigan and Canada have ownership stakes. 

Windsor’s mayor has referred to Trump’s threats as “just insane.”

“[This] is just another speed bump that Donald Trump has put in the way of doing good things, not just for our country but for his as well,” Drew Dilkens previously told CBC News.

At the time of Trump’s initial threats around the bridge, former Michigan governor and former U.S. ambassador to Canada James Blanchard called the comments “foolish and ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry that your people [Canadians] have to put up with this nonsense,” he said in February.

The Gordie Howe bridge will be the fifth border crossing joining Ontario and Michigan — and third connecting the cities of Windsor and Detroit.

It’s been the focus of a long legal battle between the owners of the Ambassador Bridge and federal government because the new span will eat up a lot of traffic and toll money. 

Construction on the six-lane structure first began in 2018 on both sides of the Detroit River.

“The bridge itself is complete,” said Saoud. “I’m trying to think if there are any systems still remaining there. There may be one or two, but that’s it.”

And once it does finally open, he says he hopes to retire not long afterward.