Only 35 miles
from The Strip
it takes less than one hour to drive
there.Boulder Dam, as it was once
known, is the result of a government
work
project that took five years to build,
$49 million (1931) $777 million (2016)
and
twenty-one
thousand men.Impressive
in its stature, standing 726 feet
tall and goes from 660 feet wide at the
base to a mere 45 feet wide at the top.
Holding back the huge volume of water
stored in the reservoir weighs so much
that it deformed the earth's crust,
causing more than 600 small earthquakes
in
the late 1930s. The Lake was formed by
damming the Colorado River at Black
Canyon.The purpose of which is to
provide 1.5 million kilowatts of
electricity to the surrounding
communities in
Nevada, Arizona, and southern
California.
Don't just
drive across the
dam.This trip requires you to park
your
car and walk.The
enormity of the
construction can only be appreciated by
walking along its superstructure and
peering down at the river below.The
river
is bounded by the powerhouses and
strings of high-tension wires are slung
from there to massive pylons.The
power
is then distributed up the hillside to
keep the neon shining in Vegas.
But the real
treat is the
secret of going inside the dam.This
is
where the magic happens.A
ranger that
provides a historical narrative as he
guides you into the bowels during the
one-hour tour.An
elevator drops us to
the deep and dungeon-like the inner
recesses.Once inside, the well-lit and
slightly damp tunnels wind their way to
where the action is. I'm extremely
claustrophobic and had no problem on
this
visit.
Along the way,
I get to peek
out of the observation and access ports,
and I am reminded of the scene from
the movie ‘The Fugitive" with Harrison
Ford, as he takes a leap of faith and
plunges down the sluice.
Venturing
deeper into its
core I finally reach the belly of the
beast.The room hums with the energy
being created. A row of blue turbines
topped with beacons indicating when they
are running.Each
turbine houses large coils to generate
the electricity.The
coils are massive
and dwarf the men and equipment used to
change them out for maintenance.
To get my
pictures in the
darkened interior, I bump my ISO to 6400
and find a place to rest my camera
against… a railing, or vertically on a
wall, the steps of a ladder.
.
We make our
way up ladders
and alleys and emerge at the top of the
dam.
From the top,
I inspect the
intakes, huge cylindrical towers with
vertical channels rising 395 feet out of
Lake Mead.Here is where the water comes
in to drive the turbines.The
water
level is low this year and has been that
way for several years. It is at almost
1080 feet, but that is well below the
full level of 1225 feet.If
the water level drops below 1050 feet
the
dam would no longer generate power.There are changes set to go into
effect in 2017 that would allow the
power station to continue to operate
below those levels or at 950 feet.If
the worst happens electricity supplied
to
29 million people would be in jeopardy.
The top
roadway is a large
arc spanning the quarter mile distance
between canyon walls.The
sidewalks are full of pedestrians, as
the
dam only allows limited traffic across,
most going to the lookouts and parking
lots on the other side. I drove across
and found out that there is no highway
access and turned around.
The dam is
very photogenic
and is one of the most visited tourist
spots in the country. I point my camera
at each cardinal point on the compass
and come away with beautiful portraits
of
the massive structure.I
can't help but
point my lens down into the chasm.I
snap on the wide-angle lens for the most
coverage.I didn't think up would yield
interesting
images, but the erector-set steel towers
carrying the voltage out to the cities
proves a willing subject.
About 1500
feet downstream
there is a bridge.It
was built to take
traffic bypassing the dam roadway to
relieve congestion and weight.It
poses in silence for my shutter.
The most
interesting feature for me is the
"Winged Figures of the Republic",
Thirty-foot tall bronze sculptures
by sculptor Oskar Hansen. Green now with
the patina of age, but there is an
oddity.The feet and toes have been
buffed to a golden sheen by the
thousands of passing tourists' touch.
Impressive in size and placement, they
provide an air of mystery and connection
to the supernatural. Around the base of
the figures is a star map.
If you go
Getting
there
The dam is
located 30 miles
southeast of Las Vegas. Take US Highway
93 to Nevada State Route 172. The dam
is on the Nevada-Arizona border.
Admission
Visitor Center
Admission -
$10
Hoover Dam Tour - $30
Powerplant Tour - $15
There is
reduced pricing for
seniors, military, and children.
Some restrictions apply.
Not all tours are wheelchair user
accessible.
Hours
Note: All
times are for the
Pacific Time Zone.
Parking
Garage: Open 8:00
a.m. -- Close 5:15 p.m. Parking fee:
$10.00
Visitor Center: Open 9:00 a.m. -- Close
5:00 p.m.
Tours: Operate approximately ˝ hour
after opening and until about 1 hour
before
the Visitor Center closes.
