Hoover Dam Rises: Hope From the Desert

Construction crews began building Hoover Dam during the Great Depression, employing thousands of workers in temperatures exceeding 120 degrees Fahrenheit to tame the Colorado River. The dam was authorized by Congress in 1928 after decades of study into the potential of the Black Canyon to support a dam that could control floods, provide irrigation water, and generate hydroelectric power. Construction began in 1931 and was led by Six Companies, Inc., a consortium of construction firms that submitted the winning bid. The project was the largest concrete structure ever attempted at the time, and several of the engineering techniques used were untested at such scale. Workers endured brutal conditions. Temperatures in the canyon regularly exceeded 120 degrees during summer months, and heat stroke killed dozens. The labor force peaked at over 5,200 workers. Living conditions in the nearby construction camp, which eventually became Boulder City, were initially primitive, though they improved as the project progressed. Over 100 workers died during the construction period, though the exact number is disputed because the official count excluded deaths from heat stroke and other causes the company classified differently. The dam was completed on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule. President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated it on September 30, 1935. The dam stands 726 feet high and contains enough concrete to build a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York. It impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when full. The dam's generators provided essential power for the development of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and the agricultural economy of the Imperial Valley. The dam was originally named Hoover Dam, renamed Boulder Dam during the Roosevelt administration, and restored to its original name in 1947.