Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam was once called the Boulder Dam and is located between the states of Arizona and Nevada. It is an arch-gravity dam that is located on the Colorado River. In 1922 the Reclamation Service presented a report that said the Colorado River needed a dam that could be used for flood control and to produce electricity. Six states, (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming), each wanted the damn in their state, but the decision was it would be located in the boulder canyon, so that if something happened the valley could support the water. Another thing about the dam that helped with support is the way it was built. Since the dam is a arch-gravity dam, it is thicker at the bottom and narrows toward the top. The base is 660 feet thick is the bottom and the top is 45 feet thick, allowing for a highway across the top. The government accepted bids for the dam in 1931, and the company that got it was actually six companies working together called Six Companies. The city of Las Vegas tried hard to be the headquarters for the dam, but it went to the town of Boulder City, Nevada.
When bulding first began, thousands of unemployed workers and their families moved to Las Vegas and Boulder City to find work. Work on the dam started in March of 1931. The temperature in the area of the dam was extremely high. Sixteen workers died from June 25th and July 26th 1931. A fact is that every state supplied materials and supplies for the dam. The cement was brought in on rail cars that were 7 feet high by 7 feet wide and weighed 18 tons when full. The cement was poured in columns and then cooled with river water flowing through pipes. If the cement would've been poured all at once, it would have taken 125 years to solidify thoroughly. The dam was built from 1931 to 1936, and was finished 2 years ahead of schedule.
I think the dam is really an engineering feat. It was the first time something this large made of cement was built and they had to come up with new ideas to build it. It was built fast, and is still standing so it was obviously built to last. I think that the Hoover dam is one of the coolest and biggest thing built.
"Bureau of Reclamation." Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam Kids Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.
"Hoover Dam." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.
Comments
Well done Weston!