Facts about Hoover Dam

1. Hoover Dam is 726 ft. tall. That is 171 ft. taller than the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. and twice as tall as the Luxor Casino (338 ft.) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2. At its base, Hoover Dam is as thick (660 ft.) as two footballs fields measured end-to-end.

3. As many as 20,000 vehicles a day drive across the 45 ft. wide top of the dam between Nevada and Arizona.

4. There is enough concrete in Hoover Dam (4 1/2 million cubic yards) to build a 2 lane road from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida or a 4 ft. wide sidewalk around the Earth at the Equator.

5. During peak electricity periods, enough water runs through the generators to fill 15 average sized swimming pools (20,000 gallons each) in 1 second.

6. Each of the 30 ft. wide penstocks (water pipes) can carry enough water to fill 900 bath tubs (100 gallons each) in 1 second, or 960,000 (12 oz.) cans of drink in 1 second.

7. Hoover Dam is shaped like a huge curved axe head, 45 ft. wide at the top and 660 ft. thick at the bottom.

8. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the USA and contains enough water to flood the entire state of New York with 1 ft. of water (26 million acre ft.).

9. If you drink water from the tap at Disneyland, Anaheim or Sea World in San Diego -- that water is coming from the Colorado River and Lake Mead, 300 miles away.

10. Each of the 17 generators can supply electricity to 100,000 households.

11. When operating at full power, the 17 generators can supply all the electricity needed by a city of 750,000 people.

12. Each generator weights (4 million pounds) as much as 4 1/2 fully loaded Boeing 747-400's.

13. The Colorado River is more than 1,400 miles long and supplies water to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix. Las Vegas gets almost all its water from Lake Mead. Lake Mead was made by Hoover Dam when it blocked the Colorado River and flooded the Mojave Desert.

14. Between 1931 and 1936 when the dam was built, 96 men were killed in industrial accidents. None were buried in the concrete.

15. The mascot dog and favorite pet of all the construction workers during the building of the dam was buried at Hoover Dam. The grave is near the Hoover Dam Tour Center and can be visited.

16. It would take $2,000,000 worth of copper pennies to make the copper buses (4 inch in diameter hollow square wires) that carry electricity inside the powerhouse.

17. Every state in the USA furnished supplies and materials for the construction of the dam.

18. More than 8.5 million pounds of dynamite was used to blast the foundation for the dam and 8 miles of tunnels through the canyon walls.

19. There are 2700 miles of transmission lines sending electricity from Hoover Dam to Los Angeles.