Why was Hoover Dam built?
The Hoover Dam By Allison Pirie http://www.greentreks.org/…/hooverdam.asp Seven hundred twenty six feet high. One thousand two hundred forty four feet across. Six hundred sixty feet thick at the base. Forty five feet thick at the top. Four point four million cubic yards of concrete inside the structures. Forty five million pounds of reinforcing steel. Even just looking at these numbers you know that this is an impressive structure. In fact, the Hoover Dam has been named one of the seven modern engineering wonders of the US, as well as a Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). And for good reason. Construction on the Dam began in 1931, with a primary purpose not of power, as one might think, but flood control of the Colorado River, and ended in 1936, with the last concrete being poured in September of 1935. In addition t