Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam | ||
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Website Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam | ||
Hoover Dam | ||
MPS Vehicular Bridges in Arizona MPS (AD) | | |
NRHP reference No. | 81000382 | |
Significant dates | ||
First Power Generation | September 11, 1936[6] | |
Added to NRHP | April 8, 1981[4] | |
Designated NHL | August 20, 1985[5] |
Hoover Dam is a
Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby
Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead and is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) south-east of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction, with 7 million tourists a year.[7] The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.
Background
Search for resources
As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. An initial attempt at diverting the river for irrigation purposes occurred in the late 1890s, when land speculator William Beatty built the
As the technology of
In the following years, the
Planning and agreements
In 1922, the Reclamation Service presented a report calling for the development of a dam on the Colorado River for flood control and electric power generation. The report was principally authored by Davis and was called the Fall-Davis report after Interior Secretary
With little guidance on water allocation from the
Legislation to authorize the dam was introduced repeatedly by two California Republicans, Representative
On December 21, 1928, President Coolidge signed the bill authorizing the dam.[23] The Boulder Canyon Project Act[24] appropriated $165 million for the project along with the downstream Imperial Dam and All-American Canal, a replacement for Beatty's canal entirely on the U.S. side of the border.[25] It also permitted the compact to go into effect when at least six of the seven states approved it. This occurred on March 6, 1929, with Utah's ratification; Arizona did not approve it until 1944.[26]
Design, preparation and contracting
Even before Congress approved the Boulder Canyon Project, the Bureau of Reclamation was considering what kind of dam should be used. Officials eventually decided on a massive concrete arch-gravity dam, the design of which was overseen by the Bureau's chief design engineer John L. Savage. The monolithic dam would be thick at the bottom and thin near the top and would present a convex face towards the water above the dam. The curving arch of the dam would transmit the water's force into the abutments, in this case the rock walls of the canyon. The wedge-shaped dam would be 660 ft (200 m) thick at the bottom, narrowing to 45 ft (14 m) at the top, leaving room for a highway connecting Nevada and Arizona.[27]
On January 10, 1931, the Bureau made the bid documents available to interested parties, at five dollars a copy. The government was to provide the materials, and the contractor was to prepare the site and build the dam. The dam was described in minute detail, covering 100 pages of text and 76 drawings. A $2 million bid bond was to accompany each bid; the winner would have to post a $5 million performance bond. The contractor had seven years to build the dam, or penalties would ensue.[28]
The
The city of Las Vegas had lobbied hard to be the headquarters for the dam construction, closing its many
Construction
Labor force
Soon after the dam was authorized, increasing numbers of unemployed people converged on southern Nevada. Las Vegas, then a small city of some 5,000, saw between 10,000 and 20,000 unemployed descend on it.[33] A government camp was established for surveyors and other personnel near the dam site; this soon became surrounded by a squatters' camp. Known as McKeeversville, the camp was home to men hoping for work on the project, together with their families.[34] Another camp, on the flats along the Colorado River, was officially called Williamsville, but was known to its inhabitants as "Ragtown".[35] When construction began, Six Companies hired large numbers of workers, with more than 3,000 on the payroll by 1932[36] and with employment peaking at 5,251 in July 1934.[37] "Mongolian" (Chinese) labor was prevented by the construction contract,[37] while the number of black people employed by Six Companies never exceeded thirty, mostly lowest-pay-scale laborers in a segregated crew, who were issued separate water buckets.[38]
As part of the contract, Six Companies, Inc. was to build Boulder City to house the workers. The original timetable called for Boulder City to be built before the dam project began, but President Hoover ordered work on the dam to begin in March 1931 rather than in October.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"), though much-reduced from their heyday as militant labor organizers in the early years of the century, hoped to unionize the Six Companies workers by capitalizing on their discontent. They sent eleven organizers,[44] several of whom were arrested by Las Vegas police.[45] On August 7, 1931, the company cut wages for all tunnel workers. Although the workers sent the organizers away, not wanting to be associated with the "Wobblies", they formed a committee to represent them with the company. The committee drew up a list of demands that evening and presented them to Crowe the following morning. He was noncommittal. The workers hoped that Crowe, the general superintendent of the job, would be sympathetic; instead, he gave a scathing interview to a newspaper, describing the workers as "malcontents".[46]
On the morning of the 9th, Crowe met with the committee and told them that management refused their demands, was stopping all work, and was laying off the entire work force, except for a few office workers and carpenters. The workers were given until 5 p.m. to vacate the premises. Concerned that a violent confrontation was imminent, most workers took their paychecks and left for Las Vegas to await developments.[47] Two days later, the remainder were talked into leaving by law enforcement. On August 13, the company began hiring workers again, and two days later, the strike was called off.[48] While the workers received none of their demands, the company guaranteed there would be no further reductions in wages. Living conditions began to improve as the first residents moved into Boulder City in late 1931.[49]
