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Reprise: The people behind a most iconic international handshake · Talking Michigan Transportation

• 0:07
  Jeff Cranson: Hello, welcome to the Talking Michigan Transportation Podcast.
• 0:10
  Jeff Cranson: I'm Jeff Cranson.
• 0:12
  Jeff Cranson: This week I wanted to reprise a conversation I had about a year and a half ago with two iron workers, one from the U.S.
• 0:23
  Jeff Cranson: and one from Canada, who shook hands at the center of the Gordie Howe International Bridge when that final connection was made.
• 0:31
  Jeff Cranson: Obviously, there's still some punch list work left to do before the bridge can open, but it was a cool moment.
• 0:39
  Jeff Cranson: I don't know if it's correct to call something that's like 19 months old iconic, but it does seem like it quickly became a viral sensation.
• 0:48
  Jeff Cranson: Both had interesting histories as iron workers and seemed to really feel the moment and how historic it was for them to be there to have that handshake.
• 0:58
  Jeff Cranson: So I hope if you didn't hear it before, you enjoy the conversation.
• 1:01
  Jeff Cranson: And if you have already heard it, you enjoy it again.
• 1:04
  Jeff Cranson: Again, as I mentioned in my introduction, I have the privilege of talking to two iron workers today who have had the uh the distinct honor of playing an important role in building the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
• 1:17
  Jeff Cranson: And they've been somewhat uh made into celebrities because of an iconic photo of each of them shaking hands.
• 1:25
  Jeff Cranson: Uh, Casey Whitson, who is a uh Michigan iron worker, uh, was representing the US in that handshake.
• 1:33
  Jeff Cranson: And Jason Huggett, who is an iron worker from Canada.
• 1:38
  Jeff Cranson: And what's really interesting about this is they're both second-generation iron workers, and both of their fathers worked on similarly iconic structures.
• 1:48
  Jeff Cranson: In Casey's case, his father worked on the Renaissance Center in Detroit and also Joe Lewis Arena.
• 1:54
  Jeff Cranson: And Jason's father worked on the second span of the Blue Water Bridge, which connects Canada and U.S.
• 2:00
  Jeff Cranson: at Port Huron and Sarnia.
• 2:03
  Jeff Cranson: Thank you both for being here.
• 2:04
  Jeff Cranson: Let me let me start with you, Jason.
• 2:07
  Jeff Cranson: Um, and hopefully the audience will be able to distinguish your voices.
• 2:11
  Jeff Cranson: I think I can tell the difference.
• 2:13
  Jeff Cranson: But uh, you know, what is it what does it mean to you to uh to be able to work on something this this high profile?
• 2:21
  Jason Hugget: Uh it truly is amazing, Jeff.
• 2:23
  Jason Hugget: Uh I've worked a lot of big jobs, but nothing as big as this connecting two countries together.
• 2:29
  Jason Hugget: The views the views on this job have been better than almost any other job I've been on.
• 2:34
  Jason Hugget: It's an amazing accomplishment.
• 2:36
  Jeff Cranson: Do you imagine in your lifetime you'll ever work on anything as as significant as this again?
• 2:41
  Jason Hugget: Uh probably not as significant, no.
• 2:43
  Jason Hugget: I was thinking about going up to BC.
• 2:46
  Jason Hugget: That bridge is going up there, so and it's actually similar to this one, just a lot smaller scale.
• 2:53
  Jeff Cranson: Talk a little bit about your background.
• 2:54
  Jeff Cranson: You're uh based on your phone number, I get the feeling you're originally from Regina.
• 2:58
  Jason Hugget: No, I just spent 10 years there, and to be honest, it's the phone's a lot cheaper going with Saskatchewan to Ontario.
• 3:06
  Jeff Cranson: Interesting.
• 3:07
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 3:08
  Jeff Cranson: About that.
• 3:09
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, so I've uh I've been in the Iron Workers for 20 years now.
• 3:13
  Jason Hugget: Uh I've worked all across Canada.
• 3:15
  Jason Hugget: Met all kinds of people.
• 3:17
  Jason Hugget: Lots of good memories, lots of big jobs.
