It's a Dam Good Story

Access to the water of Lake Mead is limited. With the water down 25%, original roads no longer "go there". At the nearby marina, the roads, boat ramp and docks have all been extended. 

Sunday we wander down to check out the boats and the little waterside bar and eatery. As soon as we get close we pick up that "harbor" smell. I don't know why I've always liked it. 

A large island in the bay now that the water is so far down

Along the dock we see dozens of birds and lots of splashing. Unfortunately this is the result of people tossing popcorn and other junk in the water. I don't know why it's allowed, it's disgusting.

Ducks, carp and striped bass

A couple places you could walk across the carp

A pretty cinnamon-topped duck shows restraint (or is already full)

More shoreline, but not accessible

The marina is completely full, only a few sailboats have been on the lake this week

We don't spend much time here, opting for our more distant view from home.

We're hoping for a small crowd on Monday to see the Hoover Dam. Arriving around 11 AM there are a LOT of people, but there's only a couple cars ahead of us at the parking lot, and no line to get tour tickets. There's enough to see that everyone is pretty spread out all day, feeling less crowded than it could. I'm still amazed at the "draw" of the place. License plates from multiple states, languages from multiple countries - it's a big deal.

Dams are a controversial topic, and clearly the designers of everything you see here are well aware of this. I'm not a fan, but I also don't have an alternative for flood control or consistent and fair distribution. Still, the sales pitch, Disney-narration, this dam saved the world, tone is a bit over-the-top.

No "opinion" shared from indigenous peoples who "managed" the water for centuries

I'm here because of the history and the engineering. And that part does not disappoint. It is pretty spectacular.

The 15 minute film that starts the tour quickly answers my first question about how they dammed the water to build the dam......diversion tunnels! It is further explained in the exhibit hall.

The tunnels also figure in the final design and operation of the dam

They pack us in a large elevator, shoulder-to-shoulder, nose to neck, and plunge us 52 stories underground. Sounds horrible, it wasn't. Everyone was in good spirits, and it took less than a minute. Tessa handles her first "crunch" experience well.

Understanding how the water moves through the dam. We're in the tunnels, soon we'll be in those red squares

The red squares making electricity from water flow

with huge turbines

made of magnets weighing 4 ton a piece

The large turbine is "out" for maintenance so our getting to see it is a rare opportunity. To move it requires the use of both cranes. They are the big green things spanning the top of the room in the pic above. 

Miles of terrazo tiles were laid in this massive structure - at a price of $60,000. Today that might pay for just the tiles in this one room.

The ironic use of native designs

By the time we pile back in the elevator, Tessa has kissed every kid in our group (they were all much more interested in her than the dam stuff). She is a trooper with all the feet to dodge, and goes with the pace of the tour.

The exhibit hall is well laid out to accommodate a lot of visitors and after the first few yards we're able to take our time at each display.

A gazillion loads of cement

filled forms to create a gazillion blocks. Each block took over a week to fill. The cement would have taken 100 years to cool so they ran pipes with cold water through them. That's the stuff that I love about this.

We walk through a mock generator with signs showing the layers and interaction of each component. I wonder how "they" figured out that all of these layers would create electricity....

My question "answered" with both a timeline

and a smaller, more detailed, replica. Interesting, educational, I still don't really get it :-)

One can't deny that 3500 jobs during the Great Depression was a good thing. That the workers completed the job 2-years early is incredible (and probably bitter-sweet for them). 

The shear size of the undertaking is measured in tons of concrete, miles of cable, cases of dynamite, acre feet of water, kilowatts of power. In 2016 it still boggles the mind.

Outside we move from the how and why - to the what and wow. 

Now that I know the how, it's even more wow

We were in the Nevada generator building directly below

I can't get over the steep angle of the power line towers

With the current water level I think the height of the dam is sort of over-kill. Even at the previous "normal" level marked forever in white along the canyon, it seems much taller than needed.

On the tour we learned that in 1983 the water reached within six feet of the top, requiring the only use of the spillways on both sides. I suppose the dam height is "just right". 

Difficult to picture the water six feet from the top

15 years of drought have redefined normal

Several art pieces, memorials and the old exhibit hall are on the Nevada side. Arizona has two overlooks and parking for RVs.

Winged Figures of the Republic, the guardian angels of the site and the waters above and below the dam

Numbers as high as 213 show up in different publications, but the official number of deaths on the project is 96 - none buried in the dam (a popular myth). 

The only crew member buried in the dam site 

Looking back at Nevada

The old exhibit hall is really just a relief map with lights and an "enthusiastically" narrated history of harnessing the Colorado River. It's pretty entertaining, and worth seeing. For Bill and I, it is especially fun to see the pumping stations of the Metropolitan Water District (I lived at Iron Mountain), and the small desert towns we know so well.

Bill's home

Jodee's home (it felt bigger when I lived there)

In addition to the engineering marvel of the dam, the more recent completion of the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and four-story parking structure are very impressive. I agree with Bill that a film on the bridge would be great. I was amazed (probably too much so) at the parking structure built right into the canyon, and around the power line towers. 

I'm just not going to think about how I drove over that in the motorhome......

Parking structure built into the canyon

and around the towers

Snuggly mirroring the canyon walls

I'm so glad we took the time and the $40 ($15 each for the tour and $10 to park) to see the dam and learn it's fascinating story. No matter which side of the dam debate you sit on, the Hoover Dam is a big (really big) piece of our history in the southwest. 

Tuesday morning we move to Laughlin where we could see triple digits for the first time since......I think it was June 8, the day before we launched :-)