A second labor action took place in July 1935, as construction on the dam wound down. When a Six Companies manager altered working times to force workers to take lunch on their own time, workers responded with a strike. Emboldened by Crowe's reversal of the lunch decree, workers raised their demands to include a $1-per-day raise. The company agreed to ask the Federal government to supplement the pay, but no money was forthcoming from Washington. The strike ended.[50]
River diversion
Before the dam could be built, the Colorado River needed to be diverted away from the construction site. To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side. These tunnels were 56 ft (17 m) in diameter.[51] Their combined length was nearly 16,000 ft, or more than 3 miles (5 km).[52] The contract required these tunnels to be completed by October 1, 1933, with a $3,000-per-day fine to be assessed for any delay. To meet the deadline, Six Companies had to complete work by early 1933, since only in late fall and winter was the water level in the river low enough to safely divert.[53]
Tunneling began at the lower portals of the Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Shortly afterward, work began on two similar tunnels in the Arizona canyon wall. In March 1932, work began on lining the tunnels with concrete. First the base, or invert, was poured. Gantry cranes, running on rails through the entire length of each tunnel were used to place the concrete. The sidewalls were poured next. Movable sections of steel forms were used for the sidewalls. Finally, using pneumatic guns, the overheads were filled in. The concrete lining is 3 feet (1 m) thick, reducing the finished tunnel diameter to 50 ft (15 m).[52] The river was diverted into the two Arizona tunnels on November 13, 1932; the Nevada tunnels were kept in reserve for high water. This was done by exploding a temporary cofferdam protecting the Arizona tunnels while at the same time dumping rubble into the river until its natural course was blocked.[54]
Following the completion of the dam, the entrances to the two outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the opening and halfway through the tunnels with large concrete plugs. The downstream halves of the tunnels following the inner plugs are now the main bodies of the spillway tunnels.[52] The inner diversion tunnels were plugged at approximately one-third of their length, beyond which they now carry steel pipes connecting the intake towers to the power plant and outlet works.[51] The inner tunnels' outlets are equipped with gates that can be closed to drain the tunnels for maintenance.[51]
Groundworks, rock clearance and grout curtain
To protect the construction site from the Colorado River and to facilitate the river's diversion, two cofferdams were constructed. Work on the upper cofferdam began in September 1932, even though the river had not yet been diverted.[55] The cofferdams were designed to protect against the possibility of the river's flooding a site at which two thousand men might be at work, and their specifications were covered in the bid documents in nearly as much detail as the dam itself. The upper cofferdam was 96 ft (29 m) high, and 750 feet (230 m) thick at its base, thicker than the dam itself. It contained 650,000 cubic yards (500,000 m3) of material.[56]
When the cofferdams were in place and the construction site was drained of water, excavation for the dam foundation began. For the dam to rest on solid rock, it was necessary to remove
The men who removed this rock were called "high scalers". While suspended from the top of the canyon with ropes, the high-scalers climbed down the canyon walls and removed the loose rock with
The cleared, underlying rock foundation of the dam site was reinforced with grout, forming a grout curtain. Holes were driven into the walls and base of the canyon, as deep as 150 feet (46 m) into the rock, and any cavities encountered were to be filled with grout. This was done to stabilize the rock, to prevent water from seeping past the dam through the canyon rock, and to limit "uplift"—upward pressure from water seeping under the dam. The workers were under severe time constraints due to the beginning of the concrete pour. When they encountered hot springs or cavities too large to readily fill, they moved on without resolving the problem. A total of 58 of the 393 holes were incompletely filled.[61] After the dam was completed and the lake began to fill, large numbers of significant leaks caused the Bureau of Reclamation to examine the situation. It found that the work had been incompletely done, and was based on less than a full understanding of the canyon's geology. New holes were drilled from inspection galleries inside the dam into the surrounding bedrock.[62] It took nine years (1938–47) under relative secrecy to complete the supplemental grout curtain.[63]
Concrete
The first concrete was poured into the dam on June 6, 1933, 18 months ahead of schedule.[64] Since concrete heats and contracts as it cures, the potential for uneven cooling and contraction of the concrete posed a serious problem. Bureau of Reclamation engineers calculated that if the dam were to be built in a single continuous pour, the concrete would take 125 years to cool, and the resulting stresses would cause the dam to crack and crumble. Instead, the ground where the dam would rise was marked with rectangles, and concrete blocks in columns were poured, some as large as 50 ft square (15 m) and 5 feet (1.5 m) high.[65] Each five-foot form contained a set of 1-inch (25 mm) steel pipes; cool river water would be poured through the pipes, followed by ice-cold water from a refrigeration plant. When an individual block had cured and had stopped contracting, the pipes were filled with grout. Grout was also used to fill the hairline spaces between columns, which were grooved to increase the strength of the joints.[66]
The concrete was delivered in huge steel buckets 7 feet high (2.1 m) and almost 7 feet in diameter; Crowe was awarded two patents for their design. These buckets, which weighed 20 short tons (18.1 t; 17.9 long tons) when full, were filled at two massive concrete plants on the Nevada side, and were delivered to the site in special
