Hoover Dam

Three main purposes:
1. Harness the wild Colorado river and control the flood.

2. Store the water for irrigating the vase desert farmland and quench the thirsty such as
    Los Angeles, Las Vegas.

Suburbs

3. Hydroelectric Power









Keynesian economics. The Great Depression.
The government fund the money, the private company build the project.





Topography. Aerial Photography.

In 1930, three considerations were important to choose the original location.
1. The type of geology of the canyon hull, and the bedrock on the floor.
2. How much water can be stored in the reservoir ?? The more water, the more benefit.
3. Proximity to the population centers and the major lines of transportation to bring man-power,
    equipments and resource to build the dam.


St. Francis Dam Failure



Dam before the break.

Gravity Dams

Arch Dams



Arch-Gravity Dams. Hoover Dam
Very bottom heavy. The cross-section of " Arch-Gravity Dam "  resembles the " Gravity Dams ".

Arch shape. The top of the " Arch-Gravity Dam "  resembles the " Arch dams ".

** Two old individual things combines together that becomes the " New Concept ".

This improvised device that allowed many workers to drill the holes simultaneously efficiently.









Hydroelectric Towers



















The water flows horizontally into the turbine from all sides to produce the electricity.

When the river level is fluctuating, it directly affects the pressure to drive the turbine.
The higher the lake, the higher the water pressure.









Tunnel Boring Machine







[Highlights]

• Keynesian economics.

• The born of " Suburbs "  and " Las Vegas ". 

• Install the pipe to transport the water cooling the temperature of the concrete down.

• The problem of " Ventilation " , due to the emission of the rucks in the tunnel causing workers to be sick.

[Questions]