The Hoover bypass bridge is on schedule for completion in the second half of 2008.
Three years of work to prepare the walls of the canyon to support footings for the 1,905-foot bridge, suspended 900 feet above the Colorado River, have been completed. Early in March, an amazing bit of construction technology will kick into gear: an unusual "cable-way crane" that moves across the canyon on overhead cables.
The crane will first position floating concrete forms. Then the concrete will be poured into the forms, in 104 different 25-foot sections, for the arches. It's slow work; the first arch should be completed by early April.
The bypass is one of the biggest concrete-arch bridges in the world and the final cost of the five-year project will be $235 million.
Go to www.bridgepros.com/projects/Hoover_Dam_Bypass_Bridge/ and click on the thumbnails, top and bottom, for a cool artist's rendering of the span.
