by Jorge Labrador, Vegas.com

On Sept. 30, 1935, 10,000 spectators came to Black Canyon to see President Franklin Roosevelt speak at the dedication ceremony for the project that was then known as Boulder Dam. Now known as Hoover Dam, this impressive structure has become a symbol of American ingenuity and of the changing American Southwest.

After all, Hoover Dam is the tallest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere. It provides power to cities in three states and its redirection of the Colorado River is responsible for the country’s largest man-made reservoir and the popular recreational area, Lake Mead. About 90 percent of the Las Vegas Valley’s water supply comes from Lake Mead.

Tourists are reflected in a window at the visitor’s center while they take in the view of the Hoover Dam. Photo Courtesy of Las Vegas Sun/Sam Morris

Hoover Dam is such an important icon that it’s no surprise when, just a few weeks after the 75th anniversary of its dedication ceremony, another public works project in the Black Canyon opened up to great fanfare.

On Oct. 16, the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge – also commonly known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge – was opened to pedestrian traffic for the first time, drawing about 20,000 people to walk the span of bridge as part of an event called Bridging America. The bridge opened to vehicular traffic on Oct. 20.

Located 1,700 feet downstream and 280 feet above the dam, the bridge is as much an impressive feat of engineering as the dam is: it is the longest single-span concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the first arch bridge of its kind in the U.S.

Many at the Bridging America event were excited to preview the 1,900-foot-long bridge, but most were excited by the view of the dam it provides. An exhibit containing more than 30 large-scale photographs of the evolution of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and will be on display October 29, 2010 – January 23, 2011, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily in the Patio Gallery at the Springs Preserve.

Don Harris, a Las Vegas resident who attended the Oct. 16 Bridging America event, noted the parallels between the Hoover Dam project 75 years ago and the recently-finished bridge.

“It’s great when they build new things like the [bridge],” Harris said. “It’s the kind of thing we need to see more of now, more projects that help people out like this.”

Like Harris, many enjoyed the unique view of Black Canyon and Hoover Dam the bridge provides.

“Great view,” said Ian Herzberger, a Bridging America attendee from Boulder City, Nev.

Herzberger had seen the bridge’s progress a few times over the past several years, but he said the scale of the bridge didn’t set in until he was actually walking on it.

“It’s huge. You don’t really get a sense for how big it is until you’re actually there. Really puts [the bridge and] the dam into perspective.”

Herzberger was visiting the event from nearby Boulder City, which was founded in 1931 to provide housing to dam workers. Slogans like “best city by a dam site,” “best dam barbecue,” and “hottest dam boutique” adorn local store fronts. The city’s welcome sign is even a small-scale replica of the dam with an embedded display...........read more