Hoover Dam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hoover Dam |
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Hoover Dam by Ansel Adams, 1941
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| Official name | Hoover Dam |
| Location | Clark County, Nevada / Mohave County, Arizona, U.S. |
| Purpose | Power, flood control, water storage, regulation, recreation |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1931 |
| Opening date | 1936 |
| Construction cost | $49 million (1931 budget) ($713 million in 2021 dollars ) |
| Owner(s) | United States Government |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete gravity-arch |
| Impounds | Colorado River |
| Height | 726.4 ft (221.4 m) |
| Length | 1,244 ft (379 m) |
| Elevation at crest | 1,232 ft (376 m) |
| Width (crest) | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Width (base) | 660 ft (200 m) |
| Dam volume | 3,250,000 cu yd (2,480,000 m3) |
| Spillway type | 2 controlled Drum-Gate, Side channel |
| Spillway capacity | 400,000 cu ft/s (11,000 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Mead |
| Total capacity | 28,537,000 acre⋅ft (35.200 km3) |
| Active capacity | 15,853,000 acre⋅ft (19.554 km3) |
| Inactive capacity | 10,024,000 acre⋅ft (12.364 km3) |
| Catchment area | 167,800 sq mi (435,000 km2) |
| Surface area | 247 sq mi (640 km2) |
| Maximum length | 112 mi (180 km) |
| Maximum water depth | 590 ft (180 m) |
| Normal elevation | 1,219 ft (372 m) |
| Power station | |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Commission date | 1936–1960 |
| Hydraulic head | 590 ft (180 m) (Max) |
| Turbines | 13× 130 MW 2× 127 MW 1× 68.5 MW 1× 61.5 MW Francis-type 2× 2.4 MW Pelton-type |
| Installed capacity | 2,080 MW |
| Capacity factor | 23% |
| Annual generation | 4.2 TWh (15 PJ) |
| Website Bureau of Reclamation: Lower Colorado Region - Hoover Dam |
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Hoover Dam
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 Location in USA West
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Boulder City, Nevada |
| Built | 1933 |
| Architect | Six Companies, Inc. (structural), Gordon Kaufmann (exteriors) |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| MPS | Vehicular Bridges in Arizona MPS (AD) |
| NRHP reference No. | 81000382 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 8, 1981 |
| Designated NHL | August 20, 1985 |
The Hoover Dam is a large dam on the Colorado River. It is on the border of the states of Arizona and Nevada. The reservoir it made is called Lake Mead. The dam is named after the former US President Herbert Hoover. At first it was called "Boulder Dam", but the name was changed to honor Hoover, who was president when the idea of building the dam started.
- "Boulder Dam" – Part I and Parts III and IV, documentary films from the Prelinger Archives at the Internet Archive.
Images for kids
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River view of the future dam site, c. 1904
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Sketch of the proposed dam site and reservoir, c. 1921
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Hoover Dam architectural plans
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Workers on a "Jumbo Rig"; used for drilling the Hoover Dam's tunnels
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General Superintendent Frank Crowe (right) with Bureau of Reclamation engineer Walker Young in 1935
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Overview of dam mechanisms; diversion tunnels shown
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Looking down at "high scalers" above the Colorado River
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Columns of Hoover Dam being filled with concrete, February 1934 (looking upstream from the Nevada rim)
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The upstream face of Hoover Dam slowly disappears as Lake Mead fills, May 1935 (looking downstream from the Arizona rim)
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Oskar J. W. Hansen's memorial at the dam which reads in part "They died to make the desert bloom."
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Tile floor designed by Allen Tupper True
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Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator
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Hoover Dam memorial star map floor, center area
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Water is released from the jet-flow gates for testing in 1998.
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Water enters the Arizona spillway (left) during the 1983 floods. Lake Mead water level was 1,225.6 ft (373.6 m)
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View of Hoover Dam from Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
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The bypass in front of the dam
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Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge as visible from Hoover Dam
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View upstream from Hoover Dam, October 2021, during the Southwestern North American megadrought
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Tourists gather around one of the generators in the Nevada wing of the powerhouse to hear its operation explained, September 1940.
See also
In Spanish: Presa Hoover para niños