• 3:21
  Jason Hugget: It's hard never be at home sometimes, but you always got to make a name for yourself in this trade, as Casey knows.
• 3:27
  Jason Hugget: Like the only thing you got is your name in this trade.
• 3:31
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 3:32
  Jeff Cranson: So, Casey, same for you, I guess.
• 3:34
  Jeff Cranson: Uh, talk a little bit about your background.
• 3:37
  Jeff Cranson: Again, you're you're second generation, and it seems like you you see that a lot with iron workers, actually, that there's a generational tie there.
• 3:44
  Jeff Cranson: Can you talk about that?
• 3:46
  Casey Whitson: Yeah, typically uh back in the day, you pretty much you were either family or you knew somebody that was in the trade.
• 3:53
  Casey Whitson: So I wasn't much of a college student, so I went, I just followed in my dad's footsteps and just started becoming just became an iron worker.
• 4:02
  Jeff Cranson: And uh tell me when the this first got on your your radar.
• 4:08
  Jeff Cranson: I mean, it was 20 years in the making, planning, uh, politics, which uh you know still play a factor in this.
• 4:15
  Jeff Cranson: It's gone by three different names.
• 4:17
  Jeff Cranson: It was the the new international trade crossing, it was the Detroit River International Crossing, and finally settled on the Gordy Howe International Bridge.
• 4:25
  Jeff Cranson: When did you first uh come aware of the project?
• 4:30
  Casey Whitson: Uh probably about four years ago when they first started breaking ground.
• 4:34
  Casey Whitson: I uh, you know, I heard about it.
• 4:37
  Casey Whitson: I was I was actually gonna stay away from the job because I work a lot in the steel mills and the power plants and the car plants, you know, maintaining all that and having done a lot of big structural jobs.
• 4:48
  Casey Whitson: And my BA just called me about two years ago now, actually to the month.
• 4:53
  Casey Whitson: It was like, hey, uh, I'd like for you to come out and work on that bridge.
• 4:57
  Casey Whitson: And so I said, All right, I'll come out here.
• 4:59
  Casey Whitson: And it's been quite quite a couple of years now.
• 5:03
  Jeff Cranson: So talk a little bit first, Jason, about exactly what your day holds for the most part, and and what your work has been and is, and then uh same for you, Casey.
• 5:13
  Jason Hugget: Well, typical day, we start 6 a.m.
• 5:16
  Jason Hugget: You know, you go through protocols, safety meetings, toolbox talks, all your harness inspections.
• 5:23
  Jason Hugget: And then you get up there and you just get get to work.
• 5:26
  Jason Hugget: So the last few days we've been taking out the struts between the towers of uh as Casey and those guys took theirs out a while ago now.
• 5:34
  Jason Hugget: So by seven o'clock, you're up in the air, training hooked on, and you're you're starting a demo, really.
• 5:42
  Jason Hugget: Got torches going up there, and then you'll be up there for it could be all day, right?
• 5:49
  Jason Hugget: We have two breaks, but if you're stuck in the middle of the lift, then you can't go nowhere until that piece is on the ground.
• 5:56
  Jason Hugget: So usually we're done at four o'clock, but there is lots of overtime on this job, so there's always something going on.
• 6:06
  Jason Hugget: Never ending.
• 6:09
  Jeff Cranson: So, Casey, same to you.
• 6:11
  Jeff Cranson: I guess uh when you get home, and I don't know if you have kids or you know your spouse or your friends and ask you, hey, what'd you do today?
• 6:18
  Jeff Cranson: How do you how do you describe it?
• 6:20
  Casey Whitson: I always tell them I'm building a bridge.
• 6:22
  Casey Whitson: No, I it all depends on you know what aspect that we're doing.
• 6:27
  Casey Whitson: Like right now, I'm working on the side of the bridge, which called the cladding, and we're putting on the steel that goes on the side to kind of close the structure up a little bit.
• 6:36
  Casey Whitson: So that's that's what my days consist of right now.
• 6:39
  Casey Whitson: Like the in the beginning, beginning of the project, I was part of the the connecting crew and then the bolt-up crew, too.
