Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft and Bullhead City Mayor Steve D’Amico are pleased to announce the grand opening date for the long-awaited second bridge connecting Laughlin to Bullhead City, Ariz. They invited their respective communities to save the date of Friday, June 7 for a celebration. Full details will be released once finalized in May.

“This second bridge spanning the Colorado River has been decades in the making,” said Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, whose district includes Laughlin. “Its completion will facilitate the flow of traffic and commerce across the river, and I’m looking forward to celebrating this historic milestone with our residents.”

“We are thrilled to announce June 7 as the day to celebrate the opening of the new bridge for our communities,” said Mayor D’Amico. “We look forward to a great celebration and years of improved transportation between Laughlin and Bullhead City. Please save the date and plan on attending the celebration on June 7.”

The 724-foot-long bridge rests 35 feet above the river and carries one lane of traffic in each direction along with a multi-use trail on the south side for bicyclists, runners and pedestrians. There are two overlooks on the bridge for users of the multi-use trail. If needed, the bridge can be restriped to accommodate four lanes of traffic and the multi-use trail.

A 3.5-mile road was constructed on the Nevada side that connects with Needles Highway just north of the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation. On the Arizona side, Bullhead Parkway was extended by half a mile to the bridge and was completed in October 2020. More than 1,400 bushes were planted along the bridge roadways.

The project also features a 2.5-acre nature center pond on the Arizona side for waterfowl that can use it as refuge from the river’s boats and personal watercraft.

The bridge has been sought for decades as a means to facilitate cross-river traffic, facilitate the flow of commerce and improve access for emergency vehicles.

The bridge structure consists of precast concrete girders on drilled shaft foundations. It is located 8 miles south of Laughlin’s only other bridge, which opened in 1987 and was paid for by Laughlin founder Don Laughlin. There is a third, privately maintained bridge 6 miles south of the new structure that connects Fort Mohave, Ariz., via Aztec Road with the land at the Avi Resort & Casino on the Nevada side. It is called Veterans Bridge.

Federal funding for this new bridge was first committed in the 1990s and construction began on the $60.6 million project in November 2021. Funding was provided by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, $34.1 million; the federal government, $20.9 million; Bullhead City, $4.5 million; and Clark County, $1 million.

The project is being delivered through Clark County Public Works with cooperation through U. S. Federal Highway Administration, the Nevada Department of Transportation, Bullhead City, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Nevada Division of State Lands, Arizona State Land Department, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Fisher Sand and Gravel, of Tempe, Ariz., is the primary contractor. Construction oversight was provided by WSP, 4LEAF Consulting, Aztech Materials Testing, Newfields Environmental, Ninyo & Moore, and VTN.