Hoover Dam

Located at 53km southeast Las Vegas, Hoover Dam is a historic monument, the second biggest dam in the world with 3000 cubic km of concrete, enough to pave a road from New York to San Francisco (5-meter width and 20-cm thick). Hoover Dam spans the Colorado river in Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada, down Lake Mead.

Once named Boulder Dam, the dam took the name of the 31st president of the nation, Herbert Hoover. In the 1930s, the president saw the need to supply water to the dry lands of the southwest and to also offer electricity to this region. The concrete structure was also built to prevent flooding. 221 meters high and 379 meters long, Hoover Dam is one of the biggest producers of hydroelectric power in the world and a national historic monument. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers acknowledged the dam as one of the seven modern wonders of civil engineering. Before it was built, the Colorado river was flowing freely in the Black Canyon. Today, the region became the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, a regular stop for the sailors and the fans of water sports. The water is used to irrigate over 65 000 acres in Southern California and in Arizona, and 400 000 acres in Mexico.

Photo: Ulybug