HOOVER DAM TOUR

Yesterday was a perfect day for a tour of Hoover Dam.  We paid the senior price of $12 a ticket for the guided tour of the Powerplant.  They do a heck of a job moving masses of people up and down the elevators for the tour but I found the packed elevator rather uncomfortable.  Thankfully, the longest ride is one minute and I swear everyone was holding their breath.

Here's some interesting facts about the dam:

• Construction began in 1931 and finished in 1935 
• Six Companies Inc. completed the project two years ahead of schedule and under budget
• The 17th and final generator went into operation in 1961
• Lake Mead, the dam's reservoir, is America's largest man-man reservoir
• Lake Mead stores 9.2 trillion gallons of water
• The reservoir irrigates more than 1-million acres 
• The water meets the needs of more than 20 million people
• The dam generates more than 4-billion kilowatt hours per year
• It is the nation's largest hydropower facility
• Revenues pays for the operation and maintenance of the powerplant

The photo doesn't do the massive
size and depth of the dam justice

The Winged Figures of the Republic are 30-feet tall and made from more than 4-tons of bronze.  The monument is surrounded by a terrazzo floor with a celestial chart which shows the exact position of key stars on the day the Hoover Dam was dedicated by President Roosevelt.

Winged Figures of the Republic

Memorial to the 96 men that died during
the construction of the dam

Dam High Scaler Monument

There's a sad story about Little Niggy, a black shepherd born on the work site and a loyal friend and mascot to the construction workers for years.  He would run to a supervision at the first sign of a man tumbling into the cement or a crane giving away.  Unfortunately, in 1941 a truck backed over the sleeping mascot.  A memorial plaque was installed on the site.  But you gotta love this one, it was later removed by the government, which decided that the dog's name was offensive.  

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.