Hoover
Dam Calmed the
Raging Colorado River
By Richard Moreno, Publisher, Nevada
Magazine
Hoover Dam does its job well.
From the moment you first see it, you have no doubt that
this massive sheet of gray concrete can keep the mighty
Colorado River tamed forever.
The dam was conceived in the 1920s as a way to finally
control the Colorado River, which habitually flooded much
of the fertile farmland in Southern California. Work began
in 1931 and the structure was completed in 1935 -- two
years ahead of schedule. Hoover Dam may have been one of
the few times that hyperbole matched reality. It has been
called one of the seven architectural wonders of the world
and lives up to its billing.
This is one huge dam. While a handful of newer dams may be
larger -- Hoover is now the third highest in the world --
it's important to remember that this dam was built more
than 50 years ago during America's Great Depression.
Despite its age, statistics about the dam remain
staggering. It contains 4.4 million cubic yards of
concrete, enough to pave a two-lane highway from San
Francisco to New York. It is 726.4 feet high and 1,444
feet across Black Canyon.
The waters of the Colorado that are held back by the dam
form Lake Mead, the world's largest man-made reservoir
with a capacity of more than 28 million acre-feet (an
acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.)
While it appears to be a giant curved curtain, the dam is
actually a huge upside-down wedge, with a base in the
bedrock that is 660 feet thick. It's difficult not to be
impressed, standing at the top and looking 528 feet
straight down to the Colorado River.
Engineers point out that Hoover Dam was
"overbuilt," meaning it contains far more
concrete and metal support than is actually necessary to
do its job. It was built to last -- perhaps for centuries.
Tours of the dam are given every few minutes and more than
32 million people have toured the dam since it opened in
1935. The tour begins at the top and within minutes an
elevator drops the full 520 feet to the base
Inside the dam there are small architectural touches
typical of the 1930s. Art Deco and Streamline Moderne
designs, all the rage in the 1930s, are incorporated into
the structure. There are also stylized Native American
designs in the floor tiles.
At the base, visitors tour a massive chamber filled with
17 hydroelectric generators that supply about 3.5 billion
kilowatt-hours of energy a year. From there, the tour goes
deep inside the dam to see the huge diversion tunnels
built to divert the river around the dam during
construction.
Back at the top, on the Nevada side (the dam spans the
Nevada-Arizona border), the Visitors Center displays
describe the entire Colorado River water system -- how it
starts and where it ends -- and the history of the dam.
The exhibit gallery, opened in April 1997, uses photos,
artifacts, artwork, and audiovisuals to tell the story of
the dam, the builders, what happens during a desert
thunderstorm, and the southwestern environment, geology,
plants, and animals. There's a parking structure, gift
shop, and food concession.
Hoover Dam is located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas on
U.S. Highway 93. Tours are offered daily from 8:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. The cost is $8 for
adults, $7 for seniors, $2 for kids 6-16, and free for
children under 6. For more information contact the Bureau
of Reclamation, (702) 293-1081. Visit the dam's web site
at http://www.hooverdam.com
Article and picture courtesy of
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