Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty
section of US Route 93 past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting and
winding around and across the dam itself.
When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevada Arizona
In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supported on the two massive
concrete arches which jut out of the rock face.
The arches are made up of 53 individual sections each 24 feet long which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strungbetween temporary steel pylons.
The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 feet across. At the moment, the structure looks like a traditional suspension bridge.But once the arches are complete, the suspending cables on each side will be removed. Extra vertical columns will then be installed on the arches to carry the road.
The bridge has become known as the Hoover Dam bypass, although it is officially called the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, after a former governor of Nevadaand an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killedïin Afghanistan.
Work on the bridge started in 2005 and should finish next year.An estimated 17,000 cars and trucks will cross it every day. The dam was started in 1931 and used enough concrete to build a road from New York Lake Mead is
An extra note:
The top of the white band of rock in Lake Mead is the old waterline prior to the drought and development in the Las Vegas area and is over 100 feet above the current water level.
Impressive… to put it mildly…
It truly is hard to comprehend unless you have been there yourself.
Great lesson on Hoover Dam!
Very impressive.
Having driven over the dam on numerous occasions, I can tell you already what an improvement the bypass will be!
Looking forward to seeing it.
Cindy/Fuzzy/Christina- It is!
WSF- It WILL be impressive…
Wow, how cool is that!! I did the “hard hat” tour of the dam in 2003. It was awesome. I want to see this bridge in person now once its done. Incredibly impressive engineering.
I had no idea they were doing it. lol
I went across the dam four times in 2008 and watched the progress on the bypass each time across. I don’t plan on being in the area again until it’s completed, but it should he a huge asset to the traffic in the area.