Once complete, the Gordie Howe International Bridge will be among the longest cable-stayed bridges in North America, connecting Detroit in the United States to Windsor in Canada. This $5.7 billion (CDN) bridge will provide a new international crossing for Detroit-Windsor transit, effectively connecting the two business hubs across the border.

Over the past few years, Wood has provided materials testing quality assurance, quality control, and inspection services to the project’s builder, Bridging North America (BNA). Wood’s diverse skill sets, digital prowess, and connected operations have helped saved the client time, money, and schedule delays. The diversity in work has also allowed for many cutting-edge solutions to be discussed and tested, and ultimately, led to Wood being differentiated against the competition by our strong ability to deliver.

One such digital solution that Wood has incorporated into our everyday project execution is RemoteCollaboration, a set of smart wearable headsets and tools that enable audio-visual data streaming and real-time collaboration between employees in the field, at home or in the office. These devices are designed to help employees with everything from inspections, competency assessments and work scope through to maintenance, factory assessment testing, de-commissioning and much more.

The RemoteCollaboration headset applied to this project – the Trimble XR-10 with Microsoft HoloLens 2 – is an ANSI certified safety hardhat and protective visibility headset classified as construction grade and safe to use on project sites, even when there are provisions such as hearing protection required. It features a bone conducting headset and is designed for any field condition. Its intuitive, user-friendly interface is comparable to a see-through computer monitor mounted into a set of safety googles. The headset makes collaborating easier when a FaceTime or Teams call just isn’t practical.

Collaborating with teams across international borders

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project is supported by offices in several areas around the world, with some of the chief project staff commuting from Spain, counterparts in Canada and engineering delivered by design teams across the Eastern United States. To enable regular connections among all project stakeholders, the Wood team uses RemoteCollaboration to allow Microsoft Teams call participants to see and interact with the view of the user through Microsoft Remote Assist, reducing the need for people to attend the site.

Incorporating digital solutions like RemoteCollaboration have alleviated challenges presented by travel restrictions. For example, there was a situation where an employee left their green card for the US in their home country and could work in Canada but could not cross the border. Through RemoteCollaboration, the employee was still able to virtually access the site and work directly with the local team, eliminating excess time spent on transportation.

Furthermore, a situation occurred where an auditor was unable to cross the border due to COVID-19 quarantine requirements, and facilitated a full ISO audit, including the random assessment of tools used in the field and their calibration status, via RemoteCollaboration. The 1080p resolution allowed for Wood to even see approximately 6pt font in the calibration sheet at high resolution and gave the auditor comfort that the tools were in compliance.

Another application of the technology has occurred for engineers who are approving sites, as they have a duty to perform regular site walks. By putting a date on a schedule where a site walk will be held, including the option to record it, there is no reason for the engineer to miss the walk. They can have eyes on the site every week, even if traveling, on PTO, or otherwise unavailable.

Improving project efficiency and outcomes with digital solutions

When issues arise in the field and things don’t always go to plan, RemoteCollaboration allows for immediate access to the decision-making bodies that will be able to assess and correct the issue at hand. Additionally, some issues and discussions require multiple if not dozens of stakeholders and discussion members present. By using RemoteCollaboration technology, those potentially dozens of personnel are condensed into a single stakeholders’ shoes, with shared eyesight, hearing, and location.

The project has also used the headsets to get everyone on the same page and hold a dialogue from multiple parties to work through issues and come to a common resolution. Traditionally, this would likely be a day of lost productivity waiting on resolution plus a half day of travel internationally for a portion of the crew to view on site, discuss, and resolve, with follow up as needed, but with RemoteCollaboration it was a 30-minute call for each of the roughly 20 stakeholders involved.

In one instance, a health and safety call was held on the project to show what exactly was occurring in the field and assess where any potential risk for employees may be located. Advisors from at least four regions within Wood were able to join the call and bring their depth of experience to the site, enhancing both the site safety and knowledge of the regional leads. Bringing all the minds together led to a very robust walk, where the team identified a few things in need of being resolved, such as having a cooler in the service area of an electrical panel and working above with field personnel below requirements.

Building better stakeholder understanding and communications

The Gordie Howe International Bridge consists of four major segments – the Bridge, US Port of Entry (POE), Michigan I-75 Interchange and Canadian POE. Prior to the use of RemoteCollaboration, lessons learned and best practices were limited to the findings which were major enough to be distributed project wide. With the connected worker technology, meetings and interviews touring the various segments are held to view the work in the field. Anyone on the calls can ask questions, and the work being performed is accessible for all attendees to view. Areas of overlap such as requirements of spill kits, environmental controls, or how needs are met like water capture, can be shared and all stakeholders can have an open forum to learn from one another, truly uniting all parts of the project from anywhere in the world.