THE WIDER VIEW: Takingshape, the new bridge at theHoover DamCreeping closer inch by inch – 900ft above the mighty Colorado Riverthe two sides of a $160 million bridge at the Hoover Dam in Americaslowly take shape. The bridge will carry a new section of US Route 93past the bottleneck of the old road which can be seen twisting andwinding around and across the dam itself.When complete, it will provide a new link between the states of Nevadaand Arizona . In an incredible feat of engineering, the road will be supportedon the two massive concrete arches which jut out of the rock face.The arches are made up of 53 individual sections – each 24ft longwhich have been cast on-site and are being lifted into place usingan improvised high-wire crane strung between temporary steel pylons.
The arches will eventually measure more than 1,000ft 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.
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