Hoover Dam

Photo: United States Bureau of Reclamation License: Public Domain

Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936.

The dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives.

A total of 21,000 men worked on the dam with an average of 3,500 and a maximum of 5,218 daily.

The dam was controversially renamed after President Herbert Hoover.

Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York. The concrete was made in such a way that it is getting stronger as it ages and is not subject to deterioration.