Two men recount building Gordie Howe Bridge: "Being a part of a project that everybody gets to see is pretty cool"

While Canada held its own event to celebrate the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, two workers who helped build the bridge recount the work behind the project.    

On Friday, Canadian officials held a ceremony after canceling their joint event with the U.S. earlier this week. The event included speeches, a song and a ribbon-cutting ceremony honoring international friendship and trade that marks the Detroit-Windsor region.

"Here we are getting to have a grand opening, and we can't even shake hands or cut a ribbon, it's just beyond me, so it's a little disappointing," said Local 25 journeyman ironworker Bob Godlewski.

The bridge will officially open to motorists on July 27 and to walkers and bicyclists on Aug. 5.

The sprawling Gordie Howe Bridge took more than 20 million work hours over several years. Godlewski and journeyman Casey Whitson were two of the 16,000 people who spent hours above the clouds, braving the heights to help connect the U.S. and Canada.

"I'll tell you what, man, being 200 feet above the water, it's one thing. Working over land, you're kind of used to it, but this is a different animal," said Whitson.

Whitson and Godlewski shared pictures from their time working on the bridge- each one more jaw-dropping than the next.

"I've done a lot of work around Detroit, not anything that anybody would ever see, so actually being a part of a project that everybody gets to see is pretty cool," said Whitson.

And as millions of drivers, cyclists, and walkers will now be able to cross the bridge, it will always mean a little more to the men who put their blood, sweat and tears into it.

"I'm astonished when I look at the bridge. I'm like this is exactly how it looked when I first seen it in 2020. This is the futurama of it. I'm like it's just to scale and everything, this is amazing," said Godlewski.