An Essay On The Hoover Dam

756 Words4 Pages
The Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam is one of the biggest dams and power plants in the world. It was built during the Great depression and continues to be a source of energy for the area. Between 1930 and 1936, thousands of people worked on the dam and ninety-six workers died from accidents directly relating to the building of the dam. It was the first human-made structure to exceed the masonry mass to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Hoover Dam is located on the border between Nevada and Arizona. The dam uses the Colorado River to run the huge turbines that generate power. It is located not far from the Grand Canyon. It is hard to believe that the dam was built in the 1930s considering there wasn’t the technology or tools that we have now. Initially, the government wanted to build the dam in order to supply electrical power to California. In 1921, Herbert Hoover who was the Secretary of Commerce at time first proposed building a dam on the Colorado River. In 1928, Congress then authorized the dam to be built. In the 1930’s there were not many jobs due to the Depression and most people didn’t have a lot of money. The government figured building the dam would bring people out to that area of the country by giving them jobs. In order to get people to work on the dam the government posted letters throughout the country advertising jobs to work on the dam. Because jobs were hard to find people came from all over the country to work on the dam. With people working and getting paid a good salary the area became populated and people were able to buy things which helped the economy and the country. Before the damn could be built the Colorado River had to be diverted through tunnels, so when construction started in 1931, a bunch ... ... middle of paper ... of the Hoover dam helped bring people, power and money to the area which helped areas such as Las Vegas, Nevada to develop. It continues to bring power, people and money to the region. Bibliography 1. Water:Science and Issues | 2003 | Atkins, William Arthur | Copyright 2. Hoover Dam: An Engineering Wonder of the World. . 3. Hoover Dam—National Historic Landmark. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior. . 4. Simonds, William Joe. "The Boulder Canyon Project: Hoover Dam." Bureau of Reclamation History Program. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior. . 5. Dictionary of American History | 2003 | Copyright 6. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2013 | Copyright 7. World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright
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