Yes my friends, I took the damn dam tour. At the Hoover Dam there are several tour options. I opted for the most expensive and extensive tour. We got a tour of the penstocks that carry water from the lake through deep underground tunnels to the powerhouses, the Nevada powerhouse, the upper inspection galleries, and the stairway to heaven. Words cannot describe how impressive and awe-inspiring this dam truly is. Photos can’t do it justice either. One must go and experience it in person.
The transmission towers actually lean over the canyon walls so the cables can run unobstructed down to the powerhouse.
Transmission lines run everywhere! Back before the grid was setup, each line ran to a different community or power district that was promised a cut of Hoover Dam’s power. Not as efficient as today’s system!
Yes, that is a LOT of power lines.
We got some sweet kids hardhats to wear on the tour so we’d be easily identifiable in case we wandered off.
In one of the access tunnels from the elevator shaft. It’s blasted through solid bedrock.
Inside one of the penstock galleries.
The throbbing, pulsating pipe that carries some of the water to the turbines.
Inside the Nevada powerhouse. That’s a whole boatload of turbines!
The tour guide told us a little bit about how the turbines are serviced.
Art deco touches abound inside the dam. This is the original entryway into the dam for tours. Now only the most expensive tour option gets to walk down this hall.
Inside one of the inspection galleries.
This photo is shot looking straight down. 100 feet below is another inspection gallery.
A window to the world. This is the upper Arizona inspection hatch. It was also a source of air when the dam was more actively curing and cooling. Big fans were fitted further back in this passageway to move air through the structure.
Looking out the access hatch downstream to the new bridge, power houses, and overflow discharge.
Looking straight up the dam face. It actually curves inward as it goes up because the dam gets thinner.
A photo of myself from the outside looking in.
I wonder how many people drop cameras over the edge.
I was a happy engineer!
Looking back down the tunnel.
Another corridor leading to the staircase to heaven.
I was excited to be on the damn dam tour.
Super excited!
An inspection point between two concrete pour blocks. This is the worst place in the whole dam. The blocks settled a couple inches out of alignment. Every other block is nearly perfect. Not too bad considering it was built in the early 30s!
They monitor for earthquakes and seismic shifts.
Looking down the staircase to heaven. Down goes to Arizona. That must make Arizona hell…
Up the staircase to Nevada.
The inspection points.
Exiting through the elevator that comes up the middle of the dam.
The copper-clad doors of the elevator.
Out on the sidewalk in the middle of the dam.
The big, heavy brass doors outside the antichamber of the elevator.
The building in the middle is the new visitor center and elevator complex.
It’s a looooong way down!
I love these leaning transmission towers!
The close powerhouse is the one we went into.
A new bridge was built when the parking garage and museum took out the old original road.
The Winged Figures of the Republic on the dedication monument to the dam.
Nevada time on the clock.
The grand entryway to the old elevator.
Arizona time.
The water level was pretty low.
Looking back into Nevada.
Nevada on the left, Arizona on the right.
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