Creeping closer inch by inch - 900 ft above the mighty Colorado River - the two sides of a 160 million
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.
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.
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.