Hoover Dam

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The Hoover Dam Hard Hat Tour


My friends from Las Vegas and I left mid-morning for our previously planned trip to Hoover Dam. Travel time from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam using the rental car is under one hour.  An easy drive - mostly freeway.  We decided to take the Hard Hat Tour (sorry, this tour is no longer offered). We saw so much more "behind the scenes" that we all agreed it was well worth the extra cost over the regular tour. The hard hats are ours to keep after the tour.

Hoover Dam is a very impressive structure, especially considering it was built in the 1930's in record time. It is solid concrete, and we were taken through some of the inspection tunnels inside the dam. We could look out the vent and see waay down to the tail of the dam.

Quick fact: The additional weight of the Mead Lake reservoir water on the tectonic plates causes several earthquakes in the area each year. Apparently this is normal for dam reservoirs around the world.

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Reservoir, spillway, intake towers
Lake Meade reservoir, intake towers
Top of dam, roadway, reservoir

Powerhouse, looking up at dam from canyon
Powerhouse
Generators

Shafts under the generators
Original GE control panels are still used
Hard hat tour entering main tunnel near powerhouse

Inspection tunnel
Vent shaft - horizontal to grate on face of dam
Grate covering vertical inspection tube off vent shaft - looking waay down

Visitor Center, highway, transmission lines
Joe on top of dam.
"I was here" shot
Looking waay down from lip of dam to the powerhouses below

 

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Other Links:

bulletHoover Dam - U.S. Bureau of Reclamation website with lots of facts about the dam
bullet Hoover Dam Bypass - the Hoover Dam Bypass Project will see the Interstate highway finally removed from the top of the dam, eliminating a great deal of traffic congestion and security risk to the dam.
 

 

 

 
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Last updated: July 22, 2010
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