Colorado River Bridge

mdiederi · June 17th, 2006, 01:06 AM

I didn't see another thread on this one, so I'll start it.

I'm looking forward to this. Sometimes it can take two hours to get across the damn dam.

Photos and info from www.hooverdambypass.org unless otherwise noted.

Hoover Dam Bypass Project

It will take longer to construct the bridge than it did to build the dam.

Illustration showing the design of the almost 2,000-foot span nearly 900 feet in the air.

About 1,600-feet out in front of Hoover Dam and almost two-hundred feet higher.

Looking east from the west side.

Looking west from the east side.

Scruffy88 · June 17th, 2006, 01:33 AM

Why does it take so long to cross the dam? traffic?

mdiederi · June 17th, 2006, 01:46 AM

Usually it's not that bad, but over seven million tourists stop to visit the dam each year clogging up the very narrow two lane road across the top. Weekends are the worst. It's also a very winding road getting to the dam. It's also the only way across the river for seventy miles. Also, large commercial trucks are no longer allowed across the dam because of 9/11 security, so they have to take the 70-mile detour. It's the main route between Las Vegas and Phoenix. Traffic regularly stops and gets backed up ten or more miles during high tourist hours.

mdiederi · June 21st, 2006, 10:19 PM

Just found out that this will be the 4th longest "concrete arch" bridge in the world and the longest in the U.S.

mdiederi · June 29th, 2006, 10:57 PM

Work on the edge of the abyss.

The cableway crane system is up and across.

Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org

***I-275westcoastfl*** · June 30th, 2006, 05:51 AM

Impressive.

Mr. Fusion · July 1st, 2006, 07:12 AM

Just upriver, Glen Canyon Dam also has an arch bridge to carry traffic:

Taken by Mr. Fusion

Principes · July 1st, 2006, 09:07 AM

intruiging

mdiederi · July 14th, 2006, 12:21 AM

Found another rendering.

Note all the cars backed up trying to cross the dam.

mdiederi · July 14th, 2006, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Fusion

Just upriver, Glen Canyon Dam also has an arch bridge to carry traffic:

Well, in this case, "just up river" is 274 miles away. It's amazing that in that entire distance there is only one other bridge across the river. That's how rugged the terrain is.

mdiederi · July 14th, 2006, 12:53 AM

I just read on wikipedia that the official name for this bridge will be the "Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge". I can't find anything on the official project website that mentions this. They always refer to it as the "Colorado River Bridge".

mdiederi · July 27th, 2006, 10:22 PM

The Arizona approach.

www.jakescrane.com

Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org

mdiederi · July 27th, 2006, 10:28 PM

Here's a model.

http://www.pbase.com/brchsc/hoover_dam

dougtheengineer · August 18th, 2006, 05:36 PM

I'm always one for building new bridges, but this one certainly will block the classic aerial photos of the dam. Its a shame it couldn't be further down river.

mdiederi · August 22nd, 2006, 02:19 AM

I was thinking the same thing. It blocks the arial view, but then, once it's built you'll get a similar view of the dam by just driving.

I drove across the dam this weekend and they have some of the pillers up already and you can start to see the scale of the thing and the bridge really is going to dominate the scene because it is higher than the dam and not very far out in front.

Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org

mdiederi · September 2nd, 2006, 12:07 AM

More pics.

Skagit Hoist

Pulley System

Precast Yard

Liquid Nitrogen is being injected into concrete mixer trucks to cool the freshly batched concrete.

Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org

Imperfect Ending · September 6th, 2006, 05:21 AM

that will be such a scary drive...

mdiederi · September 7th, 2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquamadoor

that will be such a scary drive...

Here's a glimpse over the edge...

mdiederi · September 22nd, 2006, 06:07 AM

! ! CRANE COLLAPSE ! !

The cable way crane system (with four 280-foot tall towers, two on each side of the 2,000 foot wide, 900 foot deep canyon, with cables suspended between them to ferry loads up to 50-tons across the abyss) was completely destroyed in 50-mph winds around 3:30 p.m. Friday, September 15, 2006.

Luckily nobody was hurt. They had already stopped working because of the wind.

The cranes were from OlsenBeal

Here's the official word so far:

http://www.hooverdambypass.org/

Important Update: 6:30 PM Friday, September 15, 2006

Fallen Tower Cranes Close US 93 At Hoover Dam

On Friday afternoon, September 15, 2006, two tower cranes, located on opposite sides of the Colorado River Bridge construction, fell due to a high wind related event. One tower crane and attached cables fell onto the US 93 highway on the Nevada Approach necessitating the complete closure of US 93 in both directions at the Hoover Dam.

Traffic is being re-routed on to US 95 to State Route 163 to Laughlin on the Nevada side and on to State Route 68 at Kingman on the Arizona side until further notice.

