Construction Activities

What's Happening On-site?

The construction contract for the Colorado River Bridge, was awarded to the joint venture partnership of Obayashi Corporation and PSM Construction USA, Inc., in October of 2004 for $114M. Construction began in early 2005 and is expected to be completed in 2010. When completed, the 2,000 foot-long Colorado River Bridge will span the Black Canyon (about 1,600 feet south of the Hoover Dam), connecting the Arizona and Nevada Approach highways nearly 900-feet above the Colorado River.

At a point just over one year into this project, the joint venture contractor had already completed nearly $35M worth of construction. Major milestone work nearing completion to date is the substructure excavation for the abutments, approach columns, and arch skewback footings, followed closely by the erection of the temporary cableway crane system that will span the canyon to deliver materials and equipment used in constructing the bridge. Progress continues in the precast yard where crews are working to construct the precast segments of the bridge columns.

Upcoming work will include concrete placement for the approach column foundations followed by erection of the approach columns. It is also anticipated that in 2006, construction will begin on the cast-in-place arch over the Colorado River. 

Another milestone in the construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass has been reached with the recent completion of phase two, the Nevada Approach project. Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc., the contractor for the Nevada Approach project, completed this $30.1 million roadway improvement from Nevada U.S. 93 to the new Colorado River Bridge crossing nearly two months ahead of schedule.

Construction of the Nevada Approach, began in October 2003, and within its short 24-month duration, the contractor constructed 2.11 miles of new four-lane highway alignment including six new bridges, a new traffic interchange at U.S. 93 near the Hacienda Casino, retaining walls, wildlife crossings, and a 1.6 mile extension of the River Mountain River Loop hiking trail. To accomplish this feat, the contractor moved over 1.5 million cubic yards of blasted rock material, placed 2.8 million pounds of reinforcing steel, and poured over 12,000 cubic yards of structural concrete.

Next for the Bypass will be the contracting of the phase four project, scheduled for early 2008. This phase will include asphalt paving the entire four mile alignment from Nevada to Arizona, including constructing barrier railing, signage, lighting and striping.

Phase One of the Bypass is now finished!  Completion of the Sugarloaf Mountain Bridge signified the end of construction on the Arizona Approach project.  The project involved building a connection between U.S. 93 and the Colorado River Bridge.  Major components of the $21.5 million project include nearly two miles of four-lane roadway, a 900-foot bridge on the east side of Sugarloaf Mountain, a new traffic interchange at U.S. 93 and Kingman Wash Road, wildlife crossings, trail access parking, improved drainage and rock staining. The joint venture contractor, R. E. Monks Construction and Vastco Inc, were responsible for construction activities on the Arizona Approach.  The project was completed on time.

Come inside the Construction Zone!

Be sure to check out photos of all our projects in our Construction Photo Album.  Images are updated periodically. March 2008 photos showing the progress of the Colorado River Bridge, as well as photos of the Interim Paving Project (on both the Arizona and Nevada sides) are now posted!

Construction Schedule:

Web Cam:

Construction Web Cam - Our web cam is up and running! Through the use of our interactive web cam, you can view live-images of the Colorado River Bridge construction area, zoom in and out on specific locations, e-mail images to someone, and post your own images to a photo album. To be redirected to our webcam, all you have to do is click on the camera in the top left side of any page, or just click here: Hoover Dam Bypass Web Cam. (Please note, some internet browsers will need the pop-up blocker turned off in order to be redirected to the web cam.)