Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam is 727 feet high, 1,244 feet long, 660 feet thick at the base, and 45 feet thick at the crest. It weighs 5,500,000 tons and contains 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete. Two spillways, one on each side of the canyon, protect the dam and powerhouse from overflow. The Lake Mead side of the dam, the water is over 500 feet deep.The amount of water released through the dam in a day can be as high as 299,200 gallons (40,000 cfs) or as low as 52,360 gallons (2000 cfs ) depending on how much water is needed down stream. The federal government commissioned a series of studies after the turn of the century to harness the Colorado’s erratic rampages. Engineers sought to make the river a servant rather than man’s master. Massive destruction in the regions of California, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico early in the 20th Century emphasized the need for corrective action.
The Bureau of Reclamation has conducted tours through the Hoover Dam and powerplant since 1937. Today, close to 1,000,000 visitors a year take the tour and millions more drive across the dam.
United States Highway 93 (U.S. 93) has been designated a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) route. The increasing congestion caused by the switchbacks leading to the Hoover Dam site and the restrictions at the dam crossing have led to the development of the Hoover Bypass Project. The Hoover Dam Bypass Project is a 3.5-mile corridor beginning at approximately milepost 2.2 in Clark County, Nevada and crossing the Colorado River approximately 1,500 feet downstream of the Hoover Dam, then terminating in Mohave County, Arizona near milepost 1.7 on U.S. 93.
The U.S. Congress passed the Boulder Canyon Project Act in 1928, authorizing construction of Hoover Dam and the All-American Canal.
Viewing this magnificent, massive man made structure creates a respect for man’s accomplishments. The strong desire to harness nature’s power drove the human mind and body to build Hoover Dam in the hottest, driest area of the United States. In doing so, the seasonal flooding of the Colorado River was eliminated and millions of people now have drinking water and irrigation during the dry season.
Architectural style
The initial plans for the finished facade of both the dam and the power plant consisted of a simple, unadorned wall of concrete topped with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and a powerhouse that looked like little more than an industrial warehouse. This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann was brought in to redesign the exteriors.
Getting There
Drive east on Flamingo Road or Tropicana Avenue to U.S. 515 South, which automatically turns into I-93 South and takes you right to the dam. This will involve a rather dramatic drive as you go through Boulder City and come over a rise, and Lake Mead suddenly appears spread out before you. It’s a beautiful sight. At about this point, the road narrows down to two lanes, and traffic can slow considerably. On normal busy tourist days, this drive would take about an hour. But because the bridge bypass won’t be completed until late 2007 at the earliest, thanks to new security measures that call for most trucks and many other vehicles to be stopped and searched, during peak hours, the drive is taking longer than ever. Plan accordingly.
