The Hoover Dam

An engineering marvel, The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, that impounds Lake Mead. Most impressive is the fact that it was built in the 1930’s. Located on the border between Arizona and Nevada, it is less than an hour drive outside of Vegas.

Some amazing facts about the Hoover Dam (source: history.com)

• At 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long, Hoover Dam was one of the largest man-made structures in the world at the time of its construction, and one of the world’s largest producers of hydroelectric power.

• Building Hoover Dam required more than 5 million barrels of concrete. The finished dam contains enough concrete (4.5 million cubic yards) to build a two-lane highway from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida.
• At 726 feet (221 m) high–twice the height of the Statue of Liberty–and 1,244 feet (379 m) long, the dam weighs more than 6.6 million tons.
• At its base, where the maximum water pressure is 45,000 pounds per square foot, are huge generators that could produce up to 3 million horsepower and provide electricity for three states.
• The building of the dam created Lake Mead, which extends for 550 miles of shoreline and 247 miles of area, and is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
• Hoover Dam remained the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world until 1948.
• It is no longer the tallest, the largest by volume or the largest hydroelectric power producer, but remains among the biggest and best-known dams in the world.
• A National Historic Landmark, Hoover Dam draws some 7 million tourists a year.

We were glad that we took the time to walk across the new bridge, its an amazing view of the dam. The view is stunning and will leave you in awe. It was quite windy and cold on the bridge, so make sure you take a sweater.

A picture really cannot do the Hoover Dam justice. The Hoover Dam is absolutely HUGE.

Have you visited the Hoover Dam? What did you find most interesting about it?