construction, first as Secretary of Commerce and then later as President of the United States.
Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1935, more than two years ahead of schedule. The dam and the power plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
Lake Mead is the reservoir created behind the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam.
Early plans called for the dam to be built in Boulder Canyon, so the project was known as the Boulder Canyon Project. The dam site was eventually moved downstream eight miles to Black Canyon, but the project name remained the same.
The contract to make the Boulder dam was awarded to Six Companies, Inc. on March 11, 1931. The chief executive of Six Companies, Frank Crowe, had invented many of the techniques used to build the dam.
The first concrete was placed into the dam on June 6, 1933. There is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York.
The seventeen turbine-generators at this powerhouse generate a maximum of 2,074 megawatts of hydroelectric power. Generators at the Dam's Hoover Powerplant began transmission of electricity from the Colorado River to Los Angeles, California 266 miles away on October 26, 1936.
Additional generating units were added through 1961. Water flowing from Lake Mead through the gradually-narrowing penstocks to the powerhouse reaches a speed of about 85 miles per hour by the time it reaches the turbines. The entire flow of the Colorado River passes through the turbines. The spillways are rarely utilized.
Hoover Dam serves as a crossing for U.S. Route 93. The two lane section of road approaching the dam is narrow, has several dangerous turns, and is subject to rock slides.
Traffic across Hoover Dam is now restricted. Some types of vehicles are inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 feet are not allowed on the bridge at all. This traffic is diverted south to a Colorado River crossing near Laughlin, Nevada.
With 8 to 10 million visitors each year, including visitors to Hoover Dam but not all traffic across the dam, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the fifth busiest U.S. national park.
Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1935, more than two years ahead of schedule. The dam and the power plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
Lake Mead is the reservoir created behind the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam.
Early plans called for the dam to be built in Boulder Canyon, so the project was known as the Boulder Canyon Project. The dam site was eventually moved downstream eight miles to Black Canyon, but the project name remained the same.
The contract to make the Boulder dam was awarded to Six Companies, Inc. on March 11, 1931. The chief executive of Six Companies, Frank Crowe, had invented many of the techniques used to build the dam.
The first concrete was placed into the dam on June 6, 1933. There is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York.
The seventeen turbine-generators at this powerhouse generate a maximum of 2,074 megawatts of hydroelectric power. Generators at the Dam's Hoover Powerplant began transmission of electricity from the Colorado River to Los Angeles, California 266 miles away on October 26, 1936.
Additional generating units were added through 1961. Water flowing from Lake Mead through the gradually-narrowing penstocks to the powerhouse reaches a speed of about 85 miles per hour by the time it reaches the turbines. The entire flow of the Colorado River passes through the turbines. The spillways are rarely utilized.
Hoover Dam serves as a crossing for U.S. Route 93. The two lane section of road approaching the dam is narrow, has several dangerous turns, and is subject to rock slides.
Traffic across Hoover Dam is now restricted. Some types of vehicles are inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 feet are not allowed on the bridge at all. This traffic is diverted south to a Colorado River crossing near Laughlin, Nevada.
With 8 to 10 million visitors each year, including visitors to Hoover Dam but not all traffic across the dam, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the fifth busiest U.S. national park.
© 2006 by "DiscoveringArizona Inc." · All Rights Reserved · E-Mail: jayq@discoveringarizona.com
Hoover Dam, also known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete gravity-arch dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada.
The dam, located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its
The dam, located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its
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