Interesting Facts About the Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam Sign

Built from 1931 to 1935, the famous Hoover Dam generates electricity and controls floods and silt. Its power plant began operations in 1936. Since then, the dam has been producing power for approximately one million people in the southwestern United States. Moreover, the dam was named after President Herbert Hoover, who continuously poured his energy and support into the project.

At Del Zotto Products, we want to help you build top-notch materials. We manufacture steel forms for all your construction needs. Trust us when we say that we know concrete. Here are some interesting facts about the Hoover Dam—one of the largest concrete structures in the world.

The Numbers

The Hoover Dam Made Out of Concrete

This massive concrete structure measures an impressive 726 feet in height and 600 feet in thickness at its base. It is the largest reservoir in the world, with a surface area of 146 thousand acres. As for capacity, the Hoover Dam holds 9.2 trillion gallons of water, which means it comes close to being able to store two years’ worth of water from the Colorado River. How impressive is that?

Concrete and Construction

The Hoover Dam Made Out of Concrete

The dam was constructed with about 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete. Using traditional methods, it would’ve taken 100 years for the concrete to cure. However, workers on the project made use of innovative cooling tubes to speed up the curing process. Here’s another amazing fact: the dam is made up of more masonry than the Great Pyramid of Giza. Wow!

Notoriety

There are several reasons that the Hoover Dam is so well-known today. For one thing, the dam appears in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Saboteur, in which it is threatened by terrorists. In the movie Superman, miniatures were used to make it look as though the dam were being destroyed. When it comes to using the dam in film and television, though, there is one major stipulation: per the Bureau of Reclamation, the dam must not be shown as having any kind of potential danger to humans.

Outside of the entertainment industry, the Hoover dam has been dubbed by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as one of the seven modern engineering wonders of the world. In 1985, it was registered as a National Historic Landmark.

The Hoover Dam receives about four thousand visitors every day. It is one of the most famous and most impressive concrete structures in the world. If you haven’t gone to see it yet, it should be on your bucket list.

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