HOOVER DAM, Nev., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A 1,900-foot bridge rising 890 feet above the Colorado River has eliminated a 75-mile detour around the Hoover Dam.
"This majestic bridge is the longest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday in dedicating the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The bridge is part of a $240 million four-lane bypass that will shift traffic away from the two-lane U.S. 93 across the Hoover Dam. It is about 1,500 feet south of the dam and crosses over Black Canyon. It is the Western Hemisphere's longest single-span concrete arch bridge and one of the highest in the world, officials said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, federal authorities barred commercial trucks from crossing the vital Hoover Dam, forcing a long detour. The bypass will cut the commercial route between Las Vegas and Phoenix and ease traffic delays caused by security checkpoints at the dam.
The bridge is named for former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, a decorated Korean War veteran, and Pat Tillman, the former football player who was killed in Afghanistan.
