Hoover Dam

This morning we went to Hoover (nee Boulder) Dam, in Boulder City, 30 miles from Las Vegas. A mile and a half from the dam every vehicle is stopped and searched for possible explosives and weapons.

The dam was completed in 1935 and was named Boulder Dam. In 1947 it was renamed Hoover Dam. It goes across the Colorado River, and when finished the backed up water created Lake Mead. There is a sluice for runoff if the lake gets too high which would divert the water behind the damn and down into the river.

However the last time the lake deposited water in it was when Ronald Reagan was president in 1983. You can see how low the water is from where it used to be in this picture. The white calcium shows it's former height.

Here is the dam

These towers are where the water is sucked into the turbines, which in turn generates electricity. The water behind the dam goes from this

to this

Can you see the river down there?

Here is a view of Boulder Basin, which is 1/4 of Lake Mead, from an overlook 400 feet above the lake.

The north shore is 6 miles across from this view. The lake has a depth of 532 feet, is the largest water reservoir in the US, and was the first national recreation area.

We didn't go on the tour thru the inside of the dam as the line was too long. The wind today was 45 mph and almost blew me over the wall!

We will be staying in Las Vegas all week, leaving on Saturday for Winslow, AZ. We decided to stay till then as we have to drive thru Flagstaff, and it is having 3 days of snow and high winds this week, which would make the drive difficult.