nvchris Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I forgot I took this pic on my trip to AZ on mothers day.From the dam on the NV side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thats a really cool pic Chris. You couldnt get me to work up there ...no frickin way ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Work up there!!!! Hell, I'm not even going to drive across it when it's finished!!! We've been going to Vegas alot this past year and that new bridge just scares the bejesus out of me...My palms sweat looking up at it....Fact, my palms are sweating now just looking at your picture....No way I can ever look down from it!!!!! Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whats4supper Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I was up on top of one of the vertical pillars on the NV side, last fall, and what most people do not realize is that concrete, even with rebar, is plastic, and moves around in mostly a tight little circle, say 8-12 inches off plumb. now that they are tied into the bridge arches, less wind sway and more component weight and wind sway. every time the cranes move, or the chairs on the arch forms, the concrete sways to compensate. It's a freaky ride, and one has to stand up to get up or down or off- no crawling around on your hands and knees.The arch forms inch ever closer, day or night, but I would think Nightime would feel the most precarious, with the exception of any sort of windstorm. there are these little catwalks, with a 2x4 handrail, nailed and bolted together; not at all something a guy would purposely lean against, and most of these accessways are right on the edge. I don't know where they get these tough old bridge carpenters from, but things underneath move constantly, and formsetters are on top, underneath, and on the sides, with probably a 3 minute drop out in the middle.The closest thing I ever worked on was building a freestanding scaffold on a barge in oakland bay. Here you are, fog or not, hanging on pipe scaffold that is assembled with clips and wedges, wired together with 9 gauge wire, attached to the deck of the barge, anywhere from the low of 45 feet up, to 350 feet above the barge deck, and the whole time I was working I was always working out problems in my head as to how much strain 9-gauge wire could take before failing and killing us during the fall. On days when you could see the postage stamp of a deck, you pondered things like if I fell, would I even hit the barge. as bad as it was, the poor sparky (you out there rob?) has to climb out on a 45' aluminum pix to install navigation lights. boy talk about balls..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpion Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Wow after looking at your photo Chris and reading the other replies.....I have discovered that I am blind!No Wait!I can see the edge of light slowly breaking over the lip of something dark and forebodeing!It stinks also!Man!I just shoved my head so far up my buttocks for safety out of shear fright and didn't realize it!I need to go and take a shower!Nice photo Chris!Actually can't wait to see the bridge finished and drive over it one day.Over in Bridge City Texas The Rainbow bridge is the tallest bridge in the south. When I was much younger we had to drive over it as a a requirement for driver's Ed. 177' clear height with a main span of 680 feet!Here is a write up on it.Bridge City, the “Golden Link to the Triangle†is located on the west bank of Cow Bayou adjacent to Sabine Lake and the Neches River. Sabine lake is a 78-square mile saltwater lake opening into the Gulf of Mexico. To enter or leave Bridge City you must cross one of three historic bridges. At the south end of town is the scenic Rainbow Bridge, the south’s tallest bridge. The bridge’s 176-foot clearance height resulted from requirements that any U. S. Navy ship could pass under it. The sister span is the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge in the state of Texas. The Veterans Memorial Bridge which now handle the northbound traffic and is only 145 verticle clearance and its main span is shorter.In the image the Rainbow Bridge is on the right and the Veterans is on the left.What is the verticle clearance of the new bridge going to be when finished?Karl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~LARGO~ Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hey Chris,Just looking at the photo gives me a case of the butt puckers...When I looked over the back side of that dam, on my visit there, it had the same effect on me...~LARGO~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMick Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 nvchris, great picture.It's 2000 feet long and about 900 feet above the river........ http://www.hooverdambypass.org/There is a Web Cam button in the left menu, probably need to turn your Pop-Up Blocker off to use it. It will give you some good views as you pan around and maybe make you a little dizzie too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvchris Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I've done a bit of high work and bridge building. What's for supper is spot on, the hardest thing to get used to is the sway.I got vertigo real bad one windy day. I was landing loads the clouds were scooting by as I looked up at the tower crane swinging its boom it was just to much for my brain to compensate for. I got so dizzy I had to lay down in my vomit. Not a popular guy in the bar after work. Another shot from the AZ side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Talk about coincedence!!!!!! My wife, Dodacious, just went over the dam about two hours ago and sent me this photo from her blackberry.....Sweaty Palmed cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I thought it was supposed to be all concrete and steel bridge? or do they remove the cables as they build. It looks like it would sway like crazy in the wind. AznuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Bob, The cables just support the arches till they meet up, i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Freakin' Awsome!!! I bet the bungy jumpers are planning already.Cheers,Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COLORADO BOB Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Well I live by my motto:I never get higher than a stalk of corn nor lower than a hill of potatoes.Bob T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Hey Wes how ya doin. Ive worked on a lot of construction jobs but never a bridge. I think Matt is right its going to become a bungee and base jumper paradise. AzNuggetBob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I just drove across the Dam last week and was blown away . Man that thing is up there. I'll let a few million people drive over it before I try it. don't know if I'd feel comfortable sharing it with 20 or thirty tour buses and motorhomes. ----bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Frankly..I cant wait till it's done! I go by it six times a month. I plan to use that bridge allot! Tired of creeping along that highway and snaking around the dam...As soon as the Gold Basin express is open I wont be on it long enough for a view! Guido Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acronn Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Got to see it last year, what a thing to see. Didn't even know it was going on till then. I remember it made me proud to be an American, I guess with the dam and all the foreign tourists there. How far away are the nearest gold bearing areas from there? Sure looked like a lot of mineralization all around, I recall wondering were the gold was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridge Runner Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 So that's what they mean by going out on a limb.Sure like the pictures and thanks for posting them.Chuck Anders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvchris Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Guido,Hows penny? I really think she need a new name : ) It ought to cut 45 minutes off your trip to GB (each way)It may be a good time to buy a lot or two on the AZ side I see it as a bedroom community to LV in the future.thx again!nvchris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whats4supper Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 How far away are the nearest gold bearing areas from there? Sure looked like a lot of mineralization all around, I recall wondering were the gold was. Not far. any wash south of Willow Beach (legally), and at least 5 miles east of Lake Mohave. For nuggets, try anywhere radius of Senator Mountain. Illegally, any wash feeding into the Colorado, just south of the new bridge interchange on the AZ side.best guide- get a 1/100,000 land use map ($5) from the NV BLM on Torrey Pines, or anywhere in AZ within range. Boulder City, and Needles, and others that include areas in Mohave County. look for areas with large cobbles, or shallow caliche false bedrock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Fine thanks Bob, Here's a pic of the finished bridge. My buddy is a bridge designer and said the towers and cables all get removed when finished. Pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dorado Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Awesome looking bridge. Since I moved to Foresthill, I cross a pretty tall bridge frequently. It is the tallest in California and 3rd tallest in the US at 730'. LL of a view looking down to the confluence of the N and S Forks of the American River Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Fine thanks Bob, Here's a pic of the finished bridge. My buddy is a bridge designer and said the towers and cables all get removed when finished. Pretty cool.Wow...looks good there Wes...Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Guido,Hows penny? I really think she need a new name : ) It ought to cut 45 minutes off your trip to GB (each way)It may be a good time to buy a lot or two on the AZ side I see it as a bedroom community to LV in the future.thx again!nvchrisHey NvChris...Penny's in the doghouse...sitting on the back burner...SD2200D got point...Guido! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigmatic Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Sorry guys...double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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