A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards (2,480,000 cubic meters) of concrete was used in the dam before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd (850,000 m3) were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles (937 km) of cooling pipes were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York.[51] Concrete cores were removed from the dam for testing in 1995; they showed that "Hoover Dam's concrete has continued to slowly gain strength" and the dam is composed of a "durable concrete having a compressive strength exceeding the range typically found in normal mass concrete".[68] Hoover Dam concrete is not subject to alkali–silica reaction (ASR), as the Hoover Dam builders happened to use nonreactive aggregate, unlike that at downstream Parker Dam, where ASR has caused measurable deterioration.[68]
Dedication and completion
With most work finished on the dam itself (the powerhouse remained uncompleted), a formal dedication ceremony was arranged for September 30, 1935, to coincide with a western tour being made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the dedication, it was moved forward three hours from 2 p.m. Pacific time to 11 a.m.; this was done because Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes had reserved a radio slot for the President for 2 p.m. but officials did not realize until the day of the ceremony that the slot was for 2 p.m. Eastern Time.[69] Despite the change in the ceremony time, and temperatures of 102 °F (39 °C), 10,000 people were present for the President's speech, in which he avoided mentioning the name of former President Hoover,[70] who was not invited to the ceremony.[71] To mark the occasion, a three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name "Boulder Dam", the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947.[72] After the ceremony, Roosevelt made the first visit by any American president to Las Vegas.[70]
Most work had been completed by the dedication, and Six Companies negotiated with the government through late 1935 and early 1936 to settle all claims and arrange for the formal transfer of the dam to the Federal Government. The parties came to an agreement and on March 1, 1936, Secretary Ickes formally accepted the dam on behalf of the government. Six Companies was not required to complete work on one item, a concrete plug for one of the bypass tunnels, as the tunnel had to be used to take in irrigation water until the powerhouse went into operation.[73]
Construction deaths
There were 112 deaths reported as associated with the construction of the dam.[75] The first was Bureau of Reclamation employee Harold Connelly who died on May 15, 1921, after falling from a barge while surveying the Colorado River for an ideal spot for the dam. [75] Surveyor John Gregory ("J.G.") Tierney, who drowned on December 20, 1922, in a flash flood while looking for an ideal spot for the dam was the second person.[75] The official list's final death occurred on December 20, 1935, when Patrick Tierney, electrician's helper and the son of J.G. Tierney, fell from one of the two Arizona-side intake towers. Included in the fatality list are three workers who took their own lives on site, one in 1932 and two in 1933.[76][77][78] Of the 112 fatalities, 91 were Six Companies employees, three were Bureau of Reclamation employees, and one was a visitor to the site; the remainder were employees of various contractors not part of Six Companies.[79]
Ninety-six of the deaths occurred during construction at the site.[75] Not included in the official number of fatalities were deaths that were recorded as pneumonia. Workers alleged that this diagnosis was a cover for death from carbon monoxide poisoning (brought on by the use of gasoline-fueled vehicles in the diversion tunnels), and a classification used by Six Companies to avoid paying compensation claims.[80] The site's diversion tunnels frequently reached 140 °F (60 °C), enveloped in thick plumes of vehicle exhaust gases.[81] A total of 42 workers were recorded as having died from pneumonia and were not included in the above total; none were listed as having died from carbon monoxide poisoning. No deaths of non-workers from pneumonia were recorded in Boulder City during the construction period.[80]
Architectural style
The initial plans for the facade of the dam, the power plant, the outlet tunnels and ornaments clashed with the modern look of an arch dam. The Bureau of Reclamation, more concerned with the dam's functionality, adorned it with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and eagle statues. This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, then the supervising architect to the Bureau of Reclamation, was brought in to redesign the exteriors.[82] Kaufmann greatly streamlined the design and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project. He designed sculpted turrets rising seamlessly from the dam face and clock faces on the intake towers set for the time in Nevada and Arizona—both states are in different time zones, but since Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, the clocks display the same time for more than half the year.[83]
At Kaufmann's request, Denver artist
With the agreement of Kaufmann and the engineers, True also devised for the pipes and machinery an innovative color-coding which was implemented throughout all BOR projects.[88] True's consulting artist job lasted through 1942; it was extended so he could complete design work for the Parker, Shasta and Grand Coulee dams and power plants. True's work on the Hoover Dam was humorously referred to in a poem published in The New Yorker, part of which read, "lose the spark, and justify the dream; but also worthy of remark will be the color scheme".[89]
Complementing Kaufmann and True's work, sculptor Oskar J. W. Hansen designed many of the sculptures on and around the dam. His works include the monument of dedication plaza, a plaque to memorialize the workers killed and the bas-reliefs on the elevator towers. In his words, Hansen wanted his work to express "the immutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength, equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accomplishment", because "[t]he building of Hoover Dam belongs to the sagas of the daring."[74] Hansen's dedication plaza, on the Nevada abutment, contains a sculpture of two winged figures flanking a flagpole.
