ASCE honors Hoover Dam Bypass with award for "Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement"

It's no secret that I have been a fan of the Hoover Dam Bypass since October 2010, when I helped dedicate the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, part of the bypass project.

At the dedication, I said that the bridge "reaffirms the powerful idea that Americans can still build great things not just in spite of enormous economic challenge, but as the means of overcoming it."

From left to right: Pat Natale, executive director ASCE; Hiro Onozaki, River Bridge Joint Venture;
David Zanetell, project manager FHWA; David Goodyear, engineer of record, T.Y. Lin Intl.;
William Dowd, project director, HDR Engineering; Andrew Herrmann, ASCE president.

Now, nearly 18 months later, the magnificent achievement of the bypass has been acknowledged by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which--in a ceremony last Thursday--awarded the Hoover Dam Bypass Project its “Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement” honor.

And no one could be prouder of our Federal Highway Administration for this top recognition than I am.  Led by Administrator Victor Mendez and David Zanetell, FHWA Project Manager for the Bypass, the agency worked hard to ensure that the outcome of this project would be as monumental as the landscape it inhabits between Nevada and Arizona.

Judging by the terrific reception the Hoover Dam Bypass has received--the "OCEA" award is not its first honor--I'd say they accomplished that goal.

At 1,900 feet with a central arch spanning 1,000 feet, the O'Callaghan-Tillman Bridge is the longest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It rests on the tallest precast concrete columns ever constructed to attain its height of 900 feet above the Colorado River. And it uses 16 million pounds of steel, 30,000 cubic yards of concrete, and 2 million feet of cable to work its impressive magic. All told, the bypass project includes eight bridges and required excavation of nearly 4 million cubic yards of rock.

 

Now, that's a lot of heavy lifting, and all of those materials don't come together to form a magnificent bridge all by themselves. In addition to the FHWA team, the ASCE also acknowledged Hiro Onozaki of the River Bridge Joint Venture, David Goodyear, the Engineer of Record for T.Y. Lin Internationl, and Project Director William Dowd of HDR Engineering. 

But much of the credit for this monumental project should go to the more than 1,200 workers, engineers, and safety experts who helped build it.

We don't undertake big projects lightly, but where the need exists--and congestion on the former crossing was infamous among commercial truck drivers as well as area residents--we must be able to make the investments necessary to keep our economy moving.

As Administrator Mendez said, “Our country can’t afford not to invest in large infrastructure projects. Big projects like this are needed now more than ever, not only for job creation in the short term, but for long-lasting economic recovery.”

In solving the problems of the clogged Hoover Dam crossing, we have demonstrated once again our ability to tackle a complex challenge with American ingenuity and dedication. We can still dream big; we can still roll up our sleeves and make this nation’s infrastructure the envy of the world.

But, to make that possibility a reality, we need Congress to pass a bipartisan transportation bill that allows us to help state DOTs solve the challenges that limit our ability to move goods and people safely and efficiently where they need to go.

By passing a bipartisan bill, the Senate has done its part; now, President Obama has called for the House to do the same.

Comments

[Bâche]

Im sorry to be offtopic a little bit, but the picture of the bridge crossing a electricity barrage is amazing.

It reminds me a shot in the Transformers movie, it was probably filmed there.

[D Goodyear]

Great achievement by FHWA CFL! Now what next? An idea from the gallery...take a look at the Detroit International Crossing. Once the border crossing is set, this is Federal Property. The project management talent displayed on Hoover is equipped to marshall a major project from beginning to end, and the taxpayers will all benefit from another project delivery with the quality of Hoover. The DRIC project needs direction, as did Hoover at the outset. Seems like a good challenge for the team.