Hoover Dam
|
|
click photo to enlarge |
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 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 highway from AZ to
NV used to go over the dam before 911. They have since built a bypass road.
That bypass road is seen in the picture to the left. It is the shadow of the
Tillman bridge. |
click photo to enlarge |
As you can see by the bathtub ring the water is currently very low. Hoover
dam created Lake Mead. Water is only released to meet downstream municipal
and agricultural demands. It is not released to meet power demands. Before
the dam could be built they had to build diversion tunnels for the river.
You actually see these diversion tunnels when you tour the dam. Lake Mead is
currently flirting with record low water levels and has dipped below the
record water level 1080 feet above sea level. If lake Mead starts the year
2016 below 1075 it will trigger the first federal shortage declaration on
the Colorado and prompt Nevada and Arizona to cut back on the amount of
water they take from the river. |
click photo to enlarge |
The size of the generators is awesome. The power generated is currently
under a contract that expires in 2017. Originally the powerhouse was run by
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California
Edison. It is now run by the Bureau of Reclamation. In 2011, Congress
enacted legislation extending the current contracts until 2067, after
setting aside 5% of Hoover Dam's power for sale to Native American tribes,
electric cooperatives, and other entities. |
click photo to enlarge |
click photo to enlarge |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
