Hoover Dam | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

The Colorado River bobs and jukes through the crisp sandstone of the western high plains. Earliest explorers saw it as a defining characteristic of Arizona and much of the semi-arid western United States. Today, the river is a monument to American riverine technology, as aqueducts and hydroelectric dams use the Colorado to make the American West a hydraulic society. The first of the incursions into the river is also the most famous: Hoover Dam.

Opened in 1935, Hoover Dam stands as a larger-than-life symbol of fluctuating meaning for generations of Americans. Even without such symbolic significance, the dam remains among the nation's most impressive engineering achievements.

A major part of the dam's significance derives from the structure itself. The dam, which has long-since repaid the $165 million cost for construction, is a National Historic Landmark and has been rated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders. The structure contains over 4 million cubic yards of concrete, which if placed in a monument 100 feet square would reach 2.5 miles high—higher than the Empire State Building.

As proposed in 1910, the mammoth Boulder Dam (as it was first referred to) served as the linchpin of a western land-use policy known as reclamation. After policymakers and developers finally conceded that a serious lack of rainfall stood in the way of their dreams of the "garden of the West," they sought a way to turn their adversity into opportunity. Reclamation grew out of the impulse to "reclaim" these dry, barren regions by applying human ingenuity to the few existing waterways, including the Colorado. In 1912, five western states agreed on the Colorado Compact, which parceled up the great river's flow among the signees—including at least two states that never made contact with the river. Most of the flow, including the electricity made at Hoover Dam, would be managed by the Six Companies contractorsto power development over 300 miles away in southern California. By the late 1990s, the majority of Hoover Dam's power is passed over wires to Los Angeles.

The symbolic significance of this immense structure became obvious immediately, which led developers to name it after President Herbert Hoover (an engineer who had been a great supporter of the project). Upon its completion in 1935, Hoover Dam became a symbol of America's technological prowess, firmly placing the United States with the great civilizations in world history. One observer described it as the "Great Pyramid of the American Desert, the Ninth Symphony of our day" and "a visual symphony written in steel and concrete…. magnificently original, strong, simple, and majestic as the greatest works of art of all time and all peoples, and as eloquently expressive of our own as anything ever achieved." Particularly during the Great Depression, Hoover Dam's restoration of national confidence led to its appearance throughout popular culture, including advertisements, Coca-Cola serving trays, and numerous collectible mementos.

Hoover Dam remains a