The Gordie Howe Bridge is a vehicular freeway bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a steel girder bridge, built as part of the Circle Drive freeway system in southwestern Saskatoon. At the time of construction, it was projected to cost $272.5 million to build. It is the southern-most road bridge in the city. The bridge is located adjacent to the Grand Trunk Bridge. It is also the longest of Saskatoon's bridges at in length, and the first to have a concrete road surface. The bridge was scheduled to open with the completion of the entire Circle Drive South project on September 30, 2012. However, record rainfall, high water tables and an early snowfall made that deadline unfeasible. The actual completion and opening date was July 31, 2013.
Name
The bridge was first referred to simply as the Circle Drive South Bridge. The Holiday Parkcommunity association lobbied Saskatoon City Council to have the bridge named after Christopher J. Yorath, the city's first commissioner. Yorath created a comprehensive town plan in 1913, which included inner and outer "encircling boulevards". Parts of the present-day Circle Drive follows the course in Yorath's plan. Yorath Island, also named for the commissioner, is located upstream from the bridge site. The city council originally decided that a naming contest would be held but then scrapped the idea because of the cost. On June 27, 2016, Saskatoon city council unanimously voted in favour of naming the bridge after recently deceased hockey legend Gordie Howe. Signs with the new name were installed on September 22, 2016.
Legal disputes
The city and the contractor, Graham-Flatiron, disputed over money owed after the project was completed. The city withheld $1.53 million for the delayed completion, as the contract permitted for fines of $10,000 per day late. Graham-Flatiron countered that the city caused the delays because it was too slow with environmental audits, design reviews and approvals, and the handover of land. It claimed the city owed them $19 million in unpaid invoices. The case went to arbitration in April 2015. The city then filed suit against an engineering firm, Stantec, over delays encountered during the project.
