The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam named after Herbert Hoover, built to control flooding from the Colorado River and to provide water and electricity to the surrounding areas. Construction began in 1931 with a total cost of $165 million, employing around 5,000 workers while overcoming significant challenges, including extreme heat and worker strikes. Completed in 1935, the dam features 17 generators capable of supplying electricity to 100,000 households, representing a major engineering achievement of its time.

1. HOOVER DAMHOOVER DAM

2. HOOVER DAMHOOVER DAM
• The Hoover Dam is a
massive concrete arch-
gravity dam
• Named after Herbert Hoover,
who played an important
role in its construction
• Built by Six-Companies, Inc.
• Operated by Bureau of
Reclamation of the US Dept.
of the Interior
• Such a large concrete
structure had never been
built before, and some of
techniques were unproven

3. The Need for a DamThe Need for a Dam
• Turbulent Colorado River periodically flood
vast areas of California and Arizona
• The flood destroyed canals built for irrigation
and drinkable water
• Herbert Hoover proposed construction of the
high dam to solve the problems

4. Who is Herbert Hoover?Who is Herbert Hoover?
• Was Secretary of
Commerce under
President Coolidge
• Graduated from
Stanford University
• A successful mining
engineer, humanitarian
• Elected as the 31st
President of the United
States

5. ScopeScope
• Construction of the high dam would
control the periodic floods, store water
for irrigation, municipal and industrial
use
• The customers would be the people
getting water, electricity from the dam

6. ResourcesResources
• 42,000 men came looking for jobs and 5000
were employed for average rate $1 per hour
• 6 millions tons of cement used in the concrete
• 9,000 tons of structured steel components
• 44,000 tons of large steel pipe and fittings
• 50,000 machines and tools were used

7. Time ManagementTime Management
• Hoover met with the 7 state governors
(AZ,CA,CO,NV,NM,UT,WO) to work out
suitable arrangement for their states’ use
• November 1922, Colorado River Compact was
signed
• In 1928, the Congress passed the Boulder
Canyon Act, allocating $165 million for the
dam construction

8. Time ManagementTime Management
• Composite bid was accepted for $49 million
by Six Companies in March 6 1931
• Construction began in April 20 1931
• June 1931, sufficient housing facilities were in
place
• Construction was completed in September 30,
1935
• Total cost $49 million, nearly $1 billion in
today’s money

9. Cost ManagementCost Management
• The most difficult part of the project –
period of Great Depression
• It cost a total of $165 million - $49
million to build the Hoover Dam
• Unskilled labor paid $4/day and
minimum wage cost was <$6/hr
• Paid back over a period of 50 years to
Federal Treasury by selling electricity

10. Project ManagementProject Management
• One of the biggest engineering project at that
time - also the greatest testimony to functional
organizations and old fashioned management
control techniques
• The Hoover dam is the highest concrete dam
in the western hemisphere
• Each department was headed by a manager
and held accountable for their work

11. Project ManagementProject Management

12. Project ManagementProject Management
• Dam construction was divided into 3
areas:
* Diversion tunnels and penstocks
* Concrete arched structure
* Power plant

13. Diversion tunnels and penstocksDiversion tunnels and penstocks
• To divert the Colorado River's flow around the
Hoover Dam construction site, 156-foot-
diameter tunnels were driven through the walls
of Black Canyon, two on the Nevada side and
two on the Arizona side. Their combined
length was nearly 16,000 feet (more than three
miles).
• Tunneling began at the lower portals of the
Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Shortly after,
work began on two similar tunnels in the
Arizona canyon wall.

14. Concrete arched structureConcrete arched structure
Today the four-lane
bridge is the first
concrete-steel
composite arch bridge
built in the U.S. At
840 ft above the
Colorado River, it is
the second-highest
bridge in the country
and the longest arched
concrete bridge in the
Western Hemisphere.

15. Penstock towersPenstock towers
A penstock is a
sluice or gate or
intake structure
that controls
water flow, or an
enclosed pipe
that delivers
water to
hydro turbines
and sewerage
systems.

16. Power plantPower plant
 There are 17 generators in the Hoover
Power plant
 And can supply electricity to 100,000 house
holds each
 That’s enough to power 4billion kilowatts of
electricity A year

17. ProblemsProblems
• Workers’ strike (August 1931) – triggered by
deaths of many of the workers’ wives and
children due to extreme heat and lack of
sanitation in the campsite area
• Huge dam size required a lot of cement and
engineers predicted it would take 125 years to
dry and cure
• Heat generated in the chemical rxns in the
drying process would physically alter the
landscape

18. Solutions to the ProblemSolutions to the Problem
• Housing facilities were built, known as
Boulder City
• Giant cooling tower/plant built to cool the
entire dam – pumped ice water (37o
F) at 1000
gal/min as the concrete was poured
• With this approach, the dam was cooled in 20
months

19. FAQsFAQs
• Height 700 ft above the COLORADO river
• Hoover dam located in boulder canyon, about
30miles from LASVEGAS and NEVADA
• It is more than 500ft deep and holds a total of
10 TRILLION GALLONS of water, enough to
flood the entire state of NEWYORK city
• The average temperature during construction
119.9 F, more than 100 people died building
the dam

20.  A Million and a half GALLONS of water flowA Million and a half GALLONS of water flow
through every second, enough to fill 15through every second, enough to fill 15
SWIMMING POOLSSWIMMING POOLS
 Nearly 100 million people tour the dam eachNearly 100 million people tour the dam each
yearyear

21. It was 171ft taller than theIt was 171ft taller than the
WASHINGTONWASHINGTON MONUMENTMONUMENT inin
WASHINGTON D.CWASHINGTON D.C

22. The total weight ofThe total weight of HOOVER DAMHOOVER DAM is 6.6is 6.6
billion tons, about 18billion tons, about 18 EMPIRE STATEEMPIRE STATE
BUILDINGSBUILDINGS

23. CREATED BY:CREATED BY:
MD AMEER SOHAILMD AMEER SOHAIL
14FH1A010714FH1A0107
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