Ambassador Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge
that connects Detroit, Michigan
, in the United States
, with Windsor
, Ontario
, in Canada
. It is the busiest international border
crossing in North America in terms of trade volume: more than 25 percent of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada crosses the bridge. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the region and US$
13 billion in annual production depend on the Windsor–Detroit international border
crossing.
The bridge is owned by Grosse Pointe
billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun
through the Detroit International Bridge Company, which holds a monopoly
on commercial truck traffic. Moroun also owns the nearby Ammex Detroit Duty Free Store, which has a monopoly on duty-free fuel.
, the Detroit–Windsor was a center for railroads in the area. The Michigan Central
and the 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 frequently there were 700–1,000 freight cars waiting to cross the river and passengers were delayed in transit. Warehouses in Chicago were forced to store grain that could not be shipped 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.
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 to the idea of building a railroad bridge over the river in 1873, and the US 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 US Congress requested a new study for a bridge in 1889, and again no bridge was approved. Finally, the Michigan Central built the 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.
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."
, had the longest suspended central span in the world when it was completed in 1929—1,850 feet (564 m), a title it would hold until the opening of the George Washington Bridge
in 1931. It can be seen from Ford Field
and the total bridge length is 7,500 feet (2,286 m). Construction began in 1927 and was completed in 1929. The architect
was the McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
.
The bridge is styled in a mixture of Art Deco
and Streamline Moderne
architectural designs, with some Gothic architecture
blended in. It is made primarily out of steel; however, the two main towers on each side of the river are made of a steel
-silicon
alloy
which rise up from concrete
piers. The towers rise 386 feet (118 m) above the river, and plunge 115 feet (35 m) below the surface of the Detroit River. The bridge is made up of 21,000 short ton
s (19,000 tonne
s) of steel, and the roadway rises as high as 152 feet (46 m) above the Detroit River. Only the main span over the river is supported by suspension cables; the approaches to the main pillars are held up by steel in a cantilever truss
structure.
The only bridge sidewalk on the south side used to allow pedestrians and bicycles, but security concerns after the September 11 attacks had it closed. When the painting is being done on the south side of the bridge span, the sidewalk helps accommodate equipment and decrease the length of the lane that is cordoned off for painting.
Granite blocks, originally used on the U.S. side, were given to the Windsor
Parks & Recreation Department, and now grace many of the pathways in Windsor parks
and Interstate 75
on the American side and Highway 3 (and indirectly with Highway 401) on the Canadian side. The Canadian end of the bridge connects to busy city streets in downtown Windsor, leading to congestion.
The lack of a second commercial crossing has led to concerns from customers, citing a lack of competition and dependency on a single company for a vital international border crossing.
, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, has spoken out against this proposal, and sued to prevent its construction. Critics suggest that Moroun's opposition is fuelled by the prospect of lost profits from duty-free gasoline sales, which are exempt from about 60 cents per gallon in taxes even though the pump price to consumers is only a few cents lower. The DRIC proposal conflicts with his own plans for a second span which would be built next to the Ambassador Bridge. Michigan and Canadian authorities continued to support the DRIC proposal, as it would directly connect the Canadian Highway 401 with Interstate 75
and Interstate 94
in Michigan, bypassing Windsor's surface streets and reducing congestion.
, Crossing the Bridge
, Grosse Pointe Blank
, Sicko
and Bowling for Columbine
. It can also be seen in the opening scenes of the film Four Brothers
and in an episode of the series Biker Mice From Mars
("The Motor City Maniac", 1994). It is also featured in the novel Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
. It is featured in Sam Roberts' music video for the song "Detroit '67". Perhaps most-recently, however, the Ambassador Bridge (and nearby Renaissance Center
in Downtown Detroit
) were prominently featured in the Life After People
episode "The Road to Nowhere".
Other suspension bridges in Ontario
:
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
that connects Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is the busiest international border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
crossing in North America in terms of trade volume: more than 25 percent of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada crosses the bridge. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the region and US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
13 billion in annual production depend on the Windsor–Detroit international border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
crossing.
The bridge is owned by Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe refers to a coastal area in Metro Detroit, Michigan, United States that comprises five adjacent individual communities. From southwest to northeast, they are:*Grosse Pointe Park, city*Grosse Pointe, city*Grosse Pointe Farms, city...
billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun
Manuel Moroun
Manuel "Matty" Moroun is an American businessman of Lebanese descent and the owner of CenTra, Inc., the holding company which controls the Ambassador Bridge. The former is significant as it is the only private ownership of a border crossing between the United States and Canada. He bought the...
through the Detroit International Bridge Company, which holds a monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
on commercial truck traffic. Moroun also owns the nearby Ammex Detroit Duty Free Store, which has a monopoly on duty-free fuel.
