Editing Ambassador Bridge (section)

==History==
[[File:Michigan - Detroit - NARA - 23941551 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of the bridge, 1941]]
[[File:Ambassador Bridge (Detroit River).jpg|left|thumb|Ambassador Bridge in 1979]]
The passage across the [[Detroit River]] became an important traffic route following the [[American Civil War]]. The [[Michigan Central Railroad|Michigan Central]] and the [[Great Western Railway (Ontario)|Great Western]] railroads in addition to others operated on either side of the border connecting [[Chicago]] with the [[Atlantic Seaboard]]. To cross the Detroit River, these railroads operated ferries between docks on either side. The ferries lacked the capacity to handle the shipping needs of the railroads, and there were often 700–1,000&nbsp;freight cars waiting to cross the river, with numerous passengers delayed in transit. Warehouses in Chicago were forced to store grain that they could not ship to eastern markets and foreign goods were stored in eastern warehouses waiting shipment to the western United States. The net effect of these delays increased commodity prices in the country, and both merchants and farmers wanted a solution from the railroads.<ref name=mason31>{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/ambassadorbridge0000maso |url-access = registration |title = The Ambassador Bridge: A Monument to Progress |first1 = Philip P. |last1 = Mason |publisher = Wayne State University Press |isbn = 978-0-814-31840-9 |year = 1987 |location = Detroit |pages = 31+ }}</ref>

The Michigan Central proposed the construction of a tunnel under the river with the support of their counterparts at the Great Western Railway. Construction started in 1871 and continued until ventilating equipment failed the next year; work was soon abandoned. Attention turned in 1873 to the alternative of building a railroad bridge over the river. The [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] commissioned a study of a bridge over the Detroit River. Representatives of the shipping industry on the [[Great Lakes]] opposed any bridge with piers in the river as a hazard to navigation. Discussions continued for the remainder of the decade to no avail; a bridge over the Detroit River was not approved. The [[U.S. Congress]] requested a new study for a bridge in 1889, but no bridge was approved. Finally, the Michigan Central built the [[Michigan Central Railway Tunnel|Detroit River Tunnel]] in 1909–10 to carry trains under the river. This tunnel benefited the Michigan Central and Great Western railroads, but the [[Canada Southern Railway]] and other lines still preferred a bridge over the river.<ref name=mason32>{{harvp|Mason|1987|pp=32–47|ps=.}}</ref> Plans for a bridge were revived in 1919 to commemorate the end of [[World War I]] and to honor the "youth of Canada and the United States who served in the Great War".<ref name="mason48">{{harvp|Mason|1987|p=48|ps=.}}</ref>

However neither Ontario nor Michigan wanted to finance a river crossing. Michigan automakers subsequently decided to take the initiative to connect the [[Midwest]] to [[central Canada]]. After they created a bridge company, the project got into trouble when a [[Toronto]] financier hired to sell its [[Security (finance)|securities]] instead [[embezzlement|embezzled]] the [[money]] and ran off, before ultimately committing [[suicide]] in a [[prison]] cell after conviction for [[murder]]ing a [[Pharmacy (shop)|drugstore]] clerk. The bridge boosters turned to New Yorker Joseph A. Bower, a businessman who specialized in rescuing mismanaged companies. Bower succeeded in raising the necessary initial $12 million. "The only way things can be done today, is by private business," said [[Henry Ford]], who backed the project.<ref>{{Cite news |first = Luiza Ch. |last = Savage |date = May 21, 2015 |title = Canada's Battle for a New Cross-Border Bridge |url = https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/land-of-the-freeloaders-the-battle-for-a-new-cross-border-bridge/ |access-date = 2020-06-03 |work = Maclean's |archive-date = June 3, 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200603204840/https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/land-of-the-freeloaders-the-battle-for-a-new-cross-border-bridge/ |url-status = live }}</ref> The bridge was constructed with investment from Detroit business people incorporated as the Detroit International Bridge Corporation.

Much later [[Berkshire Hathaway]] acquired a quarter of the shares before selling to another investor in the company, local trucking entrepreneur [[Manuel Moroun]]. Moroun continued buying further, eventually privatizing it.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/01/12/why-one-rich-man-shouldnt-own-an-international-bridge/?sh=4a1b59b76c18 |title=Forbes:January 12th, 2012:Joan Muller:Why one rich man should not own an international bridge |website=[[Forbes]] |access-date=February 16, 2022 |archive-date=August 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829041837/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertag&topUrl=www.forbes.com |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Incidents===
[[File:Ambassador bridge windsor detroit border. (15246799271).jpg|thumb|Ambassador Bridge at night, in 2014]]
In April 1930, shortly after the bridge opened, a Canadian immigration inspector jumped to his death. The [[Suicide bridge|bridge]] has been used by other [[jumper (suicide)|suicide jumpers]]. High divers considered it as a venue for a record; after measurements of the height and currents were taken into account, they were dissuaded and abandoned the attempt.<ref name="Mason">{{harvp|Mason|1987|p=130|ps=.}}</ref>

