Nice bridge, and good idea to separate those who are simply in transit from those who are touring the dam.
Posted on 07/05/2009 10:52:05 AM PDT by Steelfish
THE WIDER VIEW: Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam
04th July 2009
Creeping closer inch by inch – 900ft above the mighty Colorado River – the two sides of a £160million bridge at the Hoover Dam in America slowly take shape.
The bridge will carry a new 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 and 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 24ft long – which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.
Spectacular: The new Hoover Dam bypass
The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000ft 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 Nevada and an American Football player from Arizona who joined the US Army and was killed in 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 to San Francisco.
The stretch of water it created, Lake Mead...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Nice bridge, and good idea to separate those who are simply in transit from those who are touring the dam.
Nice pic post- thanks
Not only that, it gives a better view of the dam than you would get from on top of the dam.
To amuse myself as I crawl with traffic across the dam, I usually try to pick out the "hottest" female tourist strolling about. There are typically several candidates for the honor, so I'm happy to report that the distaff side of the American tourist trade is holding up quite well.
But we also seem to be getting fatter as a nation too. And it really shows, since everyone on the dam is in shorts, whether they should be or not.
My two cents worth...
Just for fun, try picking out the “hottest dude” for us Lady Freepers. ;)
Thanks for posting this. I haven’t been up that way in 7 years. Haven’t seen a picture of this in Phx media.
When I was in college we studied the “Tacoma Narrows” bridge.
Never get tired of looking at that film.
Amazing.
Nwow that is cool! Looks like it is going to be beautiful bridge and delive extraordinary views we couldn’t see before.
I am going to take a drive down just to cross the thing. When I was a kid we on some tour inside the Damn. Not sure how far we went. Just remember seeing the rocks, from inside a cave the drilling equipment, etc.
I was way cool.
Oh, that would be easy. They would all look like me!
So my wife diplomatically tells me... LOL
Ha ha.
Yep that’s it. What happened to the driver of the car? Hopefully got off before the frequency reached this point.
Hopefully so.
The driver of the car got out and crawled to safety. He had a pet dog in the car that was too scared to go with him, and unfortunately died the bridge went down. Dog was the only victim of the collapse.
That is so sad. Poor doggy.
Let's hope it is well designed and built to specs!
( Can you believe they cancelled the fireworks last night...haven't done that in 27 years-on tonight, however! )
The bypass bridge will have a great view of the dam. I wonder if folks will be allowed to walk up on it to take pics (after it’s completed).
Wow post. JPB best for his pic posts!
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