Hoover Dam

From Arizona, the only way to get to the Hoover Dam is by crossing this huge, arched bridge.  You hardly notice the crossing until coming down to the dam on the Nevada side.

Of course, the dam is huge. We weren't sure, but you may drive over the dam to the Arizona side and park over there for free.  They moved the tour start, however and it is a bit of a walk back across.

We paid to park in a big parking garage, and from the pictures of Karen and the boys, you would think we were the only ones.  Believe me, there were LARGE numbers of people parking here.

And large numbers of people doing the short tour. Below are the generators turned by water drawn from Lake Mead. I should sya these are the upper generators.  There are more nearer to river level in case the water levels should ever drop so low that these wouldn't have enough water power to turn.

Even though the dam was built starting in 1931, they knew it would be a tourist attraction and this overlook floor was laid in imported marble and the design below was commissioned to symbolize water flowing through the turbines.

Outside the main level Erik and Jake lean against a rail and the whole dam is shown.  The angle makes the dam look short.

The car to the far left better shows how big this dam really is.

And closer still, the people on the dam in this close up also show how huge this thing is.

Here is one of the original cranes used to move equipment and supplies down to the river level.  Just below the bridge, you can see a 6" cable extending from the crane across the river.

This close up shows the set up a little better.

The dam and the bridge are both impressive and worth a drive down for a look.  The tour is very interesting and well worth the price.  If it will be your only time there, I would highly recommend the long tour.