ambassador bridge

The Ambassador Bridge company is having experts design an emergency floating bridge to be deployed should the main suspension span be damaged in a terrorist strike. American Consulting Professionals of Michigan PLLC of Livonia MI part of American/Avalon will design the floating structure which they term "Bridge-on-Demand."

Michigan DOT and supporters of a third Windsor Detroit international crossing known as the DRIC bridge continue to be stymied in their efforts to get approval from the state legislature. There are a number of reasons for this but one might be legal and constitutional problems. Robert A.

A US District Court judge in Detroit today ruled what seems perfectly obvious to most sane people - that the Ambassador Bridge company is not a US Government agency. That such an issue went to court at all is a reminder that no legal proposition is too bizarre to be thrown into a court in the long running battle over a new bridge over the Detroit River between the US and Canada.

The Ambassador Bridge company has lost its effort to avert a judge's order to tear down non-conforming structures on the US approaches.

Canada's federal transport minister John Baird visited Detroit Monday talking up the importance of building the new DRIC bridge downriver of the Ambassador as the date approaches for votes in the Michigan state legislature on enabling legislation.

The Ambassador bridge company has won a stay of a judge's demolition order so the Michigan Supreme Court can hear their argument for an appeal. In February Judge Prentis Edwards ruled in favor of a Michigan DOT request for a demolition order to bring the bridge's Michigan approaches known as the Gateway Project into conformity with details the state says were agreed in a contract between the bridge company and the state.

The Ambassador Bridge company said today it is preparing to file a claim against Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement following the Candadian Government offer yesterday to lend up to $550m to Michigan to cover its costs in developing the rival DRIC toll bridge.

A judge in Detroit said he is preparing to cite Ambassador Bridge company president Dan Stamper for contempt of court for failure to comply with his order to produce a schedule for demolition of unapproved construction. The construction is built as approaches for a new twin span opposed by the Michigan state government and governments on the Canadian side.

Rival press conferences were staged Friday in Detroit in efforts by the contestants to sway public opinion and mobilize political support for the two competing concepts for upgrading the leading US-Canada truck crossing - upgrading of the Ambassador Bridge or the construction of a new bridge about two miles (3km) downriver.

The protracted political war over US-Canada bridge crossings at the Detroit River is great fun to watch.  But it's probably only good for lawyers and reporters. If some kind of settlement were possible it would be of benefit to US-Canada trade, to taxpayers and investors, and to the people of Detroit and Windsor.

Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) which owns the Ambassador Bridge has extended their legal action into NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, asking for $3.5 billion damages based on a claim of discriminatory treatment by the government of Canada. The request for arbitration of a NAFTA dispute comes on top of a law suit lodged earlier this week in US District Court in Washington DC suing a bunch of US and Canadian agencies and top officials for damages and asking the court for injunctive relief.

Detroit International Bridge Company (DBIC) owner of the Ambassador Bridge has lodged a law suit with US District Court in Washington DC against a catch-all collection of US and Canadian government agencies and officials. Not sued is Michigan state DOT the major sponsor of the rival DRIC bridge and the agency trying to force DIBC to demolish tens of millions of dollars worth of construction for a second bridge span.

Detroit scribe Joel Thurtell says he's hearing that the Ambassador Bridge company is talking with officials at the City of Detroit about a purchase of the land under the approaches of the planned twin span. The bridge company's lack of title to the property has been a major political and legal impediment to its plans to build a modern, wider span alongside the old.

The Ambassador Bridge company has lost its appeal against a major demolition order obtained by the state. Judge Cynthia Stephens presiding officer of the Michigan Court of Appeals today denied leave to appeal, and a motion to stay the demolition order, saying simply that the bridge company had "failed to persuade the Court." (see nearby)

Detroit International Bridge Co (DIBC) owner and operator of the Detroit to Windsor Ambassador Bridge is seeking bids for replacing the main deck which goes back to 1929. The deck has undergone repeated maintenance and repairs but spokesman Phil Frame say they've decided "it is time to fully replace it."

The Coast Guard, the US Government's designated authority at the Detroit River is refusing to consider an application by the Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) to twin their Ambassador bridge, the major toll crossing between Detroit Michigan and Windsor Ontario.

Someone asked recently what were the three toughest PR jobs in tolling in north America. The answer in ascending order of difficulty:

The new Detroit River International Crossing Bridge (DRIC) has been presented as a 6-lane structure but the lower traffic forecasts released this week suggest that 4 lanes would be plenty - offering the opportunity for substantial cost savings. The new traffic study led by Wilbur Smith Associates presents numbers suggesting a 4-lane capacity of 72k passenger-car-equivalents (PCE) per day won't be reached until after 2050.

The government of Canada has initiated talks to purchase the Ambassador Bridge, the major trucking route between Canada and the US .

The Ambassador Bridge company suffered defeat today in a court case brought by Michigan DOT for breach of contract. Judge Prentis Edwards of Wayne County Circuit Court in a 15-page ruling found the Bridge company to be in violation of its contract commitments by failing to build its part of the Gateway Project (upgraded links to I-75 and I-96) as agreed in 2004.