Taking shape, the new bridge at the Hoover Dam
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.
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. It is over 100 feet above the current water level.
Creeping closer inch by inch, 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, the two sides of a $160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam 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 feet 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 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 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.
this came in an email.
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{ 32 comments }
I like those photos. I kind of feel dizzy from the heights! Happy WW! I’m up too
What gorgeous pictures. Makes you feel like you are there. Happy WW
.-= Grampy´s last blog ..All About Kids =-.
Great photos! That is amazing! A true modern marvel!
.-= Run DMT´s last blog ..Missed the Boat =-.
We were there last July..They are coming along. happy WW
.-= Auntie E´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday- Birthday Party #6 =-.
I’m getting anxiety just looking at it, I hate bridges!
happy WW!
I enjoyed the information
.-= Melissa Mashburn´s last blog ..The Simple Woman’s Day Book – March 2nd, 2010 =-.
Very interesting. I watched a PBS series on the original building of the Hoover Dam and it always amazed me on what was accomplished with lesser technology.
That is one big bridge! I think I would be scared to drive over that…I would close my eyes while my hubby did the driving:)
.-= Kelli´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: The (Eli) Patient =-.
WOW! Great pictures! I am SO scared of bridges, though
.-= Shelley´s last blog ..~Wordless Wednesday~ =-.
That great photos!
I am once again amazed at the amazing feats mankind has been able to achieve! Though as unbelievably awesome as that new bridge will be, I don’t think I’ll be riding on it. It looks scary! Amazingly scary.
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting on my Wordless Wednesday post.
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
.-= Kristi {at} Live and Love…Out Loud´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – Baby + Teething Biscuit = One Big Mess! =-.
I find this all fascinating….DH is an engineer and its rubbed off on me
Wow! I’ve been to the Hoover Dam only once before and now I want to go again!
WOW, that is absolutely amazing. (And interesting to read)
Thank you!
.-= Janae´s last blog ..Sloppy Torture =-.
It looks beautiful! The dam, I mean
)
What wonderful photos! I hope that one day I can get there to see it all in person.
Thanks for visiting my WW too and leaving a wonderful comment. Much appreciated.
Kim
The Misplaced Midwesterner
Yowza!
.-= Your BFF´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Dragon Parade =-.
It’s a site to behold
That is amazing!
.-= Felicia´s last blog ..Raising a Well-Mannered Child Series Part 2: Let’s Make a Deal! =-.
It’s really an incredible feat of engineering and awesome to behold in person!
ahhhh…scary to even look at those pics–I hate heights, hehe.
.-= Irene´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Look What I am Doing Today! =-.
What great photos and how awesome to have been there.
.-= Upstatemomof3´s last blog ..This Is Good For A Laugh =-.
wow!!!!!!!!!
.-= tanyetta´s last blog .. =-.
Wow…never really think about it like that… man, thats a big damn.
.-= Kelley´s last blog ..Late minute addition to WW =-.
Wow! That bridge makes me tingle with fear. I would definitely prefer to admire it from very very very far distances… or these photos.
.-= Katrina @ Sevin Family´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
I’d love to visit it then and again. The time we went through there , it was night.
.-= JamericanSpice´s last blog ..JumpStart Review and Giveaway! =-.
Awesome photos! That is really high up. We visited about 11 years ago. A lot has changed that is for sure.
.-= Pamela M. Kramer´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – The Shoe Snatcher! =-.
Oh my goodness! Sometimes I see the things that “man” thinks up and I say to myself, “are you SURE that’s a good idea?” That is an incredible bridge…crazy, but incredible.
.-= Amy @ Coffee with the Mrs.´s last blog ..Uneaks Winner Announcement! =-.
Wow. What an undertaking. Looks like they a building a space station.
Sean the Vampire
.-= Nessa´s last blog ..Bite Me =-.
That is really neat! I had no idea there was a bridge being built there!
.-= Kristie´s last blog ..Water Color Paintings =-.
Wow! Amazing pics and info. I have never given much thought about dams and bridges, but I’m sure the next time I cross over one or pass by I’ll see it in a different light. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my WW.
.-= Mom2xamj´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday ~ #7 ~ Our Saturday =-.
What great pics!
Thanks for the info on them, too.
.-= Sherry´s last blog ..Finer Things Friday – From Long List to.. =-.
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