Blood, concrete, and dynamite: Building the Hoover Dam - Alex Gendler
High above the floor
of Nevada’s Black Canyon,
a group of men repelled
down the cliff face.
Suddenly, a man stumbled
over the canyon rim.
He plummeted past the men,
too fast for them to grab—
when another climber swung
out from the rocks
and carried him to safety.
Once they’d repelled
the engineer up the cliff,
his savior swung back to business
as usual—
just another day in the construction
of the Hoover Dam.
In the early 20th century,
the United States had expanded
from coast to coast,
but many cities in the arid southwest
still lacked reliable water sources.
While the Colorado River had been diverted
into a series of canals,
its erratic flow and frequent floods
made it unreliable for agriculture.
At the same time, the region’s
growing cities and industries
continually needed more energy.
So in 1922, the Bureau of Reclamation
decided to solve all these problems
in one fell swoop by building
a massive hydroelectric dam.
Ensuring water rights for the project
required unprecedented cooperation
between all seven states along the river.
But once local governments agreed,
the Bureau determined that Black Canyon’s
narrow gorge was best suited
for an arch-gravity dam.
This design curves upstream,
using the force of oncoming water to push
the structure into its supports—
in this case, the canyon walls.
Arch dams have been built
since ancient times,
but never on such a massive scale.
When complete, the structure would
be 221 by 379 meters.
It would take an enormous labor force
to build a dam this massive.
And when the Great Depression struck
only a year after the project’s approval,
thousands of families looking for work
began flocking to the site.
The earliest arrivals lived in a makeshift
encampment called Ragtown.
With no infrastructure, scarce supplies,
and little protection from the elements,
several residents died of heatstroke.
So to better house workers,
the government designed and built
the still thriving Boulder City,
complete with numerous amenities,
including a state-of-the-art hospital.
Before construction on the dam
could begin,
the entire river had to be rerouted.
Building these diversion tunnels required
blasting into each side of the canyon
to create 17 meter tall tubes.
With a combined length of almost
5 kilometers,
these tunnels could divert roughly
5,600 cubic meters of water per second.
However, workers faced grueling conditions
to finish these on time,
and dozens succumbed
to the scorching heat.
By the fall of 1932, the river had
been successfully redirected.
But the most dangerous
work was still ahead.
Over 1 million cubic meters
of loose rock needed to be cleared
from the canyon walls.
So foremen brought in high scalers
who descended the cliffs on ropes,
removing rubble
with jackhammers and dynamite.
From circus acrobats and former sailors,
to local Apache,
these death-defying individuals performed
some of the most dangerous—
and glamorous— work on site.
After the walls were cleared,
it was finally time to build the dam.
This required pouring over 6.6 million
tons of concrete—
enough to pave a road
across the entire US.
But so much concrete poured at once would
take far too long to cool and harden.
So to speed this process up,
concrete was poured in interlocking
blocks of varying sizes,
each containing steel pipes
flowing with cold water.
By 1935, most of the structure had been
completed two years ahead of schedule.
On February 1st, the diversion tunnels
opened to fill the dam’s reservoir,
capable of holding twice
the Colorado River’s annual flow.
Upon completion, the dam was the tallest
manmade structure in the world.
However, the speed of its construction
came at the cost of worker safety.
While this project employed roughly 21,000
Americans during a major economic crisis,
over 100 people died during construction.
Creating the reservoir also destroyed
communities like St. Thomas
and devastated the Colorado River
ecosystem.
Today, the Hoover Dam generates
over 4 billion kilowatt-hours annually,
providing electricity
for over 1.3 million people.
But the consequences of its construction
continue to cast a shadow
over this monumental structure.
