This day in history: Ambassador Bridge ready for operation in 1929
(CBS DETROIT) - On Nov. 11, 1929, the Ambassador Bridge was determined to be complete and ready for operation.
According to the Ambassador Bridge website, in the 1920s, John W. Austin approached financier Joseph A. Bower with a plan to build the bridge. The meeting ended with the plan to create a $23.5 million privately financed bridge that would link the United States and Canada.
The mayor of Detroit at the time, John Smith, opposed a privately owned bridge, but Detroiters voted in favor of the bridge in 1927.
The McClintic-Marshal, a construction company, began construction on the bridge in May of 1927, and it was completed in 1929. The company had also finished the bridge ahead of schedule, as they were supposed to finish it by Aug. 16, 1930.
Although it was completed and ready for operation on Nov. 11, 1929, it did not open for traffic until four days later.
The bridge is constructed with almost 21,000 tons of steel and rose 152 feet above the Detroit River.
In addition, its 1,850-foot center made the Ambassador Bridge the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.
The Bower family controlled the Ambassador Bridge until 1979, and then the Central Cartage Company of Detroit purchased the bridge, which is owned and operated by the Detroit International Bridge Company.
Throughout the years there has been maintenance and updates made to the bridge, and the Ambassador Bridge remains the world's longest international suspension bridge.
