Hoover Dam: Style, power, American spirit

Hoover Dam is 35 miles from Las Vegas and a world away in time and substance. The 726-foot (221 m) high dam, begun in 1931 and completed in 1935 during the depths of the Depression, is a monument to human ingenuity, engineering prowess, Art Deco style and teamwork. New structures – visitor accommodations and the soaring Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge that was built to divert Nevada-Arizona traffic from across the top of the dam – have added to the luster of the site as a magnet for visitors from all over the world. The massive concrete structure holds back the Colorado River in a graceful arc. The dam tamed the wild Colorado, which regularly flooded cities and farms, and its turbines provide enough electricity to have paid long ago the $49 million construction cost. Behind the dam the Lake Mead National Recreation Area offers camping, swimming, water skiing and other activities on hundreds of acres of desert and lake. Visitors can take tours into the heart of Hoover Dam. The tunnels are well-lit and not scary. Forde Files recommends stopping in friendly, gambling-free Boulder City, “The City That Built Hoover Dam.”

Photos top left, the dam as viewed from the pedestrian walkway on the new bridge, completed 2010. The red square indicates a tunnel opening in the face of the dam from which visitors can take photos. Above right, the turbine buildings (left for Arizona, right for Nevada) and new bridge, taken from the window in the dam. Right, two at center, tour group and shooting through window. Some tunnels are raw rock or concrete tubes and some are lined with white subway tile. Right, second from bottom, turbines. Bottom, the Arizona-side spillway behind the dam, overflowing in 1983– a rare event that happened when the lake was full in 1983 and once for testing in 1941. The dam is not designed to allow high water to spill over the top, hence the spillways on both sides. The overflow goes into big tunnels that meet the original diversion tunnels to rejoin the river below. Inset above, original sign in tunnel.