Technology - Bridges

On the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge

Complete and open to traffic!

Complete and open to traffic! (Note the semitractor-trailer on the bridge.) The bridge at its midpoint is not quite 1000 ft above the river (330 m). Black Canyon had been a barrier to travel, but Hoover Dam provided an easy crossing of the Colorado and the canyon for the first time. US 93 was routed over the dam, and was the most direct route between Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona. As those cities grew, so did the traffic, such that the dam became the big bottleneck on the route it had made possible in the first place! For many years there was talk of constructing a bridge bypass, and it was finally opened in fall 2010.

Downstream from Hoover Dam, with the newly-opened bypass bridge. As seen from the visitor center on the Nevada side. Arizona (to the left)-Nevada (to the right), USA.