ARCH OVER THE HOOVER

A trip to Las Vegas isn’t complete without a side trip to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, although, the dam is oftentimes just a brief stop on the way to the Grand Canyon. When I visited Las Vegas last February, I decided to book a tour of just the dam in order to explore the entire complex including the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, an arch bridge that spans the Colorado River and connects the states of Nevada and Arizona. Before the bridge was built, all traffic goes right on top of the dam with everyone slowing down to observe and take photos resulting to major traffic jams. The bridge now allows continuous driving for regular commuters while avoiding the tourists on the dam below. The bridge just like the dam is considered as a major fear of engineering being the highest concrete arch bridge in the world. The tour included a walk on the bridge providing us a bird’s eye view of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Here are some photos I took of the bridge during my visit to this architectural masterpiece.