Surrounding the base of the monument is a terrazzo floor embedded with a "star map". The map depicts the Northern Hemisphere sky at the moment of President Roosevelt's dedication of the dam. This is intended to help future astronomers, if necessary, calculate the exact date of dedication.[74][90] The 30-foot-high (9.1 m) bronze figures, dubbed "Winged Figures of the Republic", were both formed in a continuous pour. To put such large bronzes into place without marring the highly polished bronze surface, they were placed on ice and guided into position as the ice melted.[91] Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator tower depicts the benefits of the dam: flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power. The bas-relief on the Arizona elevator depicts, in his words, "the visages of those Indian tribes who have inhabited mountains and plains from ages distant."[74]
Operation
Power plant and water demands
Excavation for the powerhouse was carried out simultaneously with the excavation for the dam foundation and abutments. The excavation of this U-shaped structure located at the downstream toe of the dam was completed in late 1933 with the first concrete placed in November 1933. Filling of Lake Mead began February 1, 1935, even before the last of the concrete was poured that May.[93] The powerhouse was one of the projects uncompleted at the time of the formal dedication on September 30, 1935; a crew of 500 men remained to finish it and other structures.[94] To make the powerhouse roof bombproof, it was constructed of layers of concrete, rock, and steel with a total thickness of about 3.5 feet (1.1 m), topped with layers of sand and tar.[95]
In the latter half of 1936, water levels in Lake Mead were high enough to permit power generation, and the first three
The amount of electricity generated by Hoover Dam has been decreasing along with the falling water level in Lake Mead due to the prolonged drought since year 2000 and high demand for the Colorado River's water. By 2014 its generating capacity was downrated by 23% to 1592 MW and was providing power only during periods of peak demand.[100] Lake Mead fell to a new record low elevation of 1,071.61 feet (326.63 m) on July 1, 2016, before beginning to rebound slowly.[101] Under its original design, the dam would no longer be able to generate power once the water level fell below 1,050 feet (320 m), which might have occurred in 2017 had water restrictions not been enforced. To lower the minimum power pool elevation from 1,050 to 950 feet (320 to 290 m), five wide-head turbines, designed to work efficiently with less flow, were installed.[102] Water levels were maintained at over 1,075 feet (328 m) in 2018 and 2019,[103] but fell to a new record low of 1,071.55 feet (326.61 m) on June 10, 2021[104] and were projected to fall below 1,066 feet (325 m) by the end of 2021.[105]
Control of water was the primary concern in the building of the dam. Power generation has allowed the dam project to be self-sustaining: proceeds from the sale of power repaid the 50-year construction loan, and those revenues also finance the multimillion-dollar yearly maintenance budget. Power is generated in step with and only with the release of water in response to downstream water demands.[106]
Lake Mead and downstream releases from the dam also provide water for both municipal and irrigation uses. Water released from the Hoover Dam eventually reaches several canals. The Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project branch off Lake Havasu while the All-American Canal is supplied by the Imperial Dam. In total, water from Lake Mead serves 18 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California and supplies the irrigation of over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land.[106][107]
In 2018, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) proposed a $3 billion pumped-storage hydroelectricity project—a "battery" of sorts—that would use wind and solar power to recirculate water back up to Lake Mead from a pumping station 20 miles (32 km) downriver.[108][109][110]
Power distribution
Electricity from the dam's powerhouse was originally sold pursuant to a fifty-year contract, authorized by Congress in 1934, which ran from 1937 to 1987. In 1984, Congress passed a new statute which set power allocations to southern California, Arizona, and Nevada from the dam from 1987 to 2017.[111][112] The powerhouse was run under the original authorization by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison; in 1987, the Bureau of Reclamation assumed control.[113] In 2011, Congress enacted legislation extending the current contracts until 2067, after setting aside 5% of Hoover Dam's power for sale to Native American tribes, electric cooperatives, and other entities. The new arrangement began on October 1, 2017.[111]
The
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Spillways
The dam is protected against over-topping by two spillways. The spillway entrances are located behind each dam abutment, running roughly parallel to the canyon walls. The spillway entrance arrangement forms a classic side-flow weir with each spillway containing four 100-foot-long (30 m) and 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) steel-drum gates. Each gate weighs 5,000,000 pounds (2,300 metric tons) and can be operated manually or automatically. Gates are raised and lowered depending on water levels in the reservoir and flood conditions. The gates cannot entirely prevent water from entering the spillways but can maintain an extra 16 ft (4.9 m) of lake level.[114]
Water flowing over the spillways falls dramatically into 600-foot-long (180 m), 50-foot-wide (15 m) spillway tunnels before connecting to the outer diversion tunnels and reentering the main river channel below the dam. This complex spillway entrance arrangement combined with the approximate 700-foot (210 m) elevation drop from the top of the reservoir to the river below was a difficult engineering problem and posed numerous design challenges. Each spillway's capacity of 200,000 cu ft/s (5,700 m3/s) was empirically verified in post-construction tests in 1941.[114]
The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. Both times, when inspecting the tunnels after the spillways were used, engineers found major damage to the concrete linings and underlying rock.[115] The 1941 damage was attributed to a slight misalignment of the tunnel invert (or base), which caused cavitation, a phenomenon in fast-flowing liquids in which vapor bubbles collapse with explosive force. In response to this finding, the tunnels were patched with special heavy-duty concrete and the surface of the concrete was polished mirror-smooth.[116] The spillways were modified in 1947 by adding flip buckets, which both slow the water and decrease the spillway's effective capacity, in an attempt to eliminate conditions thought to have contributed to the 1941 damage. The 1983 damage, also due to cavitation, led to the installation of aerators in the spillways.[115] Tests at Grand Coulee Dam showed that the technique worked, in principle.[116]
Roadway and tourism
There are two lanes for automobile traffic across the top of the dam, which formerly served as the Colorado River crossing for
Hoover Dam opened for tours in 1937 after its completion but following
Environmental impact
The changes in water flow and use caused by Hoover Dam's construction and operation have had a large impact on the
The Colorado River had experienced natural flooding before the construction of the Hoover Dam. The dam eliminated the natural flooding, threatening many species adapted to the flooding, including both plants and animals.[127] The construction of the dam devastated the populations of native fish in the river downstream from the dam.[128] Four species of fish native to the Colorado River, the Bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, Humpback chub, and Razorback sucker, are listed as endangered.[129][130]
Naming controversy
During the years of lobbying leading up to the passage of legislation authorizing the dam in 1928, the press generally referred to the dam as "Boulder Dam" or as "Boulder Canyon Dam", even though the proposed site had shifted to Black Canyon.[17] The Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 (BCPA) never mentioned a proposed name or title for the dam. The BCPA merely allows the government to "construct, operate, and maintain a dam and incidental works in the main stream of the Colorado River at Black Canyon or Boulder Canyon".[131]
When
After Hoover's election defeat in 1932 and the accession of the Roosevelt administration, Secretary Ickes ordered on May 13, 1933, that the dam be referred to as Boulder Dam. Ickes stated that Wilbur had been imprudent in naming the dam after a sitting president, that Congress had never ratified his choice, and that it had long been referred to as Boulder Dam.
When Ickes spoke at the dedication ceremony on September 30, 1935, he was determined, as he recorded in his diary, "to try to nail down for good and all the name Boulder Dam."[72] At one point in the speech, he spoke the words "Boulder Dam" five times within thirty seconds.[135] Further, he suggested that if the dam were to be named after any one person, it should be for California Senator Hiram Johnson, a lead sponsor of the authorizing legislation.[72] Roosevelt also referred to the dam as Boulder Dam,[94] and the Republican-leaning Los Angeles Times, which at the time of Ickes' name change had run an editorial cartoon showing Ickes ineffectively chipping away at an enormous sign "HOOVER DAM", reran it showing Roosevelt reinforcing Ickes, but having no greater success.[136]
In the following years, the name "Boulder Dam" failed to fully take hold, with many Americans using both names interchangeably and mapmakers divided as to which name should be printed. Memories of the Great Depression faded, and Hoover to some extent rehabilitated himself through good works during and after World War II.[137] In 1947, a bill passed both Houses of Congress unanimously restoring the name "Hoover Dam."[138] Ickes, who was by then a private citizen, opposed the change, stating, "I didn't know Hoover was that small a man to take credit for something he had nothing to do with."[137]
Recognition
Hoover Dam was recognized as a
See also
- Ralph Luther Criswell, lobbyist on behalf of the dam
- Glen Canyon Dam
- Hoover Dam Police
- List of dams in the Colorado River system
- List of largest hydroelectric power stations
- List of largest hydroelectric power stations in the United States
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Arizona
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Nevada
- St. Thomas, Nevada, ghost town with site now under Lake Mead.