• 6:47
  Casey Whitson: So I'd put the iron up, then fall back and start bolting it up, tightening it all up and getting it all lined up right.
• 6:55
  Jeff Cranson: So, how has it been for you guys to uh bridge the gap, so to speak, between you know the international barriers?
• 7:03
  Jeff Cranson: I mean, I often have joked with my Canadian counterparts as as we've talked about this project and been on meetings for years now, that we speak the same language, but we don't.
• 7:14
  Jeff Cranson: So one of you guys thinks in feet and one of you guys thinks in meters.
• 7:18
  Jeff Cranson: How do you how do you get through that?
• 7:22
  Casey Whitson: Well, you can we both I I know metric from doing install at the the car plants and stuff, but I mean it I hear Jason talking about feet and inches just as much as I do, so I'm not sure on exactly if they use how much metric they use over there on this particular project, but interesting.
• 7:43
  Jeff Cranson: What were you gonna say, Jason?
• 7:46
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, it's pretty pretty well the same.
• 7:48
  Jason Hugget: Like I'm 40, so I got a little bit of age on Kate.
• 7:52
  Jason Hugget: I can I can do both just like him, so it's it really comes down to the engineering and the bridge.
• 7:57
  Jason Hugget: Like the standard that we're gonna use, right?
• 7:59
  Jason Hugget: Metric current.
• 8:02
  Casey Whitson: No, that makes sense.
• 8:03
  Casey Whitson: All the price on what the print says, you know, how the print's written out.
• 8:08
  Jeff Cranson: Oh, sure.
• 8:08
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, and sometimes you have to interpret and sometimes you don't, I suppose.
• 8:12
  Jason Hugget: Yeah.
• 8:13
  Jason Hugget: So yeah, it always changes too.
• 8:18
  Jeff Cranson: I'm sorry.
• 8:19
  Jeff Cranson: How how did each of you get chosen for this incredible photograph?
• 8:23
  Casey Whitson: I uh just luck of the draw for me.
• 8:26
  Casey Whitson: I mean, I was just we were just making that last connection, and I just asked the guys, hey, you guys don't mind if I go out and there and you know cut that loose?
• 8:33
  Casey Whitson: And they were like, nah, go ahead.
• 8:34
  Casey Whitson: I mean, it was you know, it was no big deal at the time, but now it kind of is a big deal.
• 8:40
  Jeff Cranson: Oh, it's a huge deal.
• 8:41
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 8:42
  Jeff Cranson: How about you, Jason?
• 8:44
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, it was it's been talked about on our side for since we started, really.
• 8:49
  Jason Hugget: It came down to me and my partner in the beginning.
• 8:52
  Jason Hugget: But my partner moved up to foreman as we needed another foreman.
• 8:57
  Jason Hugget: So I was next in line and there it was, called every piece in, so you pretty well get that on there.
• 9:05
  Jason Hugget: And uh to be honest, like on our side we only had two journeyman to six apprentices.
• 9:10
  Jason Hugget: So it was it was tough some days.
• 9:14
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 9:14
  Jeff Cranson: Well, I mean, you you've shared it, I'm sure, probably on social media and with with friends and family.
• 9:21
  Jeff Cranson: What's what's the reaction you each get from people when they see the photo?
• 9:25
  Jason Hugget: My dad actually teared up when he seen the picture.
• 9:28
  Jeff Cranson: I'll bet.
• 9:29
  Jason Hugget: So it it it actually me it it meant something.
• 9:32
  Jason Hugget: It's really special.
• 9:34
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, that's very cool.
• 9:35
  Jeff Cranson: What about you, Casey?
• 9:37
  Casey Whitson: That's pretty much the same thing.
• 9:39
  Casey Whitson: My my old man, he was he called me, he called me up and I could hear how proud he was.
• 9:44
  Casey Whitson: Stuff, you know, and stuff like that.
• 9:46
  Casey Whitson: And I got him a copy of that picture that was in the uh that was in the newspaper, and I gave that to him for Father's Day.
• 9:52
  Casey Whitson: I gave one to Jason too.
• 9:54
  Jeff Cranson: Oh, very nice.
• 9:55
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, very nice.
