Blog Post 5 Hoover Dam

March 24, 2023

Our schoolbooks from the 1970’s showed pictures of a great mass of water spilling over the Hoover Dam.  I wanted to see it!  Water hasn’t spilled over Hoover Dam since 1983.

For Mike and I, our travels through the southwestern part of the United States, clarifies the impact of the 23-year drought, and how it affects people, animals, and plants in these areas.  But they aren’t the only ones who can be affected.  Everyone in the United States who likes fresh fruits and vegetables year-round can feel the impact.

Backstory

In the 1800’s and early years of the 1900’s in springtime, farmers in the lower southwestern United States would either have enough water or too much.  Then through the hot, arid summers, crops would wither. A bounty of spring rainfall and Rocky Mountain snow from a hard winter melting into the Colorado River caused devastating flooding in the farmlands.   

In 1902, President Roosevelt signed the Reclamations Act to investigate taming the Colorado River, but the process took many years.  Meanwhile, floods occurred in the farmlands of Imperial Valley, CA in 1905 and 1907 and in Yuma, AZ 1916, which ruined farmlands and destroyed homesteads.  In 1918, Arthur Davis proposed a dam to control the Colorado River. 

 A long search began to decide upon a location.  In the beginning, Boulder Canyon was the proposed site, and the plan became the Boulder Canyon Project.  However, it was discovered that Boulder Canyon would not work to place a dam, so the project had to be relocated in Black Canyon. The construction of Hoover Dam resulted in Colorado River waters to form Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States.

Purpose of the Dam

1. Flood prevention.
2. Irrigation
3. Hydroelectricity production
4. Provide drinking water.

Hoover Dam channels Colorado River water to irrigate crops in the dry farming areas. Those are the areas that provide 80% of  year-round fruits and vegetables for everyone in the United States.  A significant area is the Imperial Valley of CA.  (We will discuss Salton Sea in Imperial County, CA in a later blog.) 

Hoover Dam uses the water stored in Lake Mead to generate hydroelectric power for southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. The water stored in Lake Mead also supplies drinking water for those areas.

Building the Dam

In 1930, six companies received a contract for the dam construction.  But before construction could begin the companies had to lay the groundwork. Railroads had to be built for supplies and workers to be brought in. It was the height of the Depression and thousands of men showed up to find work. The construction companies hired 5000 men.  The men, some of whom brought their families, needed somewhere to live. Construction companies built a compound for single men near the construction site. Workers with families had to find housing nearby until the government completed the town of Boulder, AZ on federal land.  Not only did the companies build a plant to produce concrete on site, but they also made a refrigeration system to rapidly cool and harden the cement. 

 The first concrete was poured in 1933 and by 1935, the Dam poured water into Lake Mead.  The project was completed two years ahead of schedule. The Boulder Canyon Project became Hoover Dam in honor of President Herbert Hoover.

High Scalers

To do this work, the men had to be suspended by ropes down from the canyon.  Their missions – jackhammer holes for dynamite and jackhammer the loose rocks. The men had to prevent rocks falling and hitting their head and the people below them.  Hence, the men were required to wear the newly manufactured ‘hard-boiled hats’, we now know as hardhats.  There is a great story on the internet about a scaler who saved the life of a government inspector.  The inspector was going down the canyon and lost his grip.  The scaler grabbed him and saved a life. Read it!

Unfortunately, 96 men lost their lives due to accidents constructing Hoover Dam.  Other people associated with Hoover Dam, died from pneumonia, heat stroke, etc. I mention ‘men’ because almost all were white men, the only ones allowed to work on the Dam. 

The Dog Who Owned a Dam

On a wall by the Visitors Center was this plaque over a grave in memory of the Dam’s mascot.  A storyboard alongside the plaque describes the workers’ love for the dog and his endearing characteristics.  He would roam freely through the jobsite: up ladders, over catwalks, and through tunnels. He would ride in the elevator and bark at the worker when he wanted to get off.  The workers were feeding him too much, so they provided him with one meal a day, which he would carry to ‘work’ in a paper sack every day. He would spend his days chasing ring-tailed cats (an animal who looks like a cross between a racoon and a cat) through the tunnel and bark at any other dogs visiting the worksite because they weren’t allowed to be there.  Many of the men wept as they jackhammered his gravesite in the rock next to the ranger station.

