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The Hoover Dam is an engineering feat that has not been duplicated in recent years. Straddling the boarder between Arizona and Nevada on the Colorado River, the world famous dam serves as the main source of electrical power, irrigation, and flood control for the entire Southwestern United States. In addition to serving the necessary duties of a dam, the Hoover Dam is also a tremendous tourist destination and draws millions of visitors each year! The Hoover Dam gets its name from the country's 31st President Herbert Hoover who was supporting the project long before he became the President. It was, in fact, during his stint as the Secretary of Commerce that Hoover began developing a plan that would tame the unruly Colorado River and provide necessary electricity and irrigation to the peoples of Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. It culminated in the legislation called the Boulder Canyon Project Act that was passed in 1928. The construction of Hoover Dam that was the largest dam in the entire world at the time, started in September of 1930 and was completed in a mere five years. The engineers developed a way to quickly cool and harden the concrete in order to expedite the project, which would have otherwise taken at least ten years to complete. The dam only cost $49,000,000 to build and the entire Boulder Canyon Project, which encompasses Hoover Dam, Imperial Dam, and the American Canal cost a total of $165,000,000. There were approximately 16,000 workers that included both men and women who built the structure. Contrary to popular stories associated with the dam, no one is buried inside the walls of the dam, though some deaths did occur in the five-year long period of its construction. For the lover of statistics, the dam's measurements are mind boggling, keeping in mind that it was made in the early 1930s. It has more masonry than the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the workers using 4,360,000 cubic yards of pure concrete in its construction. It is the 18th highest dam in the world, 726.4 feet tall 1,244 feet wide and weighs an estimated 6.6 million tons! Prior to the construction of the Hoover Dam, the Colorado River often breeched its banks and flooded nearby towns, fields, and homes. With the river's power harnessed, the residents of Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona could be provided with power. The Hoover Dam is capable of producing 2,000 megawatts of electricity by using its 17 generators. In the process of producing power and irrigation measures for the Southwest, Hoover Dam also created a fantastic body of water, Lake Mead. Lake Mead is a fantastic destination that spreads over a whopping 146,000 acres and attracts flocks of visitors each year. The warm Nevada sunshine on the lake that is situated a few miles from Sin City itself, Las Vegas is an additional attraction. The visitor's center provides full information about the building and purpose of the dam. You can take a behind-the-scenes tour of the dam, but if you want to take a walking tour, make sure your walking shoes are comfortable, as you will walk across the very top of the dam itself.
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