- Water in California
- Hoover Dam in popular culture
Citations
- Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^
"Frequently Asked Questions: Lake Mead". Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the originalon May 20, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
- ^ "What you need to know about Lake Mead's falling water levels". June 27, 2021.
- ^ "Inventory-Nomination form: Hoover Dam" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
- ^ a b "Hoover Dam". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 16, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ "Construction of Hoover Dam". Water and Power Associates.
- ^ "Nevada and Arizona: Hoover Dam (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 20–27.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 41–50.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 57–60.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 55–56.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 2.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 67.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, p. 68.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 6.
- ^ a b Stevens 1988, pp. 26–27.
- ^ "Sharing Colorado River Water: History, Public Policy and the Colorado River Compact". wrrc.arizona.edu. December 9, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 73–79.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 81–87.
- ^ Rogers, J. David (September 28, 2007). "Impacts of the 1928 St. Francis Dam Failure on Geology, Civil Engineering, and America". 2007 Annual Meeting Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists. Missouri University of Science & Technology. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
- ^ Rogers 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 118.
- , enacted December 21, 1928
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 27.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 120.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 34.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 35–42.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 174.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 28.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 32.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 194.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, p. 317.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 315.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 65.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 56.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 40.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 219–220.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 223.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 226–228.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 230.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 234–237.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 70–73.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 73–78.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 78.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 362–365.
- ^ a b c d "Lower Colorado Bureau of Reclamation: Hoover Dam, Facts and Figures". FAQ. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Tunnels". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 84.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 305–306.
- ^ a b "Cofferdams". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 318–319.
- ^ Olberhelman, Olberhelman, and Lampe. Quail Lakes & Coal: Energy for Wildlife ... and the World, 2013, page 60
- ^ "High Scalers". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 308–309.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 104.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 331–332.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 387–390.
- ^ Rogers, J. David (September 22, 2005). "Hoover Dam: Grout Curtain Failure and Lessons Learned in Site Characterization" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 323–324.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 325–326.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 193–194.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 327–330.
- ^ a b Bartojay & Joy 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 366–369.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, p. 373.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 304.
- ^ a b c Hiltzik 2010, p. 372.
- ^ Stevens 1988, pp. 250–252.
- ^ a b c d "Artwork". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Fatalities". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
- ISBN 0822546914.
- ^ "Fatalities at Hoover Dam". Desert Gazette. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "Hoover Dam: 1935 Fatalities". United States Bureau of Reclamation. March 12, 2015. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 320.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, pp. 284–286.
- ^
Denton, Sally (Summer 2010). "Hoover's Promise: The Dam That Remade The American West Celebrates Its 75th Anniversary". American Heritage's Invention & Technology. Vol. 25, no. 2. pp. 14–25. Quote, p.22: "In one five day period alone, 14 workers died from heat prostration."
- ^ a b True & Kirby 2009, p. 341.
- ^ Rhinehart, Julian (September 10, 2004). "The Grand Dam". Articles. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ a b True & Kirby 2009, pp. 342–343.
- ^ True & Kirby 2009, p. 346.
- ^ True & Kirby 2009, p. 343.
- ^ True & Kirby 2009, p. 358.
- ^ True & Kirby 2009, pp. 354–356.
- ^ True & Kirby 2009, pp. 361–362.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, pp. 379–380.
- ^ Bureau of Reclamation 2006, p. 43.
- ^ "Catching a Wave - Jet Flow Gate Testing Brings a Crowd". www.usbr.gov. March 12, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ a b "Chronology". Articles. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ a b Stevens 1988, p. 248.
- ^ Dunar & McBride 2001, pp. 280–281.
- ^ "Hoover Dam and Lake Mead". Las Vegas Online Entertainment Guide. Charleston Communications, A2Z Las Vegas. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Frequently Asked Questions: Hydropower". Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ Bureau of Reclamation 2006, p. 40.
- ^ "OPERATION PLAN FOR COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM RESERVOIRS" (PDF). Bureau of Reclamation. December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ Kuckro, Rod (June 30, 2014). "Receding Lake Mead poses challenges to Hoover Dam's power output". E&E Publishing, LLC. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ Heinsius, Ryan (July 15, 2016). "Lake Mead Drops to its Lowest-Ever Level". knau.org. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- ^ Capehart, Mary Ann (Winter 2015). "Drought Diminishes Hydropower Capacity in Western U.S." Water Resources Research Center. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- ^ "Lake Mead Water Level". Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ "Lake Mead: Largest US reservoir dips to record low". BBC News. June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Ian James (May 27, 2021). "Hoover Dam, symbol of the modern West, faces a new test with an epic water shortage". azcentral.com. The Arizona Republic.
