The new 579m Hoover Bypass dam bridge located southeast of Las Vegas in the US is set to open this week.

The Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman memorial bridge is part of a $240m four-lane bypass that will reroute traffic for 3.5 miles from the two-lane bottleneck on US 93 across the Colorado River.

US Route 93 is a high-priority trade corridor, as the section of US 93 that crosses Hoover Dam was heavily congested and not suited for the modern traffic needs.

Due to heightened security concerns, truck traffic over the Hoover dam has been diverted, causing truck drivers on the route to use a 75-mile detour, which added to costs and delays for commercial shippers.

The bridge will cut travel times for more than 17,000 cars, and the number of trucks using the bridge is expected to grow by 50% over the next 20 years.

Hoover Dam bypass planning began in the late 1980s, though construction didn’t begin until 2002.