Hoover Dam 2015

I enjoyed this as a kid and had to make sure I took my daughter there also.  This place has really changed and have become a tourist destination.  Get there early.  One can still drive across the dam but it is no longer a through path.

Let start with the big stuff.  This is Lake Mead and the white mark on the walls is the high water mark.  The last picture shows the lake overflow, which is an interesting view.  Thinking about a lake that size needing and emergency drain, well two of them, one on each side.  (I was told that it was used in 1982.)

Now for the other side.

Now lets go inside.

The power generator room.

Taking the dam tour instead of just the powerhouse tour will take you further into the dam.  This is the tour that I remember as a kid but like everything, this has changed a lot since 9/11 and has became more restrictive.

First off the hallways.  Yes tiled and marble.  You will even see the marble in the powerhouse.

Now on to this section.  The first picture is of the tunnel, that leads to the grate, which covers the ventilation port.  From that port this is the view, while the last picture is that port from the exterior.  (aka about the center of the picture.)

Lastly, the art deco elevator that takes you back up to the top of the dam.  It places you about half way across the dam, by the road.  Yes, there was a style to all the architecture back then, not just a slab of concrete.  (Yes this type of structure would never be built today.  There are too many regulations, even the exit steps are not ADA compliant and they could never be made to be compliant since there is not enough room inside the dam.)