When I was at the dam a few years back, they were just starting to put up the concrete supports on the sides of the mountain. That thing looks AWESOME, and would warrant me to go to Nevada/Arizona just to drive over it.
Oh, and never try and walk over the Hoover dam and expect the time to change after Daylight Savings Time. You'll just look like an ass.
Beautiful photos. I'm always intrigued by buildings that look better being built than they do finished. The double arch design is impressive, but I find it much more beautiful with the temporary cable stays in place.
@Shamoononon: I am with you; afraid of bridges so this is just another one to look at from a distance but close my eyes while someone else is driving me across it (if I am even willing to get into the car). #hoverdambypass
I love the comments damning (lolz) Hoover Dam for its environmental impact. As an engineer, and one who happens to work on a Lake Mead project in Vegas, it amazes me how clueless people are regarding how vital civil infrastructure is. Do you live in Southern California? Do you like drinking water? Then be thankful for Hoover Dam. #hoverdambypass
@Possums: I think that's the problem. Outside of SoCal, we all wish they didn't have water. Why fuck up 1000s of miles of wilderness so a bunch of assholes can build sprawling cities in the desert?
How about living in a mildly sustainable place instead? #hoverdambypass
@drewdrawshashtags: It's really a delicate balance though if you think about. First off, yes they are stealing resources from elsewhere, and have pretty much ecologically destroyed the surrounding area. However, you have to weight that against the fact that we really really don't want those hippies, liberals, artsy-fartsy, Hollywood type folks to move away from SoCal, as we like them out there, away from us. A maddening conundrum to be certain.
I think I have a solution though. Just destroy the dam. Now that there all out there we can just cut off water and power and leave them to fend for themselves. Hopefully the desert will keep too many of them from escaping to the rest of the country. #hoverdambypass
@drewdrawshashtags: Yeah, instead of Hoover Dam, we could've gone with the Sierra Club's original idea for the Grand Canyon. Smaller dams along the floor and elevators to take people to the bottom to fish. #hoverdambypass
@PinballFan: That sounds great! All that walking is so tiring.
Look, I'm no treehugger, I swear, and 100 years ago nobody understood the long-term consequences, but we do now. The uninterrupted sprawl of desert cities will be "our" Hoover Dam that future generations will be forced to deal with. #hoverdambypass
One point made by the tour guide. Hoover Dam is a major government project that actually paid for itself. It cost only $50M to build. The overrun in building the bypass far exceeded the cost of building the dam. #hoverdambypass
@bigbaddaddy: Adjusted for inflation, the original dam cost close to 800 million dollars. Also, consider that at the time there was a major economic depression, workers were often mistreated and subjected to long hours, extremely dangerous and deadly situations. A worker's strike was quelled with armed response from the construction company not local or government law enforcement.
Of further consideration, at the time ecological and environmental impact were of no major concern and thus did not effect the cost of studies, design and construction of the dam. The five year time frame for the new bridge is comensurate with modern advancements in taking time to assess long-term environmental impact and to ensure safety for all of the workers involved. There has been one death (that I am aware of) during the construction of this bypass, compared to the 112 confirmed deaths during the dam construction. #hoverdambypass
@psychiccheese: I thought I was looking at a completed bridge, too. I looked at it and said, that's one hell of a downward ramp, everyone will be lifting their arms and screaming like they're going down a rollercoaster! #hoverdambypass
I have some pictures of it as well, taken in August. Being there is really spectacular, and driving across the Hoover Dam is like stepping back into the 1950s, both in a good and a bad way. #hoverdambypass
$240 million? And this saves people what, like 2-3 minutes of driving? It's beautiful, I'll be the first to admit that, but this is just a ridiculous example of runaway funding. #hoverdambypass
@Recoil: It's mainly for security purposes...this bridge exploding from a car bomb would cause less problems than the dam exploding from a car bomb. #hoverdambypass
Shamoononon: I shave my legs. promoted this comment
Edited by OMG! Twitter!! at 11/09/09 12:58 PM
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@htsu: I dunno about "mainly." But my father lived in Kingman, AZ and travelled to Vegas frequently. We saw the bridge when it was just a couple pillars on each side of the canyon.
He had read that limiting traffic on the Dam was a motivating factor when they first green-lighted it. #hoverdambypass
Bypasses are devices which allow some people to drive from point A to point B very fast whilst other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people of point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people of point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.
@krystar: If you want to make calls of first, please head off to digg or icanhascheezburger. Calls of first usually result in the banhammer, and you won't like it when Jesus busts out his banhammer. #hoverdambypass
@krystar: First off, you're laughing at your own joke. One that is not at all funny in the first place. Don't do that. Red Skelton laughed at his own jokes. He also painted clown paintings. Clowns are creepy. They show up drunk to your fifth birthday party, and throw up in the living room. In conclusion, stop being racist, thank you. #hoverdambypass
Better fix that spelling quick before the interweb gets bogged down by posters correcting you - it's Hoover - unless I'm missing a pun or something. #hoverdambypass
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Oh, and never try and walk over the Hoover dam and expect the time to change after Daylight Savings Time. You'll just look like an ass.
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#3 must have been a tense moment. #hoverdambypass
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I jest. #hoverdambypass
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How about living in a mildly sustainable place instead? #hoverdambypass
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I think I have a solution though. Just destroy the dam. Now that there all out there we can just cut off water and power and leave them to fend for themselves. Hopefully the desert will keep too many of them from escaping to the rest of the country. #hoverdambypass
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What's a reverse flood called? #hoverdambypass
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The decade long drought we're in right now is practically a reverse flood. #hoverdambypass
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Look, I'm no treehugger, I swear, and 100 years ago nobody understood the long-term consequences, but we do now. The uninterrupted sprawl of desert cities will be "our" Hoover Dam that future generations will be forced to deal with. #hoverdambypass
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Of further consideration, at the time ecological and environmental impact were of no major concern and thus did not effect the cost of studies, design and construction of the dam. The five year time frame for the new bridge is comensurate with modern advancements in taking time to assess long-term environmental impact and to ensure safety for all of the workers involved. There has been one death (that I am aware of) during the construction of this bypass, compared to the 112 confirmed deaths during the dam construction. #hoverdambypass
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I have some pictures of it as well, taken in August. Being there is really spectacular, and driving across the Hoover Dam is like stepping back into the 1950s, both in a good and a bad way. #hoverdambypass
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He had read that limiting traffic on the Dam was a motivating factor when they first green-lighted it. #hoverdambypass
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Bypasses are devices which allow some people to drive from point A to point B very fast whilst other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people of point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people of point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.
...but that's not important right now. #hoverdambypass
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none at all. #hoverdambypass
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