BOULDER CITY, Nev. -- An official with a Utah company that helped build the new Hoover Dam Bridge says it was a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.
The $240 million project took five years to complete and is set to open this week.
Gordon Olsen, president of OlsenBeal, recalled going to Hoover Dam to look at the project his company was about to undertake. He said his first reaction was to wonder how it could be built.
The company is known for building bridges and wind-turbine generators, the Deseret News reported.
Thousands of people gathered for the public dedication of the new bridge Saturday. Officially, it's called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. The bridge is named for former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who quit the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers and died in Afghanistan under friendly fire.
Cars previously were routed more than 6 miles across Hoover Dam to cross the border between Arizona and Nevada, and checkpoints added after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, often caused miles-long backups of traffic.
Federal officials also heavily restricted the types of vehicles and cargo that could cross the dam, sending semis and other large vehicles some 23 miles through the resort town of Laughlin.
The new bridge allows travelers to bypass the dam much more quickly and with no checkpoints. Those going to the dam will no longer be able to pass over it to cross the border by car, though it will remain open as a tourist attraction.
Visitors to the dam often can't help but turn and gawk at the bridge, which federal officials say is the second- tallest bridge in the United States. The tallest is Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado.
It's the longest bridge built with concrete arches in the western hemisphere, according to the Transportation Department. The arches measure 1,060 feet.
Officials say the bridge contains some 16 million pounds of steel, 30 cubic yards of concrete and 2 million feet of cable -- enough to stretch well past Phoenix from Las Vegas.
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