Hoover Dam hydro facilities is one of the most famous in the world. Although it does not have a new world record, with impressive size and history
in the world of construction, an example of how a project is impossible, from the engineering point of view, could become a reality.
Hoover Dam is a concrete gravity arch dam, built in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River - the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada. It was built in five years , and cost $ 49 million - about $ 2.6 billion today. the dimensions of the wall 379 meters long, 221 meters high, and with a thickness of 200m and 15m at the base of the tip. More than 2 million cubic meters of concrete were used for this project and nearly 15,000 people have been working on this great project.
The contractor faces a number of challenges associated with the large size of the facility and harsh conditions in the field. Most of the technology used at the time, which is applied for the first time. Such as the possibility of uneven cooling and shrinkage of concrete with the dimensions. Therefore the casting is made in the form of cracked blocks. Block equipped with a height of 1.5 m but different sizes and staggered. A tube system is used, which helps the cooling of concrete. For a constant supply of concrete, have used the system from the top rope, which is constantly passing through 18 - ton steel bucket, delivery to every part of the wall that is casted. It is also an innovation at the time.
Behind the hoover dam is Lake Mead. It stretches 180 miles from the wall. This lake has an area which is a big 640 square kilometers and a total storage volume of the reservoir is 35 cubic kilometers. Water from the pool is not only used for farmland irrigation and household needs, but also for power generation. Hydroelectric dams in the base and the total capacity is 2,080 megawatts.
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