TRAVELS
Jan 12, 2025
The Limits of Creativity: Hoover Dam
"The Hoover Dam is a symbol of humanity's ability to shape nature." Herbert Hoover
The Hoover Dam, built during America's Great Depression, was not only an economic recovery project but also a masterpiece that would be etched in engineering history. Last summer, I had the chance to visit this massive structure, and in this article - finally - I am sharing my notes.
The project was realized during the Great Depression in America. Built to revitalize the economy, increase employment, and support projects such as agricultural irrigation and electricity generation, the Hoover Dam held the title of the highest dam in the world when it was completed in 1936. With an average of 9 million visitors per year, the Hoover Dam is the most popular dam in the world.
Constructed over the Colorado River flowing through Black Rock Canyon, the dam is located above the borderline of the states of Nevada and Arizona. The electricity produced at the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border provides a significant portion of the energy needs of these states, along with California. In addition to supplying energy, it also prevents floods by controlling the variable flows created by the seasonal changes in water amounts. The Hoover Dam also meets a significant portion of the water needs of densely populated cities like Las Vegas.
As can be seen in the visual below, the construction of the dam was made over the Colorado River flowing between the rocks and in a rocky area. The relatively soft layer in the upper layers of the rocks was blasted to reach the hard rock bed, and this giant structure was constructed. Changing the direction of the flowing river was even a significant engineering problem in order to complete the construction.
The dam to be built in the area between the Colorado River and Lake Mead in the first image below has been constructed by distributing the river's flow into four different branches and draining the intermediate area by building a dike. The process of redirecting the river's flow by creating four different tunnels took 18 months, and only machines specifically developed for this purpose were used to excavate and reinforce these tunnels (I shared a video explaining all the details at the end of the article). The rubble obtained during the excavation of the tunnels was used to create rocky hills at the beginning and end of the dam construction area. Despite the entire project being completed in a short time of 5 years, one-third of the total time was spent preparing to start the dam construction site.
Water flows into 4 vertical towers (Intake Towers) due to the wall created by the dam and the accumulation of water coming from the Colorado River, and the potential energy of the water is converted into kinetic energy. Water turbines generate energy by rotating.
You will understand that the Hoover Dam, which used as much concrete as it would take to build a road from San Francisco to New York, deserves its fame after watching the following two videos. It is a wonderful work that involves a problem-solving process from start to finish. The animated narrative has been addressed so beautifully that it cannot be explained in a blog post.
The dam is of considerable strategic importance due to the region it serves. The city of Los Angeles, which hosts some of the most important companies in America’s defence and aerospace activities, is located in the area served by the dam. During World War II, the needs of the American Air Force were largely met by companies in this region, making it a target for the Nazis. Two German agents photographed the dam from all angles and aimed to disable it by blowing up the vertical towers. The attack they targeted, to approach the towers as close as possible with boats rented for fishing trips and blow them up, resulted in American intelligence completely closing off access to the area, and the attack was thwarted. For more detailed information, you can access it from the article linked here.
In addition to the social, economic, and strategic significance of the dam, another importance is the fact that this dam is open to tourist activities, which captivates children and young people and increases their interest in engineering. This way, many children and young people who have the chance to visit are inspired by these structures. Thanks to the public opening of these sites, children who ask themselves, "What good will this information do for me?" can see how theoretical knowledge is realized in a vivid way.
Similar inspiration can also be drawn from the structures in our country. At this point, we must criticize and improve ourselves. For example, structures like Atatürk and Keban Dam can be opened to the public to be integrated into tourism. This way, both young people can be encouraged towards science and engineering, and the facilities can generate economic benefits. Realizing that a dam is not just about energy production would be a wonderful step to inspire children for their future.
