Directions From Las Vegas Take US Highway 93 South and continue 20 miles to Boulder City In Boulder City, take a left at the second stoplight in town Continue on US 93 for about 5 miles to the turnoff to Nevada State Route 172 - the Hoover Dam Access Road Take NV SR 172 for about 2 miles to the Dam on the Nevada/Arizona border
The hoover dam
Parking
A garage is located on the Nevada side of the dam set into a canyon across the road from the Visitor Center. The parking garage charges a $7.00 fee. In Arizona, the closest lot to the dam (to the left of the roadway as you enter Arizona) requires a $7.00 fee. The other 4 parking areas further up the canyon have no fees, but require a lengthy walk to access the Visitor Center on the Nevada side. Information courtesy of: http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/directions.html
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Visit the nation’s largest dam today!
Visitor Center
Location The Hoover Dam itself sits on the Colorado River, spanning a height of 726.4 feet from the bedrock and its crest length spans across the river at nearly 1,244 feet. Its breadth across allows for up to four lanes of traffic to pass with a base thickness of 600 feet. It stores up to 12 trillion gallons of water in Lake Mead alone, one of Hoover Dam’s four manmade reservoirs.
“A soul-stirring architectural and industrial achievement, the ultimate expression of a machine-age America’s ingenuity and technical prowess.” - Joseph Stevens
Gordon B. Kaufmann, a prominent architect in Los Angels in the 1930s, was commissioned to design the aesthetics of the Hoover Dam. The Visitor Center is one such design; it is made to connect the modern façade of the dam with art deco style prominent during the time of its construction.
Tours Power Plant Tour: Includes a 30-minute guided tour of the power plant and admission to the Visitor Center. $11.00 Hoover Dam Tour: Includes a 1-hour guided tour of the power plant and passageways within the dam itself, and admission to the Visitor Center. $30.00 **Prices may vary.
History The largest dam built at the time, The Hoover Dam was constructed during the Great Depression, starting in 1931 and completed in 1936, completed two years earlier than predicted. It was dedicated on September 30th, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created many laborious jobs during a time of financial strife, employing over one thousand people.
It was created for multiple uses including flood control and hydroelectric power. The Bureau of Reclamation, founded under President Theodore Roosevelt, created the plan to harness the large amounts of floodwater in the Colorado River to promote agricultural development in the Western United States through irrigation. The engineers and geologists determined that the Black Canyon area was best suited for a dam of this magnitude.