Great picture great engineering

[Stephen W. Stanczyk]

Creeping closer inch by inch 900 ft 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 24 ft long which have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place using an improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.

The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000 ft 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 , is 110 miles long and took six years to fill. The original road was opened at the same time as the famous Dam in 1936.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

That's a pretty awesome sight.

[David A. Andersen]

I wonder how may wrecks will occur from drivers taking the "quick view" of the dam?!

They are coming right along since I was there last year!
Almost 1,000 ft above the river is a big splash!

[George A. H. Luck]

It's on my list of things to see.

[gbeaumont]

Hi all,

Looks like they are making great progress, I was lucky enought to visit the dam last Summer and this is what it looked like then. I hope to have the opportunity to go back once it's finished.

Regards

Gerry

[Nick Gromicko]

Another reason to go to Vegas.

[Nick Gromicko]

The first depression caused our country to build a lot of great stuff.

[Robert W. Jude]

it doesnt look much different than it did last June when I was there.... must be a government job....

[Robert L. Stephens]

I am leaving in the morning...the Bureau of Reclamation is interviewing me on tuesday for an inspectors job at the power plant.

[Dale Duffy]

Yep, doesn't look much different than it did a year ago....must be Time & Material---

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by rstephens1

I am leaving in the morning...the Bureau of Reclamation is interviewing me on tuesday for an inspectors job at the power plant.

Good luck to you...