Hoover Dam in Nevada

By: Joy Kenzic

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 Hoover Dam is indeed named after the country’s 31st President Herbert Hoover; however, the politician was supporting the project long before he ever took the oath of office. During his stint as the Secretary of Commerce, 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. The result was legislation called the Boulder Canyon Project Act and was passed in 1928

The Hoover Dam was completed in a record five years; work being started in the year 1930. At the time of its completion, the dam was the largest in the entire world. To expedite the project, engineers developed a technique that cooled and hardened the concrete quickly. In this way, the project time was cut from ten years to five. The cost of the dam was a mere $ 49,000,000 while the Boulder Canyon Project, comprising of Hoover Dam, Imperial Dam, and the American Canal had a cost 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.

Hoover Dam's measurements are absolutely astounding, especially for the early 1930s. More than 4,360,000 cubic yards of pure concrete went into its construction, which made the dam the first edifice to contain more masonry than Egypt's Great Pyramids. Now, the dam ranks as the 18th highest dam in the world, standing 726.4 feet tall and measuring 1,244 feet wide at the top of the structure. The dam weighs an estimated 6.6 million tons!

Before the construction of the dam, the Colorado River often breeched its banks and flooded nearby towns and fields. It was to this purpose that the Hoover Dam and Boulder Canyon project was conceived. With the completion of this project, the destructive nature of this river gave way to a constructive one and its power was harnessed for the good of the residents of Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. The 17 generators of the Dam could produce about 2000 megawatts of electricity.

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.

Those of you interested to visit the Hoover Dam, should first take a behind the scenes tour of the Dam by checking out the visitor's center that is a sea of interactive information about the building and purpose of the dam. For the walk-"a-holics", it is advisable to take your best walking shoes as you would go the very summit of the dam.

Article Source: http://www.retirementlivingarticledirectory.com

Joy Kenzic is the owner and operator of F nevada, the #1 source on the internet for information about nevada, For more articles on nevada visit: www.fornevada.com/articles
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