When the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge opens to traffic later this week, it will become an instant tourist attraction and provide a quicker, safer way to drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas.

The Hoover Dam bypass bridge is a study in superlatives. The highest and longest arched concrete bridge in the Western Hemisphere. The second-highest bridge of any kind in the United States and 14th in the world. The world's tallest concrete columns of their kind.

But what sets the bridge apart most of all is the setting. It is perched 890 feet above the turquoise Colorado River, wedged between rock cliffs that form Black Canyon, with commanding views of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.