Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam or the Boulder Dam as it was earlier known is a concrete arch gravity dam on the Colorado River. Its exact location is on the Black Canyon on the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada. The dam is located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and is named after the 31st president of the free world, Herbert Hoover. He played a significant role in the construction of dam, first as Secretary of Commerce and then as the President of the United States of America.

Planning for this dam started in 1922 and the actual construction started in year 1931. The first concrete was poured in 1933 and the dam was completed in 1935 two years ahead of schedule. When completed it was the largest concrete structure as well as the largest electric power generation structure in the world. It is still the world’s 35th largest hydro-electricity producing station as a famous Las Vegas travel destination.

U.S. Department of interior or specifically Bureau of Reclamations operates the Hoover Dam and the power plant. It was included in the National Register of Historic places in the year 1981 and was made a National Historic Landmark in the year 1985. The dam has reservoir behind it named Lake Mead named after Elwood Mead, who was the construction in charge of the dam.

The dam construction was awarded to Six Companies, Inc. in 1931. It was a joint venture of the Utah Construction Company of Ogden, Utah; Morrison-Knudsen Company of Boise, Idaho; MacDonald & Kahn Ltd of Los Angeles; Pacific Bridge Company of Portland, Oregon; J.F. Shea Company of Portland, Oregon and Henry J. Kaiser & W. A. Bechtel Company of Oakland, California.

Although construction of Hoover Dam was a big shot in the arm for the electricity supply in the USA, it had a devastating effect on the Colorado River Delta. It led to decline of estuarine ecosystem and resulted in an inverse delta.