The Hoover Dam Bypass
Driving over the Hoover Dam is a lesson in patience. The two-lane bridge connecting Nevada, Arizona and Utah is often clogged with traffic and has even become an economic burden on the states because the major commercial corridor simply doesn’t move quickly enough.
Over the last several years there have been lingering concerns of possible catastrophes involving vehicle accidents or terrorist threats that could hinder the dam and its facilities and threaten the water supply of several southwestern states.
Enter the Hoover Dam Bypass, a “twin rib” concrete arch bridge about 1,600 feet south of the current bridge and an improvement a long time in the making!
The project was revived and the design began in 2001 wherein the route, called the Sugarloaf Mountain Alternative, was also finally decided on. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be finished in the last quarter of 2010. It will span 1,060 feet across the Black Canyon, 900 feet above the Colorado River.
When the project is finished the original Hoover Dam pass will remain in service but only to provide access to the dam and facilities, not for US93 traffic.
2 Comments
how much money was spent on this road to nowhere?
“Road to nowhere?” How do you figure?