On the way home from Vegas, we stopped to have a look a the famous Hoover Dam.
Now, I honestly was’nt too exited when my mom said that this was something she rally wanted to see.
I mean, how cool can a dam be?
But seriously, this was bigger and more beautiful than I could ever imagine.
You can stand on the middle at the bridge and have one foot in Nevada and the other foot in Arizona.
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The dam was controversially named after President Herbert Hoover.
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. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc., which began construction on the dam in early 1931. 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, Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.
Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume. The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 25 mi (40 km) southeast 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; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. Heavily travelled U.S. 93 ran along the dam’s crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.
A short five minutes away from the dam, you can see over the other side of the mountain and see the most spectacular view you can think of.
Worth the trip!
NORSK:
Hooverdammen er en demning i USA som ligger på grensen mellom delstatene Arizona og Nevada sørvest i landet. Demningen er også kjent som Boulderdammen. Konstruksjonen er en 220 m høy buedam i betong. Demningen, som ligger 48 km sørøst for Las Vegas, har sitt navn etter Herbert Hoover som spilte en viktig rolle i byggingen av Hooverdammen – først som nærings- og handelsminister og senere som USAs president. Byggingen begynte i 1931 og den sto ferdig i 1936, to år tidligere enn planlagt.
Reservoaret som ble skapt av oppdemningen heter Lake Mead, og er oppkalt etter Elwood Mead som hadde oppsynet med konstruksjonen av demningen.
