Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (proposed name), known as the Hoover Dam Bypass during planning and early construction, provides a bridge connecting roads for a new route across the Colorado River for U.S. Route 93. The project links the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona by spanning the Colorado River 1,600 ft (490 m) downstream from the Hoover Dam. The bridge is expected to be open to traffic in November 2010. Its cost has been estimated to be about $240 million. Once the bypass is completed, the existing roadway across Hoover Dam will be closed to through traffic. In late 2004, the proposed bridge name honoring Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman was announced at a ceremony by Nevada governor Kenny Guinn and Arizona governor Janet Napolitano. O’Callaghan was a decorated Korean War veteran and was governor of Nevada from 1971 to 1979. He served as executive editor at the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. He suffered a heart attack and died on March 5, 2004. Tillman was an Arizona State University and Arizona Cardinals football player who gave up his multi million-dollar career in the National Football League to enlist in the U.S. Army, and was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.