A Prestigious Award

In 1955, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded Hoover Dam A Modern Civil Engineering Wonder of the United States.

Monument Plaza

According to the storyboard, in 1936, Artist Oscar Hansen was commissioned to create this sculpture in memorial of the men who died construction Hoover Dam.  He completed the project in 1937.  The Plaza is currently being restored.  The work was scheduled to be completed in January 2023.  The work was not completed when we were there in March 2023.

(BUT Hoover Dam was completed two years ahead of schedule!!)

Spillway

Water overflowing down the spillway will flow into the diversion tunnels and channel into Lake Mead. This is one of the diversion tunnels. The tunnels are 50 feet wide.

It took 6.6 million tons of concrete to build Hoover Dam.  If you look closely at the picture, you see the spillway is made up of concrete blocks.  The engineers devised this method to build the Dam because if they were to pour large amounts of concrete, it would take 125 years to dry using conventional methods.  Instead, they poured the cement in blocks and inserted pipes into the blocks.  Then, they would pour in ice water to speed up the process.  That is why they also had to build the nearby refrigeration plant. Then they poured grout into the pipes. 

The four intake towers take in the water to energize the turbines and produce electricity.  The name of the intake towers are penstock towers because of the pipes inside that move the water.  Two are on the Arizona side and two are on the Nevada side.

Generating Electricity

The intake towers move water into the turbines in these buildings that generate power.  One side is for Arizona with nine turbines and Nevada side has eight turbines.

Hoover Dam Bridge

Seven million people visit Hoover Dam each year. Increasing traffic congestion and the need for additional security after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack revealed the need for a new bridge.  The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge took 10 years to build. According to the accompanying storyboard, it is the largest composite bridge in the Western Hemisphere and is 890 feet above the water.  It’s amazing to ride over.  When driving to Hoover Dam, there is a security checkpoint.  Each vehicle must stop and they will check larger vehicles such as trucks, campers, and vans (like us).

The 23-year drought has caused a decrease in the amount of water needed to replenish the Colorado River, which in turn, has not filled up Lake Mead.  As a result, the amount of water Hoover Dam needs to generate electricity and supply drinking water has decreased.  This year’s increase in rain and snowfall (disastrously in some areas) have increased the water amount.  However, if the drought continues, Lake Mead may dry up and Hoover Dam will be ineffective.

Extra: Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino

April 12, 2023

In our wandering around the southwest and taking different trails than we originally planned, we arrived back in the Lake Mead area for a one-night stopover.  Casinos often let RVers, and truckers stay overnight in their parking lots.  It’s polite to gamble a little, but you aren’t required to do so.  I put a dollar in a slot machine thinking of my mom and quickly lost it, mom always had better luck.  You can have a meal, or take advantage of any other service they offer.  The staff at the Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino were gracious and let us park for the evening. 

We were in a spot that had a beautiful overlook of the Lake, the Railroad Trail (which we will also cover in a future blog post), and the entrance to the Lake Mead National Recreation Center.  We spent a restful night.

And after a long previous day of travel, we wanted to get a little relaxation before we got back into the van for another day of traveling.  We spent the next morning walking around the outside perimeter of the facility taking in the amazing views. 

Look closely at the picture for the tunnel.  That is one of the five tunnels over the railroad that was built to transport supplies for Hoover Dam construction.  The railway is now a fun bike/hike trail, which visitors can enjoy like we did.  We will describe our ride in a future blog post.

The Prickly Pears are blooming!

Inside the Hotel

Then we went inside the lobby which had an interesting historical display of Hoover Dam from the US Bureau of Reclamation.  The following pictures are two of the photos.

I’m glad we were able to visit the area again even if it just for one day.