Buckle up! Hoover Dam bus tours are about to grow "wings.
" Once a new $245 million bridge opens, you'll be transported some 900 feet above the mighty Colorado River, whereupon the views of Hoover Dam and Black Canyon will leave you breathless.
The Bridge, its official name is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, is an engineering marvel on par with Hoover Dam itself.
Costing a whopping $240 million, the 1,060-foot arched structure joins the Arizona and Nevada approach highways.
In addition to the bridge, new construction will include a parking lot, trail, interpretive plaza, and a pedestrian sidewalk.
For tourists, it's the sidewalk that's getting all the buzz - it's built on the northside of the Bridge and will offer panoramic views of Hoover Dam and the Black Canyon gorge.
Many people familiar with Las Vegas attractions are quietly comparing the Bridge to Grand Canyon Skywalk, known locally as the "glass bridge.
" It's operated by the Hualapai Indians and soars out over the Grand Canyon's West Rim.
The original two-lane road on Hoover Dam will remain open but only to foot traffic.
This is a good thing: The 700-foot-tall Dam is "stressed out" accommodating up to 15,000 vehicles a day, twice as much as it did 15 years ago.
If you are in Las Vegas and planning to visit Hoover Dam, it's best to start with a bus tour.
It's inexpensive and includes all that the Dam has to offer.
Typical trips last up to five hours, and include hotel pick up and drop off.
Highly recommended is the free guided tour, which includes all exhibits, movie room, observation deck and more.
Strongly consider bumping up your bus tour to include a helicopter flight or boat cruise.
Flights last 30 minutes and give you a the bird's eye view of the area.
Boats start out on LaKe Mead, the largest man-made lake in the United States, and float up to several hundreds yards of the Dam's intake towers.