At the time of the wind related event, the workday had ended and no injuries were reported as a result of this accident.

The tower cranes, forming dual high lines, were constructed for delivery of materials used in both foundation structures and the main arch crossing. Photographs of this delivery system can be viewed in the Construction Photo Album on this website.

A project team will assess the damage and take immediate corrective actions in order to re-open US 93 and resume construction activities on the bridge.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 8:00 p.m. Monday, September 18, 2006

US 93 highway at the Hoover Dam has reopened to traffic. Thank you for your patience.

Las Vegas Sun

Delay seen for Hoover Dam bypass bridge after crane collapse

September 19, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Hoover Dam visitors center and U.S. Highway 93 reopened Tuesday, while construction officials continued to assess how much a construction crane collapse would slow the building of a bypass bridge connecting Nevada and Arizona.

"We anticipate at least a few months delay," said Bonnie Klamerus, deputy federal Highway Administration project manager for the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. She noted that crews focused during the weekend on reopening the winding highway over the dam to restore a main route connecting Las Vegas and Phoenix. Traffic resumed late Monday.

The visitor center reopened Tuesday morning, said Steve Leon, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the dam about 30 miles east of Las Vegas.

The road and dam were closed Friday afternoon, when twin sets of 280-foot steel construction towers collapsed on the east and west sides of Black Canyon just south of the dam. High winds were blamed for the mishap, which came after work ended for the day and left miles of heavy steel cable and debris strewn across the construction site and highway.

No injuries were reported, and the dam was not damaged.

With U.S. 93 closed, traffic was diverted on U.S. Highway 95 to cross the river between Laughlin, Nev., and Bullhead City, Ariz.

The $234 million project to build the four-lane bridge was about at its midpoint, with a completion date of late 2008. When finished, the 1,905-foot arch will carry traffic 890 feet over the river.

mdiederi · October 18th, 2006, 10:25 PM

They have finally released a couple more photos of the collapsed cableway crane system spanning the canyon. Still haven't seen an official report of what actually happened.

The Nevada side.

The Arizona side.

Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org

June 17th, 2006, 01:06 AM	#1
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Colorado River Bridge I didn't see another thread on this one, so I'll start it. I'm looking forward to this. Sometimes it can take two hours to get across the damn dam. Photos and info from www.hooverdambypass.org unless otherwise noted. Hoover Dam Bypass Project It will take longer to construct the bridge than it did to build the dam. Illustration showing the design of the almost 2,000-foot span nearly 900 feet in the air. About 1,600-feet out in front of Hoover Dam and almost two-hundred feet higher. Looking east from the west side. Looking west from the east side. Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 02:57 AM.

June 17th, 2006, 01:46 AM	#3
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Usually it's not that bad, but over seven million tourists stop to visit the dam each year clogging up the very narrow two lane road across the top. Weekends are the worst. It's also a very winding road getting to the dam. It's also the only way across the river for seventy miles. Also, large commercial trucks are no longer allowed across the dam because of 9/11 security, so they have to take the 70-mile detour. It's the main route between Las Vegas and Phoenix. Traffic regularly stops and gets backed up ten or more miles during high tourist hours. Last edited by mdiederi; October 18th, 2006 at 11:05 PM.

June 29th, 2006, 10:57 PM	#5
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Work on the edge of the abyss. The cableway crane system is up and across. Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 02:57 AM.

July 1st, 2006, 09:07 AM	#8
Principes To Engineer is Human Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Sydney (AUS)/San Diego (USA) Posts: 628 Likes (Received): 0	intruiging __________________ S.P.Q.R.-"Senatus Populusque Romanus" - the Senate and People of Rome

July 14th, 2006, 12:21 AM	#9
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Found another rendering. Note all the cars backed up trying to cross the dam. Last edited by mdiederi; May 15th, 2007 at 11:04 PM.

June 17th, 2006, 01:33 AM	#2
Scruffy88 Action Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Bronx Posts: 610 Likes (Received): 0	Why does it take so long to cross the dam? traffic?

June 21st, 2006, 10:19 PM	#4
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Just found out that this will be the 4th longest "concrete arch" bridge in the world and the longest in the U.S.

June 30th, 2006, 05:51 AM	#6
*I-275westcoastfl* Jestem Hardkorem Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 5,537 Likes (Received): 28	Impressive.

July 1st, 2006, 07:12 AM	#7
Mr. Fusion Just A Pilot... :-) Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Enewetak Atoll Posts: 528 Likes (Received): 0	Just upriver, Glen Canyon Dam also has an arch bridge to carry traffic: Taken by Mr. Fusion

July 14th, 2006, 12:53 AM	#11
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	I just read on wikipedia that the official name for this bridge will be the "Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge". I can't find anything on the official project website that mentions this. They always refer to it as the "Colorado River Bridge".

