October 18, 2010
We Still Do Awesome Things
I often complain privately (often in reference to our pathetic excuse for a space program, etc) about humanity having given up on DOING SOMETHING AWESOME. Going to the moon may have been caused by competition with the Commies but no matter why it happened, it caused a billion people's jaws to drop with wonder at what we as a species could accomplish.
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What was the last thing we did like that? American history was filled with the biggest this and the most amazing that because we had the drive to connect the Atlantic with the Pacific or the audacity to Dam the Colorado river.
Well, after 5 years one of the most amazing construction projects I've seen in recent memory is complete.
In mid November, the Hoover Dam Bypass will be open to traffic, substantially reducing the drive time from Las Vegas and California to Grand Canyon West, home of the world famous Skywalk glass walkway.
I travel through the area roughly once per year so I've had the pleasure of discovering this amazing project by accident (I believe my words were, 'holy shit, what the fuck is that') to its near completion this past year.
It may be just a bridge but having watched them build it, I can say the ambition of the men building it was well off the charts. The bridge absolutely TOWERS over the canyon and the engineering nearly overshadows the Dam.
Disclaimer: My dad is a civil engineer so this shit is probably way more awesome to me than it is to the average person.
Also, the reason this needed to be built is almost 100% 9-11 related. The (warranted) security precautions enacted for the Dam reduced traffic to a virtual standstill and a much higher capacity was needed, especially because your alternatives to that road are almost exactly zero.
Posted by: Moron Pundit at
10:38 AM
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