After checking out Lake Mead we drove onto Hoover Dam. Near the turn off there is a parking lot on the right where you can park and walk across the bridge on US 93 where you will get a great view of Hoover Dam.
Hoover Dam with a silhouette of the bridge.
The road into Hoover Dam was the original route of US 93. In 2010 the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge was open, which allowed previously banned commercial traffic to once again use US 93. Commercial traffic was banned on US 93 after September 11, 2001 due to security concerns. As a snowbirder with a 36 foot fifth wheel I think the new bridge was a good move since US 93 through the Hoover Dam was a narrow, twisty drive … although driving over the dam itself is fun but I enjoyed it more without Maxx behind us 🙂
This is a good indication of how windy the road was.
The bridge, which took five years to build, is 880 feet (268 m) above the river and 280 feet (85 m) above the dam; 30,000 cubic yards of concrete and 16,000,000 pounds of steel where used to make the bridge.
The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
Mike O’Callaghan was a former Nevada governor and Executive Editor of the Las Vegas Sun. Pat Tillman was an Arizona Cardinal football player who joined the army and was killed in Afghanistan. Both died in the spring of 2004.
I will have to post the rest of this story tomorrow cause its time to go do fun Las Vegas stuff 🙂
Until next time …
Maxx Trails 