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Hoover Dam is an engineering marvel of the world. One simply has to go see it and that fact will be rather quickly established. A dam that was created in the 1930's with engineering concepts that have yet to be challenged. (there is a huge dam in China being built today that is using the same technique that was used on Hoover Dam) Another interesting fact is that the state lines of Arizona (Mountain Standard Time, MST) and Nevada (Pacific Standard Time, PST) meet in the center of the channel of the dam. Observe the photo of the Arizona clock being 3:50 p.m. and the Nevada clock being 2:50 p.m. as we crossed over the dam and snapped both clocks. The lake (Lake Mead) is down about 40 feet due to extreme drought that has persisted in the area for many years. Approximately 23,000,000 people scattered over 7 states drink from the chain of dams (Hoover, Glen Canyon, Davis and Parker) that hold back the Colorado River. The water is cold and clear. Some of the largest catfish in the world have been caught there. There is an abundance of trout although the aggressive stripped bass has been slowly taking over.
Here are a few facts about the dam: Construction of Hoover Dam began in 1931, and the last concrete was poured in 1935 , two years ahead of schedule. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the dam on September 30,1935. The power plant structures were completed in 1936, and the first generator began commercial operation in October of that year. The 17th and final generator went into commercial operation in 1961. Hoover Dam was without precedent, the greatest dam constructed in its day. An arch-gravity structure rising 726 feet above bedrock, Hoover is still the Western Hemisphere's highest concrete dam. It is 660 feet thick at its base, 45 feet thick at its crest, and stretches 1,244 feet across the Black Canyon. There are 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete in the dam, power plant and related structures. 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. 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:
Hoover Dam Height: 726.4 feet (221.28 meters) Crest Length: 1,244 feet(379.2 meters) Top Thickness: 45 feet (13.7 meters) Bottom Thickness: 660 feet (201.2 meters) Composition: 3.25 million cubic yards (2.5 million cubic meters) of concrete. The Reservoir (Lake Mead) Length: When full 110 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) Area: 157,900 acres(63,900 hectares) Elevation: 1221.4 feet (372.28 meters) (All figures are for the reservoir filled to the top of the spillway gates in the raised position)
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