It doesn't look like the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority is going to have trouble finding companies to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada.
The WDBA met with interested construction and engineering firms during several informational sessions in Detroit and Windsor this week.
Project spokesman Mark Butler says the response so far has been "phenomenal."
"We've had over 850 individuals representing over 565 different companies," Butler said. "[They all] want to a have a part in building the new bridge."
Butler said preliminary work on the Canadian side of the bridge should begin by the end of the month.
Over the next year and half, authorities will narrow down major private sector contractors who want to build the bridge, its accompanying plazas and the I-75 interchange on the U.S. side.
The project is expected to bring thousands of jobs to the region while construction is underway, then hundreds of permanent positions once it's complete.
Construction on the bridge and plazas is estimated to begin in 2016 and be complete by the end of 2020.
