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The Hoover Dam is a truly amazing sight to see. Construction began in 1931 and Hoover Dam was completed in 1936. It still stands tall as an engineering marvel high above the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada.

The building of Hoover Dam took the brilliance of over 200 engineers to pull-off what many deemed as almost impossible. And it was the fortitude of over 7,000 dam workers that endured amazingly harsh conditions and extreme dangers to complete Hoover Dam almost two years ahead of schedule.

The mission of Hoover Dam was multi-purpose. Flooding along the Colorado River as it made its way to the Gulf of California had to be controlled. The water-flow had to be harnessed to provide much needed water to the fertile, yet arid agricultural areas of California and Arizona. And hydroelectric energy was to satisfy the requirements of millions and millions of people in adjacent regions.

Hoover Dam is 726 feet tall and 1,244 feet long. At its base, Hoover Dam is 660 feet thick which is 60 feet longer than two football fields laid end-to-end. Combined with its top thickness of 45 feet, there is enough concrete (4.5 million cubic yards) in Hoover Dam to build a two-lane highway from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida. Or imagine a four-foot wide sidewalk around Earth at its equator.

An often asked question is how Hoover Dam can withstand the massive pressure and weight of Lake Mead which is constantly trying to flow down river to the Gulf of California. It’s answered briefly this way. Hoover Dam curves against Lake Mead and is fortified against the massive rock walls of Black Canyon. When the water compresses against the curved walls of Hoover Dam, the canyon walls push-back counteracting the awesome power of Lake Mead. This massive, but unseen, action squeezes the concrete arch together creating the mind-boggling strength of Hoover Dam.

The photo was scanned. Dust and scratches were removed.