TIL Nuggets - A bunch of interesting facts about the Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam | Bureau of Reclamation

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers The Dam Where is Hoover Dam? In Black Canyon spanning the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. How tall is Hoover Dam? It is 726.4 feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam.

usbr.gov

These facts come from multiple URLs, but I linked one above.

The Hoover Dam was not one singular concrete pour. That would have been effectively impossible because of the scope of the dam. Instead it had 215 huge cement blocks.

The cement is still curing. This is an off-cited fact, and while true, it is a bit overstated. Most of the strength in the cement was present after 4 weeks. The rest of the curing process gets progressively slower. This was the first project ever to use fly ash in the cement, which can get stronger over time. So 300 years from now, the cement could be stronger than today.

It generates 4.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, providing power for 8 million people from LA to the Las Vegas strip, and even parts of Arizona.

The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge built as part of the bypass project was arguably a more complex and impressive feat of construction.

The dam was used for the opening of the film Goldeneye, which was fucking awesome.