- ^ a b "Hoover Dam and Powerplant". Brochures. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ "Parker Dam and Powerplant". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on November 17, 2004. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ^ Maloney, Peter (July 26, 2018). "Los Angeles considers $3B pumped storage project at Hoover Dam". Utility Dive. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Hanley, Steve (July 26, 2018). "City Of Los Angeles Wants To Turn Hoover Dam Into World's Largest Pumped Energy Storage Facility". CleanTechnica. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Quartz (August 22, 2018), The plan to turn Hoover Dam into a giant battery, archived from the original on October 30, 2021, retrieved October 9, 2018
- ^ a b Lien-Mager, Lisa (December 20, 2011). "President signs Hoover Dam Power Allocation Act". ACWA News. Association of California Water Agencies. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
- ^ "House, after stiff debate, backs cheap power for 3 Western states". The New York Times. May 4, 1984. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Bureau of Reclamation 2006, pp. 50–52.
- ^ a b "Spillways". Essays. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ^ a b Fiedler 2010.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, pp. 391–392.
- ^ Sean Holstege (October 17, 2010). "Hoover Dam Bypass an American Triumph". azcentral.com.
- ^ "Crossing Hoover Dam: A Guide for Motorists" (PDF). Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ Hansen, Kyle (October 20, 2010). "Hoover Dam bypass bridge finally opens". NBC News. AP. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". The Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ "Hoover Tour information". Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 379.
- ^ Karyn Wofford (December 3, 2018). "The Hoover Dam – Everything You Need to Know About Visiting". Trips to Discover. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Glenn Lee et al. 1996.
- ^
Burns, William C. G. (2001). The World's Water, 2002–2003: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington DC: Island Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-55963-949-1.
- ^ Rodriguez Flessa et al. 2001.
- ^ Schmidt Webb et al. 1998.
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- ^ "Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ "Boulder Canyon Project Act" (PDF). December 21, 1928. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
- ^ a b c Dunar & McBride 2001, p. 305.
- ^ Cummings 1939, p. 254.
- ^ Congressional Record, Vol. 74 part 1, p. 646
- ^ Stevens 1988, p. 246.
- ^ Hiltzik 2010, p. 374.
- ^ a b Hiltzik 2010, p. 381.
- ^ H. J. Res. 140. To restore the name of Hoover Dam (PDF), US Government Printing Office, April 30, 1947, pp. 56–57, archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2017, retrieved December 29, 2017
- ^ Rogers, Wiltshire & Gilbert 2011.
Bibliography
Cited works
- Bureau of Reclamation (2006). Reclamation: Managing Water in the West: Hoover Dam. US Department of the Interior.
- Cummings, Homer (1939). Selected Papers of Homer Cummings. New York: Scribners.
- Dunar, Andrew J.; McBride, Dennis (2001) [1993]. Building Hoover Dam: An Oral History of the Great Depression. Reno, Nev.: University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-489-2.
- Hiltzik, Michael A. (2010). Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-1-4165-3216-3.
- The Story of the Hoover Dam. Las Vegas: Nevada Publications, Inc. 2006. ISBN 978-0-913814-79-6.
- Rogers, Jerry; Wiltshire, Richard; Gilbert, David (2011). "Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Hoover Dam: Highlights of the October 20–22, 2010, ASCE Hoover Dam 75th Anniversary History Symposium/Tours/Proceedings". In R. Edward Beighley II; Mark W. Killgore (eds.). World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2011: Bearing Knowledge for Sustainability. ISBN 978-0-7844-1173-5.
- Stevens, Joseph E. (1988). Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2283-0.
- True, Jere; Kirby, Victoria Tupper (2009). Allen Tupper True: An American Artist. San Francisco: Canyon Leap. ISBN 978-0-9817238-1-5.
Other sources
- Arrigo, Anthony F. (2014). Imaging Hoover Dam: The Making of a Cultural Icon. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press.
- Bartojay, Katie; Joy, Westin (October 21–22, 2010). Wiltshire, Richard L.; Gilbert, David R.; Rogers, Jerry R. (eds.). Long-Term Properties of Hoover Dam Mass Concrete. Hoover Dam 75th Anniversary History Symposium. Las Vegas, Nevada: ISBN 978-0-7844-1141-4.
- Cohn, Jeffrey P. (December 2001). "Resurrecting the Dammed: A Look at Colorado River Restoration". BioScience. 51 (12): 998–1003. .
- Fiedler, William R. (October 21–22, 2010). Wiltshire, Richard L.; Gilbert, David R.; Rogers, Jerry R. (eds.). Performance of Spillway Structures Using Hoover Dam Spillways as a Benchmark. Hoover Dam 75th Anniversary History Symposium. Las Vegas, Nevada: ISBN 978-0-7844-1141-4.
- Glenn, Edward P.; Lee, Christopher; Felger, Richard; Zengel, Scott (August 1996). "Effects of Water Management on the Wetlands of the Colorado River Delta, Mexico". Conservation Biology. 10 (4): 1175–1186. JSTOR 2387153.
