Hoover Dam bypass bridge construction pix.

[472 R/T SE]

This was an email my Mother sent me.  Pretty cool, I personally know several iron workers who'd rather be up in the air than down on the ground.  This project kinda takes it to another level.

Impressive!





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.

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.

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. It is over 100 feet above the
current water level.

[Todd Wilson]

WOW!

[68X426]

Thank you, thank you. Those are great shots.

Was mom flying the chopper?

[Rolling_Thunder]

OHHHH    F!  THAT JOB!!!        Respect to the guys who do it - My balls are as big as they come but even I think I would have problems  up there   

[tan top]

   thats construction    rememeber watching a program a few times on the making of the hoover damn  that was a feat & half even then all them years ago ! must watch tv is you see it advertised

[Cooperman]

It's a great feat of engineering, but my I raise my hat to the guy that empties the highest crapper in the world... 

[Mike DC]

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

[chargerboy69]

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

That is what I was thinking too.

Thanks for the pictures, they are cool to see.

[jesterCT]

Great and impressive.

I was there in June 09.
As I can see, they did a great progress. 

[bakerhillpins]

It's a great feat of engineering, but my I raise my hat to the guy that empties the highest crapper in the world... 

Yea, no kidding! 

[PocketThunder]

Thanks for the pictures, i have been following this project thru ENR for years now.  I would be right up there no problem in my younger days.  Now that i am married with kids i would probably opt out. 

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

They looked at locations further north and further south but the current location was the most cost effective route to use.

[The70RT]

Looks like they have came a long ways since I was there last year in January. The construction was shut down when I was there because of a guy falling to his death. 

[Brock Samson]

Thanks for the pictures, i have been following this project thru ENR for years now.  I would be right up there no problem in my younger days.  Now that i am married with kids i would probably opt out. 

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

They looked at locations further north and further south but the current location was the most cost effective route to use.

   What is ENR?..
Great Pics! Thanks!

[PocketThunder]

Looks like they have came a long ways since I was there last year in January. The construction was shut down when I was there because of a guy falling to his death. 

I thought he got hit by a crane that fell?


Dave,

ENR is a magazine in the contruction industry called Engineering News Record.  http://enr.construction.com/Default.asp

[Brock Samson]

 Ok Cool...

that will come in handy...

when we gonna see more pics of your new Charger?.. 

[hemi68charger]

Cool Pics Mike.... Thanks for posting and Mom for sharing........ 

Troy

[PocketThunder]

Ok Cool...

that will come in handy...

when we gonna see more pics of your new Charger?.. 

Engine is at the engine shop right now.  I was going to wait till i get it back to post and update.  So sometime after easter.

Paul

[skip68]

I told Chuck you couldn't pay me to go across that thing!!! We've been watching it being built, for a couple years now, and when you look up it's intimidating. I don't even want to know what it's like to look down!!!!! HELL NO! (can you tell I don't do bridges? )

Mrs.Skip68

[TruckDriver]

I've crossed the dam several times in a semi when I used to drive cross country. Those curves don't look as sharp as they really are. It was a little nerve racking when you would meet another truck coming at you in the curve cause you would have to come over the center line a little so your trailer wouldn't hit the rocks. On top of that, if you were going into Nevada, then your trailer woul cross over the center line too a little. Really had to be sharp.

[CB]

I told Chuck you couldn't pay me to go across that thing!!! We've been watching it being built, for a couple years now, and when you look up it's intimidating. I don't even want to know what it's like to look down!!!!! HELL NO! (can you tell I don't do bridges? )

Mrs.Skip68

Chuck took me to the Hoover Dam last year March. We walked up and down, saw some construction going on.
Amazing how fast they build and how time flies

[MoparManJim]

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

That is what I was thinking too.

Thanks for the pictures, they are cool to see.

Yep I most diffidently agree with you both on that note. They just can not leave well enough alone with shit can they.  . have anyone every seen the movie "Cars"? and remember in that film when they stuck that new part of the road through to what happen to the small town? I know that was only a cartoon film but that same kind of thing can also happen here as well   

Thanks to the guy for sharing the photos though. 

[Khyron]

It's a great feat of engineering, but my I raise my hat to the guy that empties the highest crapper in the world... 

Yea, no kidding! 

lmao!

[PocketThunder]

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now. 

That is what I was thinking too.

Thanks for the pictures, they are cool to see.

Yep I most diffidently agree with you both on that note. They just can not leave well enough alone with shit can they.  . have anyone every seen the movie "Cars"? and remember in that film when they stuck that new part of the road through to what happen to the small town? I know that was only a cartoon film but that same kind of thing can also happen here as well   

Thanks to the guy for sharing the photos though. 

Normally i'm right there with you but in this case, i think it will benefit the damn more with having less traffic on it, and less congestion to get thru that area.  The people that want to see the dam dam can still drive on it if they want.

[MoparManJim]

             
Cool bridge, but it's sure gonna mess up the picturesque views of the Hoover Dam now.  

That is what I was thinking too.

Thanks for the pictures, they are cool to see.

Yep I most diffidently agree with you both on that note. They just can not leave well enough alone with shit can they.   . have anyone every seen the movie "Cars"? and remember in that film when they stuck that new part of the road through to what happen to the small town? I know that was only a cartoon film but that same kind of thing can also happen here as well    

Thanks to the guy for sharing the photos though.  

Normally i'm right there with you but in this case, i think it will benefit the damn more with having less traffic on it, and less congestion to get thru that area.  The people that want to see the dam dam can still drive on it if they want.

Well mostly I'm backing you up as well, but here is the way I see it, say you go there to take photos, now before you had nice scenery as a back drop on both sides, now you with have a big ol bridge in the shot that will look out of place on the one side. And also when folks start to drive over the bridge, I bet that half of them will for get the dam is even there probably after so long of using the bridge.  

[Mike DC]

                         

have anyone every seen the movie "Cars"? and remember in that film when they stuck that new part of the road through to what happen to the small town? I know that was only a cartoon film but that same kind of thing can also happen here as well

I think this shot was the funniest thing in the whole movie: