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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
Gus Gomez, left, and Arturo Caro of Obayashi Corp. work on a suspended platform on the side of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge section of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project on Aug. 19, 2010.
By Kyle B. Hansen (contact) 
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010 | 7:54 p.m.
Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge
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Crews are near completion of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge which opens to traffic in November.
Hoover Dam bypass bridge
Sun archives
- Bicyclists set to be first to cross Hoover Dam bypass bridge (5-22-2010)
- Officials reach milestone on Hoover Dam bypass (5-20-2010)
- Bridge is part journey and part destination (8-14-2010)
- Hoover Dam bypass bridge inches toward completion (8-1-2009)
- Hoover Dam bypass bridge yields new approach for big rigs (6-15-2009)
- New bridge may require more emergency services (5-22-2009)
- Worker dies at Hoover Dam bypass bridge project (11-25-2008)
Sun coverage
Beyond the Sun
The Hoover Dam bypass bridge — a second major engineering feat along this stretch of the Colorado River — will open to foot traffic before cars and trucks begin to rumble across it in November, officials announced Thursday.
The one-day event will be held Oct. 16, less than a month before the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge opens to vehicle traffic. Construction is quickly coming to a close, officials said.
People can “come and enjoy the bridge and feel it and walk on it and get a chance to explore it and enjoy it before it’s ready to do its purpose,” said Dave Zanetell, the bridge’s project manager for the Federal Highway Administration.
Once cars and trucks start using the bridge, traffic on U.S. 93 will no longer go through the Hoover Dam bottleneck to get between Nevada and Arizona. And pedestrians will be able to use the bridge to get views of the dam once only available in a helicopter.
“We heard from the public when we were developing the job that they wanted a sidewalk and this view would be important, and so it’s here now to be enjoyed,” Zanetell said.
A parking lot is being built on the Nevada side of the bridge and a trail will lead to the bridge.
A week before the public event at the bridge, riders in the Regional Transportation Commission’s Viva Bike Vegas 115-mile bicycle ride will cross the bridge.
The bridge is nearly complete now, with crews just finishing the final paving.
“We’re in the final push to the finish line to bring the whole thing together,” Zanetell said.
The bypass bridge is the centerpiece of a $240 million project, which also includes 3.5 miles of divided, four-lane roadway in an area that was once only accessed on a narrow, winding road.
The project is expected to finish on time and on budget.
Just to get traffic to the main bridge, crews had to build eight smaller bridges, two of which “are big, big bridges in their own right,” Zanetell said.
The main bridge cost $114 million and took nearly six years to build. It is 1,900 feet long, with a 1,060-foot-long arch, the longest of its kind in North America, officials said.
About 1,200 people worked on the project, including more than 300 engineers, Zanetell said.
The roadway is about 890 feet above the Colorado River and 277 feet above the top of the Hoover Dam.
“It’s fascinating and gorgeous,” said Dara Zivotovsky, who was visiting the dam from Pennsylvania on Wednesday, not expecting to spend time admiring a new bridge.
Zivotovsky said she would take advantage of the sidewalk to explore the bridge if it was open.
The Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the Hoover Dam, hopes the bridge will help attract more visitors like Zivotovsky.
“To me, it’s two dramatic engineering feats that you can really enjoy from one location,” said Colleen Dwyer, a spokeswoman for the bureau. “I think that will be a huge draw, because a lot of folks may have been out to Hoover Dam in the past and to come back and out and experience it with this added bridge feature is kind of neat.”
People will still be able to drive across the dam, after turning off what will be the main part of U.S. 93 near the Hacienda Hotel and Casino, Dwyer said.
“We think that’s really a part of the experience that people have tended to enjoy,” she said. But once the bridge is open, motorists who cross the dam will have to turn around and cross the dam again to go back to U.S. 93.
“Because we have a little more freedom without heavy traffic and huge amounts of vehicles coming across, we can enable people to be able to interact with the site a little bit more and offer more features there that would encourage them to come back if they haven’t been for some time,” Dwyer said.
The area that will become the turnaround on the Arizona side of the dam will be able to accommodate more buses and larger vehicles, Dwyer said.
Parking will also be added near existing concession facilities and a World War II-era bunker that officials hope to eventually open to the public.
The area used to be populated with big horn sheep, which officials hope will return when traffic is reduced.
The bridge is named for Mike O’Callaghan, a former Nevada governor and executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun, and Pat Tillman, an Arizona Cardinals football player who joined the army and was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004.
Officials first proposed building the bridge in the 1960s, but serious discussion of the project did not get under way until 1997. Work on the design began in 2001.
In addition to the Federal Highway Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation, the Arizona and Nevada departments of transportation, the National Park Service’s Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Western Area Power Administration have been involved in the project.
Funding for the project came from the federal government and the two states involved, with $100 million coming from federal funds and $20 million coming from each state.
An additional $100 million in bonds were issued by Arizona and Nevada to finish the project, but most of those bonds already have been repaid.
Its a amazing looking bridge for sure, looking at the pictures though, wondering if they are going to put the fence, barrier or whatever higher. Just wondering how long until someone jumps from there, yikes!
This was a long time wait for me. I go to Arizona and New Mexico frequently. This will cut the wait time dramatically. I grew up here I can live without driving on the dam and dodging tourists and hours of backed upped traffic!!! WOOHOO! Hopefully people don't jump. If they do they will do it anywhere regardless.
Marvelous accomplishment by all the people needed to do this. Most people have no idea the work and planning that was involved, especially if you haven't driven out there lately. We are so happy we can still drive across the dam, as we have tended to enjoy that!! God bless America!
Some will jump as anything for attention.... I am sure someone will the first day and if they are without a parachute,, I hope they land in china or splattered across the area so others will know what to expect.... Anyways happy flight to whoever...
Wait a minute. They are going to allow people to walk on the new bridge?! The bottleneck wasn't the damn dam in the first place, it was the tourists crossing over making the cars stop on the dam that led to all the backed up traffic. Now they are going to put people on the new bridge to do the same thing?
rebeltob- it appears they've build in a sidewalk that is only accessible on the damn side. there shouldn't have access to crossing the lanes.
drives to the Cardinals games just got shorter. I'm all for that.
rebeltob,
There are barriers so drivers are not able to see the dam. The only way to take in the view is to park and make the short hike up to the bridge. And if you have taken the time to tour the dam in the past, I highly recommend taking advantage of parking and checking out the fantastic new vantage point when it opens.
At 245 feet above water, Golden Gate suicide victims hit the water at about 76mph, and the impact with the water is said to be equal to that of hitting concrete. Our bridge is 890 feet above the water. Using the NASA Terminal Velocity site, you arrive at the water, based on your earth weight and area, at approximately 186mph. Ouch! And yes, pedestrians can walk on the bridge and no, there is not a suicide fence, at least not on my plan sheets.
Oops! That was 186ft/sec which converts to around 121mph.
Wondering if anyone has base jumped it yet. Nice pics, photo 1 is a great shot! Time to check it out!
Simply stated, this is the most beautiful, dramatic and perfect companion piece to the Boulder Dam!!
Phantastic Photography!!!
Wow. Just beautiful.
If there are no plans at present for a "suicide fence", I reckon there will eventually be a retro-fit.
Okay, Okay dipstick.
It is Senator Ried's fault that this beautiful piece of engineering got completed so that tea party proponents can get to their rallies in either state a lot quicker.
What were you thinking Harry?
If they say oct. 16 it really means June 16th of 2011.
The pedestrian walkway is below the roadway (in the shade).
This is absolutely beautiful. I've been following construction since it began. This is great.
Sheesh- Here you have a great engineering feat to compliment the Hoover Dam with this bridge providing spectacular views and reducing travel times and half the posters can only talk about suicide. (??) Way to keep it positive readers.
Great Job! This has been a truly remarkable project that deserved a lot more local news coverage then it ever received. Most people in SoCal don't even know about it! Like it or not these visitors bring money to Nevada and would have shown up in much larger numbers to check out the construction IF they only knew about it. This is an important milestone for Nevada and much more important then listening about some guys cats. The only downside to it is the guy that named it using TWO names, Pat Tillman was killed in Iraq by his own guys which the Army then lied about and made up their own story that was later determined to be a complete lie. We can now be reminded of that fratricide incident every time we drive over it.
Sadly Axiom, thats just how it is. The Golden Gate Bridge is magnificent, yet they're having to put up nets under the pedestrian accessible areas so that people who jump get caught by the nets.
That said, this is beautiful. I viewed the slide show on my 24" monitor in full screen and the pictures look amazing. Great job Sam.
Finally, the website for the pedestrian tour before its open to traffic is http://www.celebratehooverbridge.com/. I didn't see it linked anywhere...
Can't wait for it to open in November. It will help tourism and transportation a great deal for Southern Nevada.
I heard there is a whole website just for people who plan on sky diving off this thing!
So what do those, like myself, who don't 'do heights' very well do to get to Arizona? Will we have to drive thru Searchlight, Laughlin and then onto Kingman? Will we no longer be able to drive the 'old way' thru the Dam if we choose to?
Great, there goes our unemployment rate when this job is done. Do I hear 15? 18? 20%?
I will be one of the first ones to walk on it in October.
If they put up nets, I might jump. I wonder what the fine would be?
Here's a thought. Does anybody else remember the sign that said "Construction from 2003-2007.. hummm.. So you mean to tell me it takes 6 years to build a bridge in 2010, but only 4 years to build the entire Hoover Dam, which had half the technology 75 years ago.. Hopefully it's earthquake proof..
strip casinos are taking bets on when the first
jumper will leap.
knowing the condition of las vegas i'd say there
should be at least ten or so a day.
The bridge should be called the Boulder bridge. Just like we still call the dam Boulder dam..
Damn, Las Vegas is still looking so hornily good with that new bridge. I wish I could be there.
Viva Las Vegas!
Thanks for the link to the "Bridging America" event Siromega. We took a raft trip below the Dam in May and the bridge from that perspective also looks magnificent. The bridge will be such a huge improvement in driving back and forth to Phoenix. Yay!
Sorry, that comment was intended for another discussion.
Yea but how long til we get the four lanes all the way to Kingman....the bridge will save time but the Stupid rental RVs make the drive SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.