Travel Guide Hoover Dam

About 60 km east of Las Vegas, this dam on the Colorado River marks the border between Nevada and Arizona. Built in 1931, it was inaugurated by President Hoover on September 30, 1935, and put into service on March1, 1936. It was, at the time, the largest water reservoir in the world. Although it has lost this position today, it is still terribly impressive, with its 221 m height for its 379 m length and its thickness - base/summit - of 200 m/14 m.The construction of the dam will require the construction of Boulder City, which will house the 5,000 workers needed for the enterprise, while its impoundment will lead to the creation of Lake Mead, which has a capacity of 35 billionm3. In addition, the dam's power plant supplies energy to a significant portion of Nevada, Arizona and California. Its annual electricity production is 4,200 GWh/year.Note the Hoover Dam's distinctive Art Deco architecture: the elevator doors, memorial plaques, and the lovely memorial to the workers - about 100 of whom died during the dam's construction - feature the geometric and imperialist features of the 1930s style. Finally, note that the two clocks atop the towers flanking the two ends of the complex do not tell the same time: one is in Nevada, the other in Arizona.