Road Trip - Part 2: The Hoover Dam

Less than 45 minutes after leaving Las Vegas, we spotted signs for the Hoover Dam, and, with no tight schedule ruling our lives, we decided to stop by for a little walk around the biggest reservoir in the United States. I'm not much of a U.S. history buff (and apparently, neither are many other members of the American populace - almost everyone we saw at the dam was foreign-born), so you won't find too many details about the dam itself here. I didn't approach the dam with much background knowledge, and since we opted out of the guided tour while there, I didn't leave with much more insight into this architectural wonder than I arrived with. Still, it was a welcome unplanned addition to our road trip itinerary.

 

Although I didn't leave with much Hoover Dam trivia, I do now know that building the dam was no small feat, expensive in terms of both funds and lives. It was built between 1931 and 1936, long before construction safety and labor rights had evolved to where they are today. Apparently, working conditions were horrible and the pay nowhere near compensated workers for that risk. 112 men died in various phases of construction of causes ranging from drowning to heat stroke to carbon monoxide poisoning. A somber monument to those and all other laborers looks out over the concrete walls and tunnels that still control flooding, generate hydroelectric power, and water green golf courses in Las Vegas.    

 

The other factoid I gathered about the Hoover Dam is that it lies on the border of two states, allowing touristy travelers (like us) to stand in both Arizona and Nevada at once. Cool, right? 

 

I'm glad we had the flexibility in our schedule and the $7 in our pockets required to add this stop to our travels. In an age when we are completely accustomed to seeing large-scale construction projects and concrete structures of all kinds, it can be difficult to really appreciate the enormity of something like the Hoover Dam (especially when, to me, it kind of looks like an ugly blight on one of the few sources of water in the deserts of the American West). Learning a little about the vision that concocted this place and the lives that helped it materialize put a very human face on the whole thing. And, in retrospect, after having now seen what the Colorado River is capable of doing to the landscape in the form of the Grand Canyon, the fact that a bunch of guys with jackhammers and buckets of concrete managed to harness the power of water really is something and, I think, quite worthy of its designation as one of the top construction achievements of the 20th century.

 

After walking most of the perimeter of the dam and back we hopped in our car and drove east on the Hoover Dam Bypass and over that big bridge above en route to the Grand Canyon! That's next!