5/5/08 HOOVER DAM

After our normal morning routine we got in the truck for the ride to Hoover Dam. Of course on the way we had some beautiful scenery. These aren't real clear because they were taken through the windshield. (note to self: Clean inside and out of windshield)

Lake Mead

This is the new road that is going to lead to the new bridge that will cross the Colorado very close to the dam.

How's this for a power plant?

We arrived at the Nevada side of the Hoover Dam and tried to go into parking garage they have but we were turned away because we had a container with diesel fuel in it in the back of the truck. Therefore we had to drive across the dam to the Arizona side where they had open parking. Finding a parking place wasn't too bad but we had a bit of a hike to get down to the main attraction.

We finally arrived.

For millions of years the Colorado River ran 1400 miles from Colorado's Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, carrying water through the dry lands of the west.

In the early 1900's it was decided that the river had to be controlled since it often flooded farmland and communities in the spring and summer when the water surged with the melting snow. In the late summer and fall it dried to a mere trickle. Something had to be done to protect the low lying lands from flooding and there was a need to assure a stable, year round water supply.

Before the river could be controlled and managed its water had to be divided between the states that depended on the river. In 1922 a representative from each of the seven states and the federal government met and formed the Colorado River Compact. The agreement divided the Colorado River Basin into an upper and lower half and gave half of the river's annual estimated flow to each basin. The states that each basin served had to fight it out amongst themselves as to how much each state would get.

Before the dam project could be started, two tunnels had to be dug in order to divert the water. Two were built in Nevada and two in Arizona. This took nearly a year to dig the tunnels then they had to be lined with concrete. Each tunnel was 56 feet in diameter and the combined length was just over 3 miles. After the concrete was poured the diameter of each tunnel was 50 feet.

Following the completion of the dam, the entrances to the two outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the opening and half way through the tunnels with large concrete plugs. The downstream half of the tunnels following the inner plugs are now the main body of the spillway tunnels.

Construction of the dam itself started in 1931 and the last concrete was poured in 1935 - two years ahead of schedule and well under budget.

Here's an aerial view of the dam.

Hoover Dam was without precedent, the greatest dam of its day and it still is a world renowned structure.

Our view as we walked to the dam complex.

Getting ever closer.

Here's the bridge that will link Nevada to Arizona when it is complete. I don't think I would comfortable with this bridge,,,way too high for me.

ahhhh....NO, not me!

Hoover Dam is named for Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the US. It was called Boulder Dam but the Hoover Dam was made permanent by Congress in 1947. Strongly supported by Hoover, he believed the Boulder Canyon Project be self supporting, financed entirely through the sale of hydro-electric power generated at the dam. To this day, the operation and maintenance of the facility continue to be solely supported with revenues from power sales.

The Boulder Canyon Project's original $165 million cost has been repaid, with interest, to the Federal Treasury through the sale of power.

Thirteen to sixteen thousand people cross the dam everyday!

Pictures taken from the Visitors Center.

You're looking at 3.25 MILLION cubic yards of concrete here! The base of the dam is 660 feet wide, enough to fit the length of two football fields in and then some.

Below is the "Winged Figures of the Republic" by Oskar J.W. Hansen, part of the monument of dedication on the Nevada side of the dam.

A close up of one of the Winged Figures.

It was time to start our tour. It was a very welcomed 58 degrees down here as it was quite hot outside.

The generators that supply all the electricity. This picture doesn't do them justice as to how big they are.

Here's a picture of a wrench that is used to maintain the power plant generators. This puppy weighs 105 pounds!

What holds it all together.... if you can't read it,,,this coupling bolt weighs 181 pounds.

Hoover Dam lit up at night time.

Taken from the observation deck.

You can see just the edges of the new bridge on either side.

In this next picture you will notice "white" all around the canyon walls. No, they didn't paint it on. That is calcium deposits left from when the canyon flooded back in '83.

We were told that they are now in the 7th year of a drought and that Lake Meade is down 100 feet! We did see out on the lake that there was a fishing pier or a boat dock that was cantilevered out of the canyon wall and it just hung there. The water level was nowhere near it to make it usable.

Bob, with the Hoover Dam behind him.

We are so glad to have been able to see this magnificent feat of engineering. If ever in the area be sure to make this a stop!

On the way back I was able to get this.

On the way back to LV the clouds started rolling in and made for some unusual coloring on the mountains.

Back at home the fighter planes were out in force. This plane is practically going straight up. Take notice of how gray the sky is. Not one drop of rain though.

These things are LOUD!