Although the tour we took of Hoover Dam occurred on our Vegas trip, it did not take place on the strip of Vegas. The dam is actually located in Black Canyon near Las Vegas and the address for Hoover Dam is Boulder City,Nevada; but the dam is actually in two states and two time zones! I included the picture we took of the Arizona side with the time on that side. It was awesome to know we could stand in the middle of the bridge with one foot in Nevada and one in Arizona with an hours difference in time.
Construction of Hoover Dam began in 1931 and the last of the 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete was poured in 1935. 96 men lost their lives in the building of this structure. The dam officially opened in September of the year I was born - which, as Donna said, made it unique that I was there on my birthday. The dam controls the water flow of the Colorado River, and the reservoir is Lake Mead-the largest man-made reservoir in America. If you notice the waterline on the picture Brian took of Lake Mead, you'll see how low our water supply is in this part of the country. This lake is 498 feet deep and 110 miles long when full.
Hoover Dam was originally named for Herbert Hoover and was called Boulder Dam and the Boulder Canyon Project until 1947. The purpose of this enormous undertaking was to improve navigation and regulation of the Colorado River, flood control, and hydroelectric power production. Today the dam meets the domestic water needs of over 20 million people in 7 states and also provides irrigation to over one million acres of American crops and 1/2 million acres of Mexican crop lands. We toured the dam, the power plant (where the 17 generators were) and the visitor's center. Pam had to stay outside with Siena for the power plant tour. The actual dam is 726.4 feet high from the base to the top of the arch and absolutely breathtaking to observe. I hope every one of you gets to see this dam up close some day....it's worth the trip and the two days I missed from school!
1 comment:
Awesome photo's! I guess it depends what time schedule you need for the day as to which side of the bridge you want to be on! LOL Nice dam!
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