Hoover Dam
Posted by: 
ChilliWilli
N 36° 01.000 W 114° 44.308
11S E 703800 N 3988162
Hoover Dam was built on the Colorado river along the borders of Arizona and Nevada. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936
Waymark Code: WM12MP
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2006
Views: 244
Hoover Dam, also known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete gravity-arch dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada.
The dam, located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as Secretary of Commerce and then later as President of the United States. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1936, over two years ahead of schedule. The dam & the powerplant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
Lake Mead is the reservoir created behind the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam.
Construction period: April 20, 1931 – March 1, 1936
Construction cost: $49 million ($676 million adjusted for inflation)
Deaths attributed to construction: 96
Dam height: 726.4 ft, second highest dam in the United States.
Dam length: 1244 ft.
Dam thickness: 660 ft at its base; 45 ft thick at its crest.
Concrete: 4.36 million yards.
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 area: 157,900 acres, backing up 110 miles behind the dam.
volume: 28,537,000 acre feet at an elevation of 1,221.4 feet.
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.
The naming controversy
The dam, originally planned for a location in Boulder Canyon, was relocated to Black Canyon for better impoundment, but was still known as the Boulder Dam project. Work on the project started on July 7, 1930. At the official beginning of the project on September 17, 1930, President Hoover's Secretary of the Interior Ray L. Wilbur, announced that the new dam on the Colorado River would be named Hoover Dam to honor the then President of the United States. Wilbur followed a long-standing tradition of naming important dams after the President who was in office when they were constructed, such as Wilson Dam and Coolidge Dam. Furthermore, Hoover was already campaigning for re-election in the face of the Depression and sought credit for creating jobs. A Congressional Act of February 14, 1931, made the name "Hoover Dam" official.
In 1932, Hoover lost his bid for reelection to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, he brought Harold Ickes with him to replace Ray Lyman Wilbur as Secretary of the Interior. Ickes wasted no time removing Hoover’s name from the Boulder Canyon Project. On May 8, 1933, Ickes issued a memorandum to the Bureau of Reclamation, which was in charge of the dam, stating, "I have your reference to the text for the pamphlet descriptive of the Boulder Canyon Project for use at the Century of Progress Exposition. I would be glad if you will refer to the dam as 'Boulder Dam' in this pamphlet as well as in correspondence and other references to the dam as you may have occasion to make in the future."
Ickes could not "officially" change the name of the dam, as that had been set by Congress, but the effect was the same: all references to "Hoover" Dam in official sources, as well as tourist and other promotional materials, vanished in favor of "Boulder" Dam.
Roosevelt died in 1945 and Harold Ickes retired in 1946. On March 4, 1947 California Congressman Jack Anderson submitted House Resolution 140 to "restore" the name Hoover Dam. Anderson’s resolution passed the House on March 6; a companion resolution passed the Senate on April 23, and on April 30, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed Public Law 43 which read: "Resolved … that the name of Hoover Dam is hereby restored to the dam on the Colorado River in Black Canyon constructed under the authority of the Boulder Canyon Project Act … . Any law, regulation, document, or record of the United States in which such dam is designated or referred to under the name of Boulder Dam shall be held to refer to such dam under and by the name of Hoover Dam."
To log a find post your picture at the dam.
Note to Benchmark hunters, there are at least twenty or more benchmarks located at the dam.
Waterway where the dam is located: Black Canyon of the Colorado River
Main use of the Water Dam: Irrigation
Material used in the structure: masonry
Height of Dam: 726 feet
Date built: 04/20/1931
Fishing Allowed: yes
Motor Sports Allowed: yes
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Visit Instructions:
Photo of the Dam and a description of your visit.