June 5, 2002 -- Dam
Those of you who know me at all, know I'm a sunshine kind of guy. I like it warm. But while we were in Las Vegas (or is it Lost Wages?) I got all the warm I wanted for a while. 94 degrees at 8 AM....111 degrees by 3 PM.... and 103 at 9 PM was enough to cure me for a while. Fortunately, we were there with a purpose, and that didn't include much sightseeing. We wanted to be able to talk to some bus conversion people. Namely, Gary and Sandy of B & B Coach Works. www.bbcoach.com We wanted to find out if our budget for a bus was way out of line or not. We also wanted to see some of their work, and learn what we could about the whole world of bus conversions. And we sort of did that. They had 5 buses they were working on, and a couple of them gave us an idea of the kind of cabinets they built and what they did to the buses before adding the interiors. They like to work on Eagle buses, like most conversion companies because of the kind of structure. Barb it totally convinced that we "need" to go to the 102" bus rather than the 96" bus, and I'm not putting up a fuss about it. That 3" per side is noticeable. A lot more than we thought it would be. And I could go on and on about what we've learned, but rather than bore you, drop me a line if you're interested and I'll share more with you. Of course, we did some sightseeing while in the area--Hoover Dam was nearby.
Yep, we did take a day and get some dam pictures for you. The structures here are water intake towers which funnel water into the power plant, and, ultimately, the water is regulated and released for use by the seven states supported by the dam (to our recollection, these states include Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, + another?; Mexico was added as a recipient in 1944 after execution of the Mexican Water Treaty). If you're interested, their website is: www.hoverdam.com. There is quite a story behind its construction.
Pretty impressive. For anyone who can't remember government getting anything done on time, Hoover Dam was completed two years ahead of schedule and under budget! It is also completely self-supporting through revenues from the sale of hydroelectric power generated by the dam. The feat of building it where it is, is a real testimony to man's ingenuity and ability to follow a dream. For you statisticians, here are some statistics on the dam: concrete width at base is 660 feet; crest width is 45 feet; crest length is 1,244 feet; height is 726.4 feet; total volume of concrete is 3.25 million cubic yards.
Only leaning power line towers I've ever seen, and apparently that's because these are the only ones that exist! Hoover dam is located right on the Nevada/Arizona state line.
The winged "men" are a memorial to the men who lost their lives in the process of building the dam. Most died from drowning after falling into the river. Some in tunnel cave-ins, some from falling rock slides, some from being in the wrong place at the wrong time and some piece of equipment getting them, but most from drowning. Interesting.
The guy on the right is called a "hi-scaler" and his (their) job was to scale the cliffs, drill holes for the explosives, set the dynamite in, and then clean off the face after the blast. The guy on the left is called a tourist who's pretty sure his fanny pack will fit into the little black square.
Now here's a trip. I don't like confined spaces. In other words, I'll walk up the stairs rather than take an elevator, I don't do caves, I won't fly on commercial airliners, and stuff like that. Well, as we walk into the visitor center after deciding to take a chance on spending the $20 for the two of us, there's a guide telling us to hurry and get into this line over here and then after we're finished then we can come see the movie. I blindly follow along, only to find we're going to take a 500' ride in a very packed elevator down into the bowels of the dam. Fortunately for me, the elevator ride is 78 seconds long. I can't hold my breath that long, but almost. But when we get out, here we are in this wet tunnel! Going who knows where like a herd of sheep for crying out loud! And Barb in her typical fashion, has nearly deserted me because she's smaller than me and can get through a crowd faster than I can. But she quickly realizes that I'm not doing real well, and shortly has my hand and we're heading down this dimly lit tunnel. Then we were in one of the generator rooms where the speakers were echoing off the walls and I couldn't hear what was being said. Of course, my heart was pounding loud enough for me to hear it, though! All kinds of neat statistics about how much electricity this place produces and all that. Whoopie. Lemme out!!!!
YES! We (I) made it! Fresh air, sunshine, and no roof over my head! Impressive structure. Remember the winged "men" memorial? The flag pole in the right hand picture is between them (if you look closely, you can see the tips of two wings on the left of it). We're in the observation area of the visitor center. The new one. The old one never really got used as a visitor center. It was finished late 1941, and then, because of the war, all tourism of the dam was stopped, and the military took over. Evidence in the form of pill boxes (machine gun bunkers) is still there.
The model was built in the old visitor center, and is to scale. Amazing piece of work in itself. Turns out the dam wasn't built for hydroelectric purposes at all. That was just a spin-off of getting some flood and drought control for the fertile Southwest.
The ubiquitous gift shop (nice picture, Barb) and then Lake Mead, created by the dam--yes, it is that beautiful blue! Lake Mead is also a spin-off of the dam and is one of America's most popular recreation areas. It is a National Recreation Area run by the National Park Service and is open year-round with 550 miles on shoreline, length (when full) of 110 miles, with maximum depth of 500 feet..
As an aside, as we were approaching the AZ-NV border to get to Las Vegas, there were signs telling us that RV's and commercial trucks would not be allowed across the dam. Well, I remembered friend John and later Allan telling me that RV's were now being allowed to cross. So, Barb stopped for gas and was going to catch up with me, only I went across the dam and she took another highway altogether assuming I would believe the signs. Silly girl. When have I ever believed a stupid sign. Anyway, after some anxious time, she realized I may have disobeyed the sign and called me on the cell phone to tell me where she was. We've really got to get a motorhome/bus. This is driving me nuts. Anyway, for those of you RV'ers considering crossing the dam, it's OK to do so. Just be ready to show off your rig to a security guard who likes to look into every bin and cupboard. But the guard I had touched nothing, just looked. Rather pleasant experience for me, as I like to show off the rig.
Lake Mead is on our "gotta do" list for the future. The white on the shoreline is mineral deposits left by the evaporating water. The water level of the lake will rise and fall depending on the snowfall. The dam lets a consistent amount of water down the river for agricultural and flood control purposes regardless of the snowfall. Only twice, once in 1941 to check out the systems, and again in 1983 have the spillways ever had to be used. '83 was the second year of record snowfalls, and there was just too much water.
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