Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2005
1
123
126
Trip End
May 26, 2008
Glitz and glamour,
California,
United States
Friday, May 2, 2008
A narrow road snaked through a few valleys and canyons and opened up to a great big lake before taking us back into a constricting passage and then we saw it. A great big dam.
We were too late to join in any tours, so Sabrina and I took our orselves to a carpark on the eastern side of the dam and started walking across.
I was blown away at how big this thing is. It really is enormous. there are several viewing gallerys setup all over the path with audio explaining the construction and history of that particular area of the dam.
I learnt a few things by listening to the audio as i took in the sights:
Hoover Dam was completed in 1935 and was the largest concrete structure in the world at the time. Thats about all i learnt, but on further research I found the following facts:
Construction period: April 20, 1931 - March 1, 1936
Construction cost: $49 million ($676 million adjusted for inflation)
Deaths attributed to construction: 112; 96 of them at the construction site[10][13][18]
Dam height: 726.4 ft (221.4 m), second highest dam in the United States. (Only the Oroville Dam is taller)
Dam length: 1244 ft (379.2 m)
Dam thickness: 660 ft (200 m) at its base; 45 ft (15 m) thick at its crest.
Concrete: 4.36 million yd³ (3.33 million m³)
Maximum electric power produced by the water turbines: 2,080 megawatts
Traffic across the dam: 13,000 to 16,000 people each day, according to the Federal Highway Administration
Lake Mead (full pool)[19]
area: 157,900 acres (639 km²), backing up 110 miles (177 km) behind the dam.
volume: 28,537,000 acre feet (35.200 km³) at an elevation of 1,221.4 feet (372.3 m) .
With 8 to 10 million visitors each year, including visitors to Hoover Dam but not all traffic across the dam, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the fifth busiest U.S. national park.
While standing on the edge of a viewing platform and looking over the dam, I experienced a sense of vertigo. The only similar senssation I had ever experienced was at Iguazu Waterfalls in Argentina / Brazil. There, is a great big fall called the Devils throat, Looking over the edge of the waterfalls caused my brain to flipout and try to comprehend the vastness of the thing.
So, after a lap across the dam, my busted knee wouldnt let me walk back to the car, so Sabrain ran back to the car and picked me up.
Our next stop was Vegas, some 48km's away. The drive wasnt overly exciting. Desert, sand and a few cliffs. Approaching Vegas, there appear to be a few wanna be's along the way. About 10kms out from vegas is a conglomeration of maybe 4 big casinos and a bunch of smaller ones. Maybe they are hoping that one day, 'the strip' will extend far enough to join up.
We cruised along the very stright highway, and the buildings began to surround us, more intimidating than the canyons earlier, there were Super highrises, neon lights, crack heads and freaks everywhere.
Online we had booked a place called the [sabrina knows.. i cant remember]
