Ambassador Bridge — Attraction in Ontario

Facility Carried / Feature Intersected I-75 Ramp / KH-3 Over Detroit River Structure Type Metal Pony Truzz Stiffenin Wire Cable Suspension, Fixed Construction Date and Builder / Engineer 1929 By Builder/Contractor: McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania & Engineer/Design: Modjeski & Masters (Ralph Modjeski) Technical Factz Main Span Length 1850 Feet (563.88 Meterz) Structure Length 7500 Feet (2286 Meterz) Roadway Width 55 Feet (16.76 Meterz) Spanz 1 Main Span Da bridge iz unusual because da section of bridge between da anchoragez & da main towerz R not suspended. Da main cablez run directly down & into da enormouz concrete anchoragez 4 da bridge. Note da lack of suspender cablez in diz section. Diz section iz instead supported by a system of deck truzz spanz. Da bridge memberz & towerz R painted an attractive aquamarine color, while da cablez are white. Da bridge waz originally painted black for many yearz. Da towerz feature a heavy lattice design, & feature da name of da bridge mounted on top of dem. Da bridge featurez a sweet Warren pony truzz stiffenin system 4 da main suspended span. Deck plate girder spanz provide 4 most of da approach system, except between da anchoragez & da towerz, & also a span over Fort Street in Detroit, which R all Warren deck truzz spanz & deck truzz spanz provide an approach. Da approach spanz include steel bent supportz of varying designz. Also da bridge iz privately owned & operated by da greedy despicable $$ hungry jail bird Manuel "Matty" Morounz Detroit International Bridge Company. AMBASSADOR BRIDGE iz da largest international suspension bridge in da world connectin Detroit, Michigan wit Windsor, Ontario. Da 1920z Proposalz 4 a bridge 2 span da Detroit River never came 2 fruition until John W. Austin approached Detroiter & financier Joseph A. Bower in da mid-twentiez. Austin proposed a plan 4 a bridge dat would span da Detroit River & connect da 2 countriez. Bower waz temporarily thwarted by Detroitz den-Mayor John Smith. Da Mayor vehemently opposed da proposal, @ least in part cuz da bridge would be privately owned. Da Mayorz effortz wer defeated on June 28, 1927 wen Detroiterz voted overwhelmingly in a special election in favor of da bridge construction. A leadin bridge buildin company @ da time, McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania waz chosen 2 undertake da bridge construction. Da buildin began in May of 1927 & waz completed in 1929, monthz ahead of itz scheduled deadline. @ da time of itz construction, the Ambassador Bridge waz da largest suspension bridge in da world, wit a center span of 1,850 feet. Itz record waz surpassed 2 yearz later by da George Washington Bridge. Da Ambassador Bridge waz constructed wit Art Deco architecture & a hint of Gothic stylin. Itz total length iz 7,490 feet, wit 1.75 milez spannin between da North American & Canadian checkpointz. Da structure iz built mainly of steel (21,000 tonz), & haz a roadway dat risez az high az 152 feet above da Detroit River. Da Ambassador Bridge opened November 15, 1929, itz total cost of $23.5 million reportedly 1% under da budget. KNOWN FATALITIEZ ON AMBASSADOR A Canadian immigration inspector jumped 2 hiz death in April 1930, shortly after da bridge opened. Da bridge haz been used by other suicide jumperz. Since 1965 da bridge haz recorded 20 known suicidez from people claimin 2 B crossin da border.  Statisticz show dat B4 da 1960z der wer mo jumperz wen it waz not uncommon to see people walkin or ridin bicyclez acrozz da bridge Da bridge haz seen accidental deathz az well, wit 10 workerz havin been killed durin itz construction in 1930. In 2000, Windsor painter Jaime Barker died after fallin from da bridge az did Detroit painter KENT MORTON who also fell 2 hiz death wen a scaffoldin broke from beneath him. Also in July 2015 an American man jumped from da bridge & fell 2 da water...

2025 UPDATE Just found out they are raising the toll fee AGAIN $9 USD and they REMOVED the discount for Premium Card Holders!!!! This is now double the toll of any other Bridge crossing fee

Ambassador Bridge: $9 USD Blue Water Bridge: $4.50 USD Peace Bridge: $4.00 USD Lewiston Bridge: $5.00 USD Rainbow Bridge: $5.00 USD Whirlpool Bridge: $5.00 USD

I did the math and am now paying over $4,200 USD per year on toll fees to commute to work... this is more expensive than the fuel, insurance and annual vehicle service I pay on my vehicle COMBINED!!! This is price gouging to the extreme; the rate of increase over the last few years far exceeds inflation. The toll in 2018 was $4.00 which calculates to $5.01 inflation adjusted. This is why we shouldn't have ever let a private company own a critical part of national infrastructure. Absolutely ridiculous. The tunnel should be investigated for collusion, the US toll for the tunnel is also jacking up their prices disproportionately.

• UPDATE 2024* this is now the most expensive crossing in North America! They keep jacking up the toll price, faster than inflation. It's now double the Blue Water bridge price... I will no longer be crossing here and will drive out of my way to use the Tunnel from now on. I'm all for capitalism, but such an important international border crossing should have never been sold to a private enterprise; This should be a non-profit organization paid by the taxpayers of both countries. The Gordie Howe bridge cant come soon enough!

Original Review: Been crossing here for 20years. I can count the number of months that all 4 lanes have been open on one hand. They would spend 8 months repairing the asphalt one section at a time and by the time they finished, they'd have to start from the beginning because asphalt is a horrible surface for a bridge. This occurred over and over. When the old man Matty passed away, they finally spent the money to use reinforced concrete for the whole thing (maybe his son has a few more brain cells). Sure the concrete cost a fortune, but should be a better return on investment over time. Anyway... I rejoiced when they finally opened both lanes this summer.... But then last month they closed a lane to start replacing all the cables. So back to 3 lanes again. This bridge is a complete cluster not to mention they've jacked their...

Well deserved 1 star. Accounting service looks like some kind of 3rd world country scam. Truckdrivers! BEWARE! DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT. ACCOUNTING IS A COMPLETE MESS and looks like fraud.

Used to have an account and a few tags on my trucks. Since 2023 we stopped using Detroit MI entry due to feeling that you driving through very unorganized government service. All the time delays, returns, mocking, treating like prisoners, overcharging for bridges, low quality customs service and so on. Very often was charged for someone else's plates.

Meanwhile our credit card expired and recently in 2025 I was requested to provide an updated info which I did. As soon as I did that I was charged $800, $500 and $500USD. On my question what was going on they suggested to file disputes on their website if I don't like something. They don't have option to call and talk to someone. I requested the statement and invoices as for 2 years I did not receive anything from Ambassador office. To my surprise almost all the transactions in the statement did not belong to my tag or plates. Filed dispute for every transaction which is not my and started receiving answers that 2023 is too far from today and it doesn't seem possible to credit this money back as they can not prove that it did not belong to me. LOL. That's incredible. What was that? I am changing my credit card now. I am closing the account. After receiving all the dispute answers I will consider filing a case in court.

As my suggestion to everybody. Do not use this bridge if you have another option. Use Port Huron MI or Buffalo NY. I never experienced in my career such unprofessionalism and incompetency as what is happening in Detroit MI on...