Aerial View of Hoover Dam
by Janette Boyd
Title
Aerial View of Hoover Dam
Artist
Janette Boyd
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Photo of aerial view of Hoover Dam from my airplane window around 3 p.m. with slight haze.
Featured in FAA Group, "Big Sky of Art"
Hoover Dam is named after America's 31st president, Herbert Hoover, who played a large role in bringing the nearby states into agreement about water allocations, settling a 25-year controversy. The dam has been called Boulder Canyon Dam as well as Boulder Dam, but Hoover Dam was reinstated as the official name by Congress in 1947.
A National Historic Landmark, Hoover Dam is the highest concrete dam in the Western Hemisphere, standing at more than 725 feet above the Colorado River. With 17 generators producing 4 billion kilowatts of electricity a year, it also is one of the country's largest hydroelectric power facilities. Operation and maintenance of the facility are solely supported by revenue from power sales.
Completed in October 2010, the Mike O' Callaghan -- Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge offers spectacular views that were once only available by helicopter. For those who never fully appreciated the dam, it's hard not to become a fan after this. Visitors have access to drive to this bridge and see the dam from a high vantage point. Located about 1,500 feet south of the Hoover Dam, the walkway on the bridge is approximately 900 feet above the Colorado River.
One neat fact is that visitors can go from Nevada to Arizona after crossing the 1,900-foot-long bridge. There are plenty of informative placards before and during the bridge walk. The construction of the bridge came to mind in the 1960s, but didn't actually happen until 40 years later. This bypass was created to not only reduce traffic, but also to protect Lake Mead and the Colorado River from hazardous spills and explosions.
https://www.vegas.com/attractions/near-las-vegas/hoover-dam/
Uploaded
October 16th, 2016
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