On November 14, 2000, a scaffold collapsed, sending three workers into the Detroit River and leaving four others dangling from safety harnesses. Jamie Barker, one of those who fell, died.<ref>{{cite web|date=November 14, 2001|title=Engineers charged in fatal scaffold collapse|url=https://www.ehstoday.com/archive/article/21914808/engineers-charged-in-fatal-scaffold-collapse|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-06|website=[[EHS Today]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111192807/https://www.ehstoday.com/archive/article/21914808/engineers-charged-in-fatal-scaffold-collapse |archive-date=November 11, 2020 }}</ref> An engineer, George Snowden, was disciplined by [[Professional Engineers Ontario]] for his role in the collapse. In 2012, a design that Snowden approved caused the [[Radiohead stage collapse]] in Toronto. Snowden's associate Domenic Cugliari was also involved in both collapses.<ref name=":5">{{cite news|last1=Nicholson|first1=Katie|last2=Gilchrist|first2=Sylvène|date=3 April 2019|title=Stage design in fatal Radiohead concert collapse called for parts that didn't exist, witness says|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/stage-design-in-fatal-radiohead-concert-collapse-called-for-parts-that-didn-t-exist-witness-says-1.5082347|access-date=3 April 2019|website=[[CBC News]]|archive-date=September 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906231948/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/stage-design-in-fatal-radiohead-concert-collapse-called-for-parts-that-didn-t-exist-witness-says-1.5082347|url-status=live}}</ref> 

In July 2023, Spencer Baker, another construction worker, fell from the scaffolding into the river; he was rescued with undisclosed injuries.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 14, 2023 |title='Long road ahead' for survivor of 43-metre Ambassador Bridge fall |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-baker-fall-1.6907549 |access-date=January 31, 2025 |work=CBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Beard |first=George Petras and Stephen J. |date=July 13, 2023 |title=A harrowing rescue: After worker falls off Ambassador Bridge, witnesses rush to help |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/07/13/ambassador-bridge-fall-rescue/70409754007/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Access to the Ambassador Bridge was impeded by protesters during the [[Canada convoy protest|Freedom Convoy protests]] protests in Canada.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McNish |first1=Paul Vieira and Jacquie |title=Truckers 'Freedom Convoy' Protests Disrupt Ambassador Bridge on U.S.-Canada Border |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-vaccine-protests-disrupt-traffic-on-u-s-canada-bridge-11644351229?mod=hp_listc_pos1 |access-date=9 February 2022 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=8 February 2022 |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209045759/https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-vaccine-protests-disrupt-traffic-on-u-s-canada-bridge-11644351229?mod=hp_listc_pos1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Protesters at the bridge blockaded it on February 7.<ref>{{cite news |title=2nd day of Ambassador Bridge protest halts vehicles from leaving Michigan, limits Windsor to U.S. traffic |newspaper=CBC News |date=February 8, 2022 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-protest-1.6343344 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209134604/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-protest-1.6343344 |url-status=live }}</ref> On the evening of February 7, traffic at the bridge came to a complete halt.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2022/02/07/covid-protest-sparks-traffic-delays-ambassador-bridge/6698271001/|title=Police: Ambassador Bridge traffic to U.S. open after Canada protest|first=Mark|last=Hicks|date=February 7, 2022|website=The Detroit News|access-date=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209232648/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2022/02/07/covid-protest-sparks-traffic-delays-ambassador-bridge/6698271001/|url-status=live}}</ref> The blockade continued into February 8.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/supporters-of-trucker-convoy-delay-traffic-at-canada-s-busiest-border-crossing-1.5771424|title=Supporters of trucker convoy delay traffic at Canada's busiest border crossing|date=February 7, 2022|website=CTV News|access-date=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210012218/https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/supporters-of-trucker-convoy-delay-traffic-at-canada-s-busiest-border-crossing-1.5771424|url-status=live}}</ref> On the morning of February 8, officials declared the bridge reopened, but the blockade later resumed, pushing trips to the [[Blue Water Bridge]] between [[Sarnia]] and [[Port Huron, Michigan|Port Huron]].{{Efn|Attributed to multiple sources.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Jessica |last2=Debusmann Jr |first2=Bernd |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60267841 |title=Canada truckers protest: Ambassador Bridge reopened |work=BBC News |date=February 8, 2022 |access-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-date=February 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208192606/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60267841 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=2nd day of Ambassador Bridge protest halts vehicles from leaving Michigan, limits Windsor to U.S. traffic |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-protest-1.6343344 |access-date=February 8, 2022 |work=CBC News Windsor |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=February 8, 2022 |location=Windsor ON |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209134604/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-protest-1.6343344 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Derick |last2=Carr |first2=Brandon |date=February 8, 2022 |title=US-bound traffic now fully open on Ambassador Bridge; traffic into Canada still closed |url=https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/02/08/us-bound-traffic-now-fully-open-on-ambassador-bridge-traffic-into-canada-still-closed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303171851/https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/02/08/us-bound-traffic-now-fully-open-on-ambassador-bridge-traffic-into-canada-still-closed/ |archive-date=March 3, 2022 |access-date=March 3, 2022 |work=ClickOnDetroit |publisher=WDIV-TV}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=LaReau |first=Jamie L. |date=February 11, 2022 |title=Ford, Toyota see more production disruption as bridge protest continues |url=https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2022/02/11/ford-toyota-production-ambassador-bridge-trucker-protest/6751247001/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303171851/https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2022/02/11/ford-toyota-production-ambassador-bridge-trucker-protest/6751247001/ |archive-date=March 3, 2022 |access-date=March 3, 2022 |newspaper=Detroid Free Press}}</ref>}}