History
After the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Detroit–Windsor was a center for railroads in the area. The Michigan Central
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
and the Great Western
Great Western Railway (Ontario)
The Great Western Railway was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Canada West and later the province of Ontario, following Confederation...
railroads in addition to others operated on either side of the border connecting Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with the Atlantic Seaboard
Atlantic Seaboard
The Atlantic seaboard watershed is a watershed of North America along both*the Atlantic Canada coast south of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence Watershed &*the East Coast of the United States north of the watershed of the Okeechobee Waterway....
. 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 frequently there were 700–1,000 freight cars waiting to cross the river and passengers were delayed in transit. Warehouses in Chicago were forced to store grain that could not be shipped 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.
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 to the idea of building a railroad bridge over the river in 1873, and the US 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 US Congress requested a new study for a bridge in 1889, and again no bridge was approved. Finally, the Michigan Central built the Detroit River Tunnel
Michigan Central Railway Tunnel
The Michigan Central Railway Tunnel is a railroad tunnel under the Detroit River connecting Detroit, Michigan, USA with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The U.S. entrance is south of Porter St. and Vermont St. near Rosa Parks Blvd. The Canadian entrance is south of Wyandotte St. W. between Cameron Ave....
in 1909–10 to carry trains under the river. This tunnel benefited the Michigan Central and Great Western railroads, but the Canada Southern Railway
Canada Southern Railway
The Canada Southern Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. It adopted the Canada Southern Railway name on December 24, 1869. In 1904 the railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad for 99 years; in 1929 it...
and other lines still preferred a bridge over the river.
Plans for a bridge were revived in 1919 to commemorate the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and to honor the "youth of Canada and the United States who served in the Great War."
Design
The bridge, over the Detroit RiverDetroit River
The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...
, had the longest suspended central span in the world when it was completed in 1929—1,850 feet (564 m), a title it would hold until the opening of the George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 cross the river via the bridge. U.S...
in 1931. It can be seen from Ford Field
Ford Field
Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...
and the total bridge length is 7,500 feet (2,286 m). Construction began in 1927 and was completed in 1929. The architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
was the McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
The bridge is styled in a mixture of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
and Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
architectural designs, with some Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
blended in. It is made primarily out of steel; however, the two main towers on each side of the river are made of a steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
-silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
which rise up from concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
piers. The towers rise 386 feet (118 m) above the river, and plunge 115 feet (35 m) below the surface of the Detroit River. The bridge is made up of 21,000 short ton
Short ton
The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S...
s (19,000 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s) of steel, and the roadway rises as high as 152 feet (46 m) above the Detroit River. Only the main span over the river is supported by suspension cables; the approaches to the main pillars are held up by steel in a cantilever truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
structure.
The only bridge sidewalk on the south side used to allow pedestrians and bicycles, but security concerns after the September 11 attacks had it closed. When the painting is being done on the south side of the bridge span, the sidewalk helps accommodate equipment and decrease the length of the lane that is cordoned off for painting.
Granite blocks, originally used on the U.S. side, were given to the Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
Parks & Recreation Department, and now grace many of the pathways in Windsor parks
Traffic
The four-lane bridge carries more than 10,000 commercial vehicles on a typical weekday. A major redesign of the U.S. plaza completed in July 2009 provides direct access to Interstate 96Interstate 96
Interstate 96 is an intrastate Interstate Highway that is entirely within the US state of Michigan. Its western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US Highway 31 , on the western boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon. Its eastern terminus is at I-75 near the...
and Interstate 75
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...
on the American side and Highway 3 (and indirectly with Highway 401) on the Canadian side. The Canadian end of the bridge connects to busy city streets in downtown Windsor, leading to congestion.
The lack of a second commercial crossing has led to concerns from customers, citing a lack of competition and dependency on a single company for a vital international border crossing.
