Colorado River Bridge construction. Traffic currently travels on a two lane road over Hoover Dam which causes traffic congested and poses a security risk. Large trucks are not allowed over the dam and must make a major detour around the area. To deal with these problems the US 93 Highway, Hoover Dam Bypass project was developed approximately 1,500 feet downstream of the dam. It consists of 3.5 miles of roadway, two lanes in each direction, with a 1,900 foot long twin-rib concrete arch bridge... more »
Colorado River Bridge construction. Traffic currently travels on a two lane road over Hoover Dam which causes traffic congested and poses a security risk. Large trucks are not allowed over the dam and must make a major detour around the area. To deal with these problems the US 93 Highway, Hoover Dam Bypass project was developed approximately 1,500 feet downstream of the dam. It consists of 3.5 miles of roadway, two lanes in each direction, with a 1,900 foot long twin-rib concrete arch bridge 880 feet above the Colorado River's Black Canyon. It will be the longest concrete arch in the US and the 5th longest in the world. It will involve 60,000 cubic yards of concrete, 8,000 tons of steel, over 3.5 million cubic yards of earthwork excavation/embankment, and cost approximately $240 million.* Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2010. US 93 is on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) route between Mexico and Canada, and it is also the major commercial route between the states of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Photo taken February 2009..*Statistics source: Central Federal Lands Highway Division of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, the lead managers of the project. « less
