Hoover Dam
Description
"Engineering problems are under-defined, there are many solutions, good, bad and indifferent. The art is to arrive at a good solution. This is a creative activity, involving imagination, intuition and deliberate choice." - Ove Arup, structural engineer
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam... was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935... Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives….Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project... Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, [the contractor] Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government…more than two years ahead of schedule... The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year.
For further exploration, please see https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam... was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935... Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives….Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project... Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, [the contractor] Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government…more than two years ahead of schedule... The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year.
For further exploration, please see https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/
Creator
Ansel Adams/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Photograph (Completed);
US Bureau of Reclamation: Photograph (In Progress)
Date
1941: Completed (Photograph)
ca. 1936-1946: In Progress (Photograph)
Source
Wikimedia & Library of Congress
Rights
Library of Congress
Publisher
Library of Congress
Contributor
National Archives & Bureau of Reclamation
Format
Medium: Photograph
Language
English
Type
Public Architecture
Identifier
Architecture
Coverage
Nevada
Files
Collection
Reference
Ansel Adams/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Photograph (Completed);, Hoover Dam, Library of Congress, 1941: Completed (Photograph)
Cite As
Ansel Adams/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Photograph (Completed); and US Bureau of Reclamation: Photograph (In Progress), “Hoover Dam,” Virtual Museum of Public Service, accessed October 12, 2024, https://vmps.omeka.net/items/show/18.