Second Span
The Detroit International Bridge Company, the owners and operators of the bridge, have proposed to spend one billion U.S. dollars to build a second span. The new span would be a cable stay bridge and would accommodate the bulk of the cross-border traffic with the original span being used for overflow traffic. However, it does not address Canadian concerns about increased traffic on Huron Church Road in Windsor. The proposal has been stymied by a lack of support.Tolls
The lack of competition from a second commercial crossing has led to criticism of the pricing structure. Although the Canadian dollar now trades at about USD$1.03, the Ambassador Bridge toll rate for cars is $4.75 CAD and only $4 USD.Detroit River International Crossing
A second bridge crossing of the Detroit River to supplement the Ambassador Bridge has been proposed due to high expected growth in traffic. Manuel "Matty" MorounManuel Moroun
Manuel "Matty" Moroun is an American businessman of Lebanese descent and the owner of CenTra, Inc., the holding company which controls the Ambassador Bridge. The former is significant as it is the only private ownership of a border crossing between the United States and Canada. He bought the...
, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, has spoken out against this proposal, and sued to prevent its construction. Critics suggest that Moroun's opposition is fuelled by the prospect of lost profits from duty-free gasoline sales, which are exempt from about 60 cents per gallon in taxes even though the pump price to consumers is only a few cents lower. The DRIC proposal conflicts with his own plans for a second span which would be built next to the Ambassador Bridge. Michigan and Canadian authorities continued to support the DRIC proposal, as it would directly connect the Canadian Highway 401 with Interstate 75
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...
and Interstate 94
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...
in Michigan, bypassing Windsor's surface streets and reducing congestion.
Media
The bridge was featured in the films Hoffa, 8 Mile8 Mile (film)
8 Mile is a 2002 American hip-hop drama film written by Scott Silver, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Eminem, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, and Kim Basinger....
, Crossing the Bridge
Crossing the Bridge
Crossing the Bridge is an American film starring Josh Charles, Stephen Baldwin and Jason Gedrick.Characters Mort Golden , Tim Reese and Danny Morgan are friends who embark on a dangerous drug-smuggling venture.The film was created by Mike Binder and loosely based on Binders' friends during the...
, Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits...
, Sicko
Sicko
Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film investigates health care in the United States, focusing on its health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. The movie compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S...
and Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
. It can also be seen in the opening scenes of the film Four Brothers
Four Brothers (film)
Four Brothers is a 2005 action crime film directed by John Singleton. The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund. The film was shot in Detroit, Michigan and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada...
and in an episode of the series Biker Mice From Mars
Biker Mice from Mars
Biker Mice from Mars is a science fiction animated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993 in the United States and lasted for three seasons before it was cancelled...
("The Motor City Maniac", 1994). It is also featured in the novel Middlesex
Middlesex (novel)
Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides published in 2002. The book is a bestseller, with more than three million copies sold as of May 2011. Its characters and events are loosely based on aspects of Eugenides' life and observations of his Greek heritage. It is...
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Kent Eugenides is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and short story writer. Eugenides is most known for his first two novels, The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex . His novel The Marriage Plot was published in October, 2011.-Life and career:Eugenides was born in Detroit, Michigan,...
. It is featured in Sam Roberts' music video for the song "Detroit '67". Perhaps most-recently, however, the Ambassador Bridge (and nearby Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located on the International Riverfront, the Renaissance Center complex is owned by General Motors as its world headquarters...
in Downtown Detroit
Downtown Detroit
Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Downtown is bordered by the Lodge Freeway to the west, the Fisher Freeway to the north, Interstate 375 to the east, and the Detroit River to the south.Downtown contains much historic...
) were prominently featured in the Life After People
Life After People
Life After People is a television documentary series where scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth might be like if humanity no longer existed, as well as the impact humanity's disappearance might have on the environment and the artificial aspects of civilization...
episode "The Road to Nowhere".
See also
- Detroit River International CrossingDetroit River International CrossingThe Detroit River International Crossing , alternatively New International Trade Crossing , is a multi-national construction project and committee between Canada and the United States to create a new border crossing over the Detroit River...
, a proposed second bridge crossing - Detroit–Windsor TunnelDetroit–Windsor TunnelThe Detroit–Windsor Tunnel is an underwater highway tunnel connecting Detroit, Michigan in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario in Canada. It was completed in 1930....
, a partially submerged link between the two cities - Blue Water BridgeBlue Water BridgeThe Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, USA and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada...
, which links Port Huron, Michigan, USA to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada - Detroit RiverDetroit RiverThe Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...
- Detroit–Windsor
Other suspension bridges in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
:
- Sewells Road Suspension Bridge
- Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge
- Thousand Islands BridgeThousand Islands BridgeThe Thousand Islands Bridge is an international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada. Constructed in 1937, with additions in 1959, the bridges span the United States-Canada border in the middle of the...