• 9:56
  Jeff Cranson: We will continue the conversation right after a quick break.
• 10:02
  MDOT Message: Did you know Newton's first law of motion states that a body in motion will continue moving at the same speed and same direction, while the second law states that an object acted upon by the force will undergo Wait, I thought this was a snowplow safety message.
• 10:18
  MDOT Message: It is, which is why this is relevant.
• 10:21
  MDOT Message: Don't you think that's complicating things just a bit?
• 10:24
  MDOT Message: Not at all.
• 10:24
  MDOT Message: A snowplow weighs 17 times more than your average car.
• 10:28
  MDOT Message: Right, and snowplows tend to travel at slower than posted speeds.
• 10:32
  MDOT Message: So the third law states that action and reaction are equal and opposite.
• 10:38
  MDOT Message: I think it's easier just to remind motorists to give plows the room they need to do their jobs.
• 10:43
  MDOT Message: Follow at a safe distance and don't drive into snow clouds, things like that.
• 10:47
  MDOT Message: Well, if you're gonna make it that simple, why don't you just say don't crowd the plow?
• 10:52
  MDOT Message: Great idea.
• 10:53
  MDOT Message: Stay safe this winter, don't crowd the plow.
• 10:56
  MDOT Message: That's it, yeah.
• 10:57
  MDOT Message: That's it.
• 11:00
  Jeff Cranson: So we're we're still on on track for opening uh hopefully about a year from now, probably September of 2025.
• 11:10
  Jeff Cranson: Um you guys feel feel good about hitting that target?
• 11:14
  Casey Whitson: Pretty sure we'll be done.
• 11:15
  Casey Whitson: It's gonna be all the other trades, you know, getting all the electricians and the plumbing and all them guys getting all their stuff buttoned up because you know the iron workers will be close, we'll probably be one of the first trades done, considering, you know, we got to put the structure up before everybody else has a job.
• 11:29
  Casey Whitson: So that's a good point.
• 11:31
  Jason Hugget: Pretty well the same on the R side.
• 11:33
  Jason Hugget: They're like they'll be playing with those cables and tensioning them and stressing them for a while, but until the other trades get in there, there's a lot of work electricians and uh the steam fritters gotta do, or sprinkler fetters, sorry.
• 11:48
  Jason Hugget: But the on workers will definitely be done.
• 11:52
  Jeff Cranson: So um what do you you do you have any idea at this point?
• 11:56
  Jeff Cranson: I'll start with you, Casey, like what you'd be moving on to next.
• 11:59
  Jeff Cranson: Do you think you'd be going back to doing work at the plants, or do you you see yourself working on another bridge or piece of transportation infrastructure?
• 12:08
  Casey Whitson: I'll probably stay local.
• 12:09
  Casey Whitson: I'll probably head over the Cleveland Cliffs and go back to maintaining that place, you know, with whatever company feels like hiring me, or you know, wherever there's a wherever there's good work, you know, at the car plants or whatever.
• 12:21
  Casey Whitson: That's that's my plan, at least for now.
• 12:24
  Jeff Cranson: This is probably a a very good time to to have your skills.
• 12:27
  Jeff Cranson: You're probably eminently employable, I'll bet.
• 12:30
  Casey Whitson: Well, I got quite a few years in the trade, so there's that too.
• 12:34
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 12:35
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, Jason, what about you?
• 12:39
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, the same.
• 12:40
  Jason Hugget: There's like a there's that BC Bridge job, which I've been thinking about, and there's a job 30 minutes from my house, a battery plant.
• 12:48
  Jason Hugget: I haven't been home in six years, so I'd like to be home, but you never know with this job where you're gonna end up.
• 12:57
  Jeff Cranson: Where is where is home again?
• 13:00
  Jason Hugget: Home is uh Brightstrove, Ontario.
• 13:03
  Jason Hugget: Okay, Kernia.
• 13:06
  Jeff Cranson: So when you talk about, yeah, are you saying a BC project?
• 13:08
  Jeff Cranson: You're talking about a British Columbia bridge?
• 13:11
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, British Columbia in Victoria.
• 13:13
  Jason Hugget: They're doing another cable stay bridge.