- Minckley, W. L.; Marsh, Paul C.; Deacon, James E.; Dowling, Thomas E.; Hedrick, Philip W.; Matthews, William J.; Mueller, Gordon (2003). "A Conservation Plan for Native Fishes of the Lower Colorado River". BioScience. 53 (3): 219–234. ISSN 0006-3568.
- Rodriguez, C. A.; Flessa, K. W.; Téllez-Duarte, M. S.; Dettman, D. L.; Ávila-Serrano, G. A. (2001). "Macrofaunal and isotopic estimates of the former extent of the Colorado River estuary, upper Gulf of California, México" (PDF). Journal of Arid Environments. 49 (1): 183–193. . Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- Rogers, J. David (October 21–22, 2010). Wiltshire, Richard L.; Gilbert, David R.; Rogers, Jerry R. (eds.). Hoover Dam: Evolution of the Dam's Design. Hoover Dam 75th Anniversary History Symposium. Las Vegas, Nevada: ISBN 978-0-7844-1141-4.
- Schmidt, John C.; Webb, Robert H.; Valdez, Richard A.; Marzolf, G. Richard; Stevens, Lawrence E. (September 1998). "Science and Values in River Restoration in the Grand Canyon". BioScience. 48 (9): 735–747. JSTOR 1313336.
External links
- Official website
- Hoover Dam – Visitors Site
- Historic Construction Company Project – Hoover Dam
- Hoover Dam at Structurae
- The short film "Boulder Dam" is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- The short film "Boulder Dam (Part I) (1931) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- The short film "Boulder Dam (Parts III and IV) (1931)" is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- The short film "The story of Hoover Dam" is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- Hoover Dam – An American Experience Documentary
- Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum official site
- HAER No. NV-27, "Hoover Dam, Spanning Colorado River at Route 93, Boulder City, Clark County, NV", 45 photos, 228 data pages, 8 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-A, "Hoover Dam, Los Angeles Switch Yard", 14 photos, 6 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-B, "Hoover Dam, Southern California Edison 138-kV Switchyard", 7 photos, 5 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-C, "Hoover Dam, Metropolitan Water District Switchyard", 18 photos, 6 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-D, "Hoover Dam, Nevada State Switchyard", 7 photos, 6 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-E, "Hoover Dam, Southern California Edison 230-kV Switchyard", 18 photos, 5 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-F, "Hoover Dam, Arizona–Nevada Switchyard", 23 photos, 5 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-G, "Hoover Dam, Static Towers and Lines", 6 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-H, "Hoover Dam, Los Angeles Relay Control Building", 10 photos, 4 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-I, "Hoover Dam, Switchyard Firehouse", 5 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-J, "Hoover Dam, Promontory Water Tank", 1 photo, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-K, "Hoover Dam, Cable Hoist House", 6 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-L, "Hoover Dam, Circuits 1–15", 31 photos, 6 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-M, "Hoover Dam, Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light Lines 1–3", 18 photos, 13 data pages, 6 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-N, "Hoover Dam, Southern California Edison North and South Lines", 2 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-O, "Hoover Dam, Hoover–Basic Magnesium North and South Lines", 2 photos, 7 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-P, "Hoover Dam, Metropolitan Water District Line 1", 10 photos, 7 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-Q, "Hoover Dam, U.S. Construction Railroad", 8 photos, 8 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-R, "Hoover Dam, U.S. Highway 93 Nevada Segment", 11 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-S, "Hoover Dam, Lower Portal Access Road", 9 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-T, "Hoover Dam, Kingman Switchyard", 5 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-U, "Hoover Dam, U.S. Highway 93 Arizona Segment", 7 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-V, "Hoover Dam, Explosives Magazines", 3 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-W, "Hoover Dam, Nevada Downstream Waste Tailings", 2 photos, 5 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-X, "Hoover Dam, Nevada Spoils Tunnel", 4 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-27-Y, "Hoover Dam, Henderson–Mead Transmission Line 2", 29 photos, 7 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
- HAER No. NV-42, "Arizona Gravel Pit Road, 6 to 8 miles northeast of Boulder City, Clark County, NV", 14 data pages
- HAER No. NV-43, "Hoover Dam Aggregate Classification Plant, 6.5 miles northeast of Boulder City, Clark County, NV", 46 data pages
- HAER No. NV-44, "Six Companies Railroad, 6 to 8 miles northeast of Boulder City, Clark County, NV", 43 data pages
- HAER No. NV-45, "Boulder Dam–San Bernardino (115kV) Transmission Line, Eldorado to Ivanpah Section, Primm, Clark County, NV", 52 photos, 21 data pages, 7 photo caption pages