Hoover Dam, Black Canyon, Nevada

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On our way to the Grand Canyon,  we stopped by Hoover Dam to take a tour. Hoover Dam is a 700 foot tall concrete arch gravity Dam. It is on the Colorado River on the border between Nevada and Arizona.  The river had to be diverted before construction using 50 foot diversion tunnels, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side.  



Lake Mead is the man made reservoir for the Dam. It is the largest man made reservoir by volume in the U.S. Snow melt from the mountains will cause the lake to rise. The volume of the lake is watched carefully and controlled using the spillways. 

The Dam opened in 1936. But it was known as Boulder Dam.  In 1947, it was renamed Hoover Dam for President Herbert Hoover who was instrumental in getting the Dam project built. The long tour takes you to see the power plant,  the humongous pipes that are 10 inches thick, and also takes you 560 feet (I think) below to see the tunnels. 






Hoover Dam was built to withstand an 8.3 magnitude earthquake. 

It was built by pouring huge concrete squares and then joining them. The bar below is at one of the joints. The guide said it will take 100 years for the concrete to cure. So the heat released during the curing period has to be vented. 
Below is Lake Mead and one of the intake towers on the Nevada side. 


After the tour, I walked to the top of the Mike O'Callaghan and Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. It offered a great view of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. 




Our next stop is the Grand Canyon! 




















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