We rode in an elevator to the depths of Hoover Dam. When we first stepped off the elevator, I heard a drip drip drip sound. I looked to my right and saw this rock wall that had water seeping in. I began to ponder how all of this was built, and have big hopes that there is some rebar or something holding that concrete part of the wall to the natural/native rock!
Outside
Fun Side
The tour guide took us into a room made of all windows. Under the floor of the room, this pipe ran from one end of the tunnel to clear down to where you couldn't even quite make it out in the distance. We could hear AND feel the water rushing through the pipe!
Next, we went to the generator room. "Room" hardly gives it enough emphasis on its size.
We noticed these rather large nuts and bolts down on the floor. Uh, for scale, check out the train track on the bottom right of the photo! That is a standard rail for a train. Seriously. STANDARD. Regular. Normal that you would walk on an abandoned track like a balance beam. Yep. Those are some serious nuts and bolts.
And those generators... kind of a bit big themselves... See the itty bitty people walking with a cart? I wonder if they transport a single nut and bolt on one of those carts.
Outside
This is a LOT of concrete. Do you see the cars on the top of the dam on the top left part of the picture? Yea, feeling small is seeming to be the theme of visiting this area of the United States!
This is where the water leaves the generator area and continues on its journey in the Colorado River south toward Mexico.
I was worried someone would either get hit by a car or go toppling over the edge. Thankfully, I am just get "worked up over nothing" and all was just fine!
Branch continually wanted a better look at everything. It was amazing, so I can't blame her!
An intake tower on the Nevada side of the Lake Mead side of the Hoover Dam.
So, what's up with the white stripe on the rock?!?! Maybe you already know because you are a geology nut like Aubrey, or you just seem to understand the build-up on your water faucets... but, there was a LOT of water in Lake Mead back in the 1980s and so much so, that the water came very close to spilling over the top of the dam. Luckily, the spillways worked and the water receded but, we are left with this white stripe of calcium deposits to remind of that flood.
Fun Side
These kids are just a bunch of monkeys... thank goodness these skirts have shorts built in!!
Side to Side
Side to Side
A new bridge is being built from the Nevada side to the Arizona side in order to cross the river.
People have been working on building this bypass, now, longer than it took to build the Hoover Dam! All the new equipment that we have to make things easier and here they are, still working on building a bridge and people 80 years ago began building this amazing historical landmark and it took them five years to complete and they were two years ahead of schedule.I can't say that I would like working from THIS contraption, though!!
Some 18,000 vehicles cross Hoover Dam every day! It is a winding road on both sides of the dam. There is a checkpoint before getting to the dam due to vigilance in homeland security after 9/11. This makes for sometimes slow going in crossing the dam. This is problematic in the hot summers when cars stall and overheat. So, a bypass is being built.
So glad I stopped by. I had chills reading this. Is that silly? It is just so incredible to me. I especially loved the end and you talkig about the people who built 80 years ago. It is so amazing they were able to get so much accomplished with their limited machinery etc. Great post. :)
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