Welcome to the Hoover Dam

  • Originally called Boulder Dam, this engineering marvel was re-named for Herbert Hoover.  As a conservationist, he was a strong proponent of preserving our natural resources and protecting the nation's lands from misuse and from destruction by disastrous floods. As an engineer, he strongly supported construction of a high concrete dam on the Colorado River to control the river, and to provide irrigation water to the rich farmlands nearby.
  • How much concrete is in the dam? 
    Three and one-quarter million cubic yards. This much concrete would build a monument 100 feet square and 2-1/2 miles high; would rise higher than the Empire State Building (which is 1,250 feet) if placed on an ordinary city block; or would pave a standard highway 16 feet wide, from San Francisco to New York City. 
02260010.JPG (60534 bytes)
This highway is a cut through of the smaller mountains on the way to the dam. You feel like you are going through a long tunnel.		 02260011.JPG (103921 bytes)
How much does the Hoover Dam weigh?
More than 6,600,00 toms. 		02260012.JPG (116834 bytes)
What is the maximum water pressure at the base of the dam? 
45,000 pounds per square foot.
02260013.JPG (99125 bytes)
The Reservoir (Lake Mead)
The white strip is sulfur from the water and rising and lowering over time. 
Length: When full110 miles (177 kilometers)
Shoreline: 550 miles (885 kilometer)
Capacity: 28,537,000 acre-feet (1.24 trillion cubic meters), including dead storage
Maximum depth: 500 feet (152 meters)		 02260015.JPG (120841 bytes)
The Hoover Dam went online on Sept. 11, 1936. Kind of eerie huh?		 02260016.JPG (140610 bytes)
96 men were killed in industrial accidents while building the dam. Several dozen others died from the heat or carbon monoxide poisoning while on the job, and hundreds of other people, wives and children of the workers, died from heat, polluted water or disease.
02260017.JPG (139372 bytes)
Colorado River water irrigates more than a million acres of land in the U.S., and nearly half a million acres in Mexico. The water helps meet the municipal and industrial needs of over 14 million people.		 02260018.JPG (98138 bytes)
 		02260019.JPG (83267 bytes)
As it passes through Hoover's turbines, the water generates low-cost hydroelectric power for use in Nevada, Arizona and California. About 4 billion kilowatt-hours of energy, enough for 500,000 homes, are generated annually:
02260021.JPG (166629 bytes)   On to Las Vegas
 

backTo TRIPS!!!!