• 13:16
  Jeff Cranson: That is uh state of the art now, I guess, isn't it?
• 13:20
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, they're I don't know.
• 13:22
  Jason Hugget: In my eyes, they look a lot better than the older, so a lot more work to it, but definitely looks better.
• 13:31
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, that's probably gonna for people like uh Casey and and me, you know, Michigan people, that's probably gonna land with uh a bit of a harsh thud for a lot of people because we've been so proud of the Mackinac Bridge for so long and we stamp it on our license plates.
• 13:45
  Jeff Cranson: And a suspension bridge is certainly beautiful in its own way, but there is something about these cable state bridges, especially at night when they're lit up, that that really uh really gets you if you if you like bridges.
• 13:57
  Jason Hugget: Yeah, this bridge has lights all over it.
• 14:00
  Jason Hugget: Duncher Casey side, they're putting all the lights on the cladding on the outside.
• 14:04
  Jason Hugget: This whole thing is gonna be lit right up.
• 14:07
  Casey Whitson: Yeah, it's gonna be cool.
• 14:08
  Casey Whitson: I can't wait to see that.
• 14:11
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah.
• 14:12
  Jeff Cranson: So what do you think, Casey?
• 14:13
  Jeff Cranson: What if somebody what if you run into somebody that actually worked on the Mackinac bridge and you tell them yours is cooler?
• 14:19
  Jeff Cranson: What are you gonna say?
• 14:20
  Casey Whitson: I would never uh unfortunately one of the one of the last iron workers that did work on the Mackinac Bridge, he just died this year.
• 14:28
  Casey Whitson: And uh, but yeah, I don't think I don't I don't think he'd agree with me.
• 14:33
  Casey Whitson: I think he'd say his bridge was a little more a little more beautiful.
• 14:38
  Jeff Cranson: In my previous life as a journalist in 1997, we took an iron worker up to the Mackinac Bridge who had helped build it in 1957, and he was in his late 70s at the time, and he had no problem going right up the elevator and walking out there on the platform and you know looking around at the straits.
• 14:57
  Jeff Cranson: I mean, you talk about a beautiful view.
• 14:59
  Jeff Cranson: Um, it it's always amazed me that I guess if you're not born with any fear of heights, you never get any fear of heights because that guy wasn't bothered a bit by that.
• 15:08
  Jeff Cranson: And you probably run into people who are.
• 15:11
  Casey Whitson: Oh, yeah.
• 15:12
  Casey Whitson: You run into run into you run into iron workers who are afraid of heights, believe it or not.
• 15:16
  Casey Whitson: I mean, it just happens.
• 15:17
  Casey Whitson: But you get over you get over it though.
• 15:19
  Casey Whitson: You ain't got a choice.
• 15:20
  Casey Whitson: You either gotta make the money or you don't.
• 15:23
  Jeff Cranson: Interesting, yeah.
• 15:24
  Casey Whitson: True.
• 15:25
  Jeff Cranson: What do you what do you say, Jason?
• 15:28
  Jason Hugget: That's very true.
• 15:30
  Casey Whitson: Well, like I and like what I always tell people, I really don't look past my feet when I'm walking around up on the iron.
• 15:36
  Casey Whitson: You know what I mean?
• 15:36
  Casey Whitson: I'm not staring at the ground when I'm you know walking, so you kind of really don't pay attention to how high you are unless you really look around.
• 15:43
  Jeff Cranson: So I guess lastly, let's talk a little bit about what you'll take away from this when you're talking about this, you know, 20 years from now.
• 15:51
  Jeff Cranson: Um, let's start with you, Jason.
• 15:53
  Jeff Cranson: What what do you think will be your your most significant memory from the project?
• 15:58
  Jason Hugget: Well, definitely the handshake is probably the most iconic.
• 16:01
  Jason Hugget: But just the crew I had was a lot of work.
• 16:05
  Jason Hugget: Everybody coming together to make it safe, done.
• 16:10
  Jason Hugget: Like it's just there's a lot going on in this job.
• 16:14
  Jason Hugget: Big lifts, trains everywhere, people everywhere.
