Hoover Dam

The Smiths visit Hoover Dam

Author: Naomi Smith

1/13/14

The Hoover Dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada.  It was constructed between 1931 and 1936, taking about six years.  It was made during the Great Depression.  The purpose of the dam was to control floods, provide irrigation water, and to produce hydroelectric power.  The dam was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The cost of the construction was about $49,000,000 ($821,000,000 in inflation).  The Dam is 726.4 feet tall and 1,244 feet in length.  The concrete used to build the dam was delivered in huge steel buckets seven feet tall and almost seven feet in length.  A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete was used in the dam.  The Hoover Dam was built so well that it is still in use today.  It hard work, many lives were lost in the process sadly, but their hard work paid off.

The tall looking towers you see in the picture are the place that the water goes down under the dam to make the energy that comes from it.

This is Lake Mead, the dam's reservoir.  It is America's largest man-made reservoir.  

The Lake Mead Reservoir is named after Dr. Elwood Mead.

The reservoir can hold 28.5 million acre-feet (9.2 trillion gallons) of water.

An acre-foot of water could cover a football field to the depth of one foot. 

At the bottom of the dam you see a very little stair case that leads inside the dam.

Nearly 1,000,000 visitors take the tour bus each year and that doesn’t even cover all the other people who come in cars.

In an area right by the dam is a memorial to the builders of Hoover Dam. 

In the area you see two large statues and beautiful designs on the ground, as seen in the picture above, and an American flag flies proudly above.

The view from on top of the Hoover Dam is gorgeous with the rocky landscape, the river, a path that  leads into the hills, and a beautiful bridge.

This is the view of the Hoover Dam from the walk back to the parking lot. Those tall buildings you see on the dam are actually bathrooms! Little strange isn't it?

Photography by Naomi Smith

Travel Tips from Smith Family Mom - Sheri

We didn't realize the entrance the upper bridge is actually on the way heading to the dam on the right side.  We missed it the first time we visited so we went the next time.  It is a nice walk and view across that bridge to see the dam from above.  We could not see the dam as we drove over that bridge, you have to walk on the walkway to get the view.

You can only bring small bags on the dam, because of terrorism.  We had to make a trip back to the van to leave my large camera bag.

You have to pay for the museum, so we just did the free stuff, which was plenty. 

Lake Mead is right there and well worth the time to explore.