The sale of electrical power generated by the dam paid back its full construction cost, with interest, by Today, in addition to controlling the unpredictable and often devastating floods of the Colorado River, Hoover Dam provides irrigation benefits to over 1,, acres of land in the southwest United States while also helping to provide water to over 16,, people.
The waters of Lake Mead also support a variety of recreational uses and provide habitats to a large variety of fish and wildlife, and the dam and lake help to maintain water quality in the lower Colorado River. The low cost power generated by the seventeen power units at Hoover Dam provides enough energy to power over , homes. And the Hoover Compromise still governs how the water is shared.
Well, till now I used to know Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam. Thank you for sharing the history of Herbert Hoover creating Hoover dam and how incredibly this dam impact in such ways. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Skip to content Hoover Dam, Eighty-five years after its completion, Hoover Dam is still considered an engineering marvel.
Share this: Twitter Facebook. The Hoover Dam disseminated the seemingly untamable Colorado River throughout the dry landscape of the Southwest, stimulating the development of major cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Today, it is capable of irrigating 2 million acres and its 17 turbines generate enough electricity to power 1.
Deemed a National Historic Landmark in , it sees approximately 7 million tourists annually, and stands as a testimony to the ingenuity of an entire nation. Be sure you never miss any of the exciting steel stories from The Steel Wire by subscribing to our blog. Search Layer Close. Minimum 2 characters required. Home Featured Steel Matters. Hurried Beginnings The first difficult step of construction involved blasting the canyon walls to create four diversion tunnels for the water, utilizing steel forms as sidewalls.
Built with Ingenuity, Reinforced by Steel As water which now makes up Lake Mead began to swell behind the dam, the final block of concrete was poured and topped off at feet above the canyon floor in Named the Boulder Canyon project, after the original proposed site, the dam would not only control flooding and irrigation, it would generate and sell hydroelectric power to recoup its costs. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover brokered the Colorado River Compact to divide the water proportionally among the seven states, but the legal wrangling continued until outgoing President Calvin Coolidge authorized the Boulder Canyon Project in December As the Great Depression unfolded, hopeful laborers descended on Las Vegas and set up camp in the surrounding desert for the chance to work on the project.
Those who were hired eventually moved to Boulder City, a community specifically built six miles from the work site to house its employees. Meanwhile, the U. The first difficult step of construction involved blasting the canyon walls to create four diversion tunnels for the water.
Facing strict time deadlines, workers toiled in degree tunnels choked with carbon monoxide and dust, conditions that prompted a six-day strike in August The second step of involved the clearing of the walls that would contain the dam. Suspended from heights of up to feet above the canyon floor, high scalers wielded pound jackhammers and metal poles to knock loose material, a treacherous task that resulted in casualties from falling workers, equipment and rocks.
Meanwhile, the dried riverbed allowed for construction to begin on the powerplant, four intake towers and the dam itself. Cement was mixed onsite and hoisted across the canyon on one of five ton cableways, a fresh bucket capable of reaching the crews below every 78 seconds.
Offsetting the heat generated by cooling concrete, nearly miles of pipe loops were embedded to circulate water through the poured blocks, with workers continually spraying the concrete to keep it moist.
As the dam rose, block by block, from the canyon floor, the visual renderings of architect Gordon Kaufmann took form. Electing to emphasize the imposing mass of the structure, Kaufmann kept the smooth, curved face free of adornment. The powerplant was given a futuristic touch with horizontal aluminum fins for windows, while its interior was designed to pay homage to Native American cultures.
With the body of water that would become Lake Mead already beginning to swell behind the dam, the final block of concrete was poured and topped off at feet above the canyon floor in Approximately 5 million barrels of cement and 45 million pounds of reinforcement steel had gone into what was then the tallest dam in the world, its 6.
Altogether, some 21, workers contributed to its construction.
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