• 16:18
  Jason Hugget: It's just amazing nobody was really hurt in the process of this job.
• 16:24
  Jason Hugget: So basically, besides the handshake, the crew I had, uh the views I had up there, like Casey was saying, that top of that tower is like 780 feet, and you can see for miles.
• 16:36
  Jason Hugget: That's definitely something I'll take away from it.
• 16:40
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, that's uh something I talked to you a little bit about, Casey.
• 16:44
  Jeff Cranson: You've got a uh your dad helped build the Renson, which for for decades has been the tallest building in Detroit and tallest building in Michigan, obviously.
• 16:52
  Jeff Cranson: And uh technically the uh the the towers uh the Gordy Howe will will be higher, right?
• 17:00
  Jeff Cranson: So you got you got that to hold over him.
• 17:03
  Casey Whitson: Yeah, just just a little bit higher by mere feet, but yeah, they're they're a little bit taller than the Renaissance Center.
• 17:08
  Casey Whitson: So it took me a long time to achieve that, but I finally did.
• 17:13
  Jeff Cranson: So talk a little bit about what your memory will be and what do you think you'll be talking about most, you know, decades to come.
• 17:20
  Casey Whitson: Oh yeah, like kind of like what Jason said, you know, getting that first handshake.
• 17:25
  Casey Whitson: And you know, you've been sitting here watching these guys work across the river from from you for all this time, and you know, you you think you're never gonna get there, and then like the last couple of sections that we ended up setting, it's like like all of a sudden we were in the middle.
• 17:40
  Casey Whitson: It was like, wow, that happened quick when for all the time, all the all the buildup for so long, you know, you're so far apart.
• 17:46
  Jeff Cranson: So that that's like yeah, I was gonna say it sounds like the calculations were all good too, because uh things lined up right from the start, right?
• 17:56
  Casey Whitson: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:57
  Casey Whitson: Canada's Canada's side of the bridge, they can they they have they can move their bridge in and out.
• 18:03
  Casey Whitson: I know that sounds crazy, but they've got a hydraulic system that can they could move the the bridge in and out.
• 18:10
  Casey Whitson: So that kind of helped with lining getting it all lined up right, you know, with that final piece of iron.
• 18:16
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, well, I think that uh one of the reasons I'm so intrigued by that photo, not just because it's it's beautifully composed and everything about it is is very cool, but it also because it signifies the peace between our countries.
• 18:29
  Jeff Cranson: And uh, you know, there's a there's a monument at uh at a community called Putin Bay, which is on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, um not far from Toledo, um, where Commodore Perry fought the British and they put up a monument that's a peace monument between Canada and the U.S.
• 18:47
  Jeff Cranson: But I I think this bridge is gonna serve as uh every bit the same symbol of of peace.
• 18:52
  Jeff Cranson: So I think you can both feel pretty good about that.
• 18:55
  Casey Whitson: It's it's to be part of this project is is just unbelievable.
• 18:58
  Casey Whitson: I still I still can't believe you know working on this bridge and being a part of this project and everything that's happened.
• 19:05
  Casey Whitson: It's just been a really cool experience, man.
• 19:08
  Casey Whitson: I never ever thought I'd ever do anything like this.
• 19:11
  Jeff Cranson: Oh, that's great.
• 19:11
  Jeff Cranson: Thanks.
• 19:12
  Jeff Cranson: Thanks a lot, Casey.
• 19:13
  Jeff Cranson: Jason, anything you want to say to close?
• 19:16
  Jason Hugget: No, all good.
• 19:17
  Jason Hugget: Thank you very much for having me.
• 19:20
  Jeff Cranson: Yeah, thank you both.
• 19:21
  Jeff Cranson: I'd like to thank you once more for tuning in to Talking Machine Transportation.
• 19:25
  Jeff Cranson: You can find show notes and more on Apple Podcasts or BuzzCrout.
• 19:29
  Jeff Cranson: I also want to acknowledge the talented people who helped make this a reality tweet, starting with Randy Deviler, who skillfully edits the audio, Jesse Ball, who posts the content, Courtney Bates, who posts the podcast to various platforms, and Jackie Salinas, who transcribes the audio to make it accessible to all.