Hoover Dam in Nevada

The Hoover Dam in Nevada is the main source of electrical power, irrigation, and flood control for the entire Southwestern United States. It is an engineering feat that has become world famous. The dam straddles the border between Arizona and Nevada on the Colorado River and has become a tremendous tourist destination besides serving as a dam. Millions of visitors come to see this dam each year.

The dam was named after President Herbert Hoover, to recognize and honor his unstinted support and zeal in making the project a reality. The 31st President of the United States was however, zealous about the project even before he was President. As Secretary of Commerce, he conceived a plan to tame the Colorado River that would provide people of the states of Arizona, Southern California, Nevada cheap electricity and irrigation. To facilitate this, the Boulder Canyon Project Act was passed in the year 1928.

When Hoover Dam was built, it was the largest dam in the entire world. The first concrete was poured in September of 1930 and was completed in a mere five years. Given the sheer magnitude of the project, 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!

The purpose of Hoover Dam and the entire Boulder Canyon Project was to attempt to take the wild and often destructive Colorado River. The 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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