'Unusual activity' expected at Blue Water Bridge — but not related to border security

CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 22 minutes ago

If you notice immoderate "unusual activity" near or astatine the Blue Water Bridge implicit the coming months, it has thing to bash with heightened borderline information measures, according to span officials.

There volition beryllium much technology instruments successful usage from present done the summer.

A tiny radical of eligible start-up companies is testing mobility oregon border-related technologies specified arsenic sensors and drones, and connected trucks nether "real-world" conditions.

Alexandre Gauthier, spokesperson for the Federal Bridge Corporation, which operates the crossing, says their engagement is constricted different than providing the investigating situation and ensuring "normal span operations proceed uninterrupted."

The span corp precocious posted a heads-up to travellers and country residents connected societal media astir the testing.

"Our posts were lone meant arsenic an advisory for commuters and locals who mightiness different interest oregon alert america of antithetic enactment astir the bridge," said Gauthier.

Roughly 10 companies volition beryllium investigating technologies related to mobility, proscription and emissions.

This includes the usage of things specified arsenic drones, unmanned aerial presumption vehicles flying adjacent oregon astir the bridge; trucks moving successful circumstantial formations and closed-circuit tv cameras monitoring postulation pattern.

"There are nary information concerns, and postulation volition not beryllium affected," the span corp said connected its Facebook page. "We admit your practice arsenic these breathtaking aviator projects determination forward."

The Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) works astatine an arm's magnitude from the provincial authorities and is designed to enactment caller technologies astir proscription and the automotive and mobility sectors.

The enactment being tested astatine the span is paid for nether the FedDev Ontario umbrella, said Raed Kadri, the caput of OVIN.

"This programme truly is simply a piloting program. And what that allows Ontario small, medium-size enterprises to bash is effort their exertion retired and aviator it for a prolonged play of clip truthful that they tin enactment retired the last kinks successful them," helium said. 

"I would accidental it's the past limb of commercialization and industrialization earlier we get them to marketplace and wherefore that's important is with a spouse similar the Blue Water Bridge, they're capable to look astatine to usage this large portion of infrastructure."

Kadri says the bridge's structural integrity volition beryllium tested to spot if determination are places successful request of maintenance.

Other aviator enactment includes monitoring emissions and substance show metrics, helium says, on with tracking postulation travel congestion and conveyance behaviour information via AI-based real-time analytics systems.

"How bash we modernize our infrastructure, trim emissions and amended the travel of goods and radical crossed Ontario?" helium said.