Circle Drive South Bridge

The Gordie Howe Bridge is a vehicular freeway bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a steel girder bridge, built as part of the Circle Drive freeway system in southwestern Saskatoon. At the time of construction, it was projected to cost $272.5 million to build. It is the southern-most road bridge in the city, and the most recent to be built. The bridge is located adjacent to the Grand Trunk Bridge. It is also the longest of Saskatoon's bridges at 440m in length, and the first to have a concrete road surface. The bridge was scheduled to open with the completion of the entire Circle Drive South project on September 30, 2012. However, record rainfall, high water tables and an early snowfall made that deadline unfeasible. The actual completion and opening date was July 31, 2013.NameThe bridge was first referred to simply as the Circle Drive South Bridge. The Holiday Park community association lobbied Saskatoon City Council to have the bridge named after Christopher J. Yorath, the city's first commissioner. Yorath created a comprehensive town plan in 1913, which included inner and outer "encircling boulevards". Parts of the present-day Circle Drive follows the course in Yorath's plan. Yorath Island, also named for the commissioner, is located upstream from the bridge site. The city council originally decided that a naming contest would be held but then scrapped the idea because of the cost. On June 27, 2016, Saskatoon city council unanimously voted in favour of naming the bridge after recently deceased hockey legend Gordie Howe. Signs with the new name were installed on September 22, 2016.