July 27th, 2006, 10:22 PM	#12
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	The Arizona approach. www.jakescrane.com Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 02:59 AM.

July 27th, 2006, 10:28 PM	#13
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	Here's a model. http://www.pbase.com/brchsc/hoover_dam Last edited by mdiederi; May 15th, 2007 at 11:01 PM.

August 18th, 2006, 05:36 PM	#14
dougtheengineer likes engineering Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario Posts: 26 Likes (Received): 0	I'm always one for building new bridges, but this one certainly will block the classic aerial photos of the dam. Its a shame it couldn't be further down river. __________________ "Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been.'' - Albert Einstein

August 22nd, 2006, 02:19 AM	#15
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	I was thinking the same thing. It blocks the arial view, but then, once it's built you'll get a similar view of the dam by just driving. I drove across the dam this weekend and they have some of the pillers up already and you can start to see the scale of the thing and the bridge really is going to dominate the scene because it is higher than the dam and not very far out in front. Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 02:59 AM.

September 2nd, 2006, 12:07 AM	#16
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	More pics. Skagit Hoist Pulley System Precast Yard Liquid Nitrogen is being injected into concrete mixer trucks to cool the freshly batched concrete. Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 03:00 AM.

September 6th, 2006, 05:21 AM	#17
Imperfect Ending Or is it? Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: In Portland, Oregon with Leo Posts: 10,443 Likes (Received): 24	that will be such a scary drive...

September 22nd, 2006, 06:07 AM	#19
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	! ! CRANE COLLAPSE ! ! The cable way crane system (with four 280-foot tall towers, two on each side of the 2,000 foot wide, 900 foot deep canyon, with cables suspended between them to ferry loads up to 50-tons across the abyss) was completely destroyed in 50-mph winds around 3:30 p.m. Friday, September 15, 2006. Luckily nobody was hurt. They had already stopped working because of the wind. The cranes were from OlsenBeal Here's the official word so far: http://www.hooverdambypass.org/ Important Update: 6:30 PM Friday, September 15, 2006 Fallen Tower Cranes Close US 93 At Hoover Dam On Friday afternoon, September 15, 2006, two tower cranes, located on opposite sides of the Colorado River Bridge construction, fell due to a high wind related event. One tower crane and attached cables fell onto the US 93 highway on the Nevada Approach necessitating the complete closure of US 93 in both directions at the Hoover Dam. Traffic is being re-routed on to US 95 to State Route 163 to Laughlin on the Nevada side and on to State Route 68 at Kingman on the Arizona side until further notice. At the time of the wind related event, the workday had ended and no injuries were reported as a result of this accident. The tower cranes, forming dual high lines, were constructed for delivery of materials used in both foundation structures and the main arch crossing. Photographs of this delivery system can be viewed in the Construction Photo Album on this website. A project team will assess the damage and take immediate corrective actions in order to re-open US 93 and resume construction activities on the bridge. IMPORTANT UPDATE: 8:00 p.m. Monday, September 18, 2006 US 93 highway at the Hoover Dam has reopened to traffic. Thank you for your patience. Las Vegas Sun Delay seen for Hoover Dam bypass bridge after crane collapse September 19, 2006 ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Hoover Dam visitors center and U.S. Highway 93 reopened Tuesday, while construction officials continued to assess how much a construction crane collapse would slow the building of a bypass bridge connecting Nevada and Arizona. "We anticipate at least a few months delay," said Bonnie Klamerus, deputy federal Highway Administration project manager for the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. She noted that crews focused during the weekend on reopening the winding highway over the dam to restore a main route connecting Las Vegas and Phoenix. Traffic resumed late Monday. The visitor center reopened Tuesday morning, said Steve Leon, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the dam about 30 miles east of Las Vegas. The road and dam were closed Friday afternoon, when twin sets of 280-foot steel construction towers collapsed on the east and west sides of Black Canyon just south of the dam. High winds were blamed for the mishap, which came after work ended for the day and left miles of heavy steel cable and debris strewn across the construction site and highway. No injuries were reported, and the dam was not damaged. With U.S. 93 closed, traffic was diverted on U.S. Highway 95 to cross the river between Laughlin, Nev., and Bullhead City, Ariz. The $234 million project to build the four-lane bridge was about at its midpoint, with a completion date of late 2008. When finished, the 1,905-foot arch will carry traffic 890 feet over the river. Last edited by mdiederi; October 18th, 2006 at 10:43 PM.

October 18th, 2006, 10:25 PM	#20
mdiederi Artist Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Downtown Posts: 1,025 Likes (Received): 0	They have finally released a couple more photos of the collapsed cableway crane system spanning the canyon. Still haven't seen an official report of what actually happened. The Nevada side. The Arizona side. Photos from www.hooverdambypass.org Last edited by mdiederi; June 19th, 2007 at 03:01 AM.

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