Hoover Dam, Nevada, 2/16/2012

On our second day in Las Vegas we rented a car and visited Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the Valley of Fire. We arrived at the Valley of Fire State Park at closing time because we were so fascinated by the Hoover Dam that we spend three hours touring it. Dam serves several purposes: it prevents flooding of lower-lying farm lands from Colorado to California, and provides water and (clean!) electricity for 7 states.

View from the Dam overlooking the Colorado River and the bypass bridge that was built later to take some of the traffic away from the dam. At the bottom is one of the hydroelectric powerplant wings. Building the dam started in 1931 and was finished in 1935. The construction provided work for thousands of workers during the depression years. The dam is 221 meters high and 379 meters wide. Width at the bottom is 660 meters. Before the dam could be built, the river had to be diverted. For that two tunnels were dug along side the river. Once the river was diverted, the mud and silt on the riverbed had to be removed until the bedrock was reached. Interlocking concrete blocks were poured to form the dam with rods inserted to allow for a water cooling system. The guide explained that if the dam was poured in one block, it would have taken 100 years for such a large mass of concrete to cool down. Total of concrete used: 2.6 million cubic meters!

Parking structure, visitor center and electric power lines.

Lake Mead created by the dam. Intake tower in the foreground. There are two towers that guide the lake water to the hydroelectric generators.

Winged statues in an eagle like stance guarding the entrance to the dam. Very art deco... and so appropriate for this grandiose project.

Inside view of the generators. Everything was gleaming clean. A well-run operation. The floors were 1930's terazzo marble!

Two more pictures of the powerplant wings with electric cables carrying electricity out of the canyon.

Hoover Dam is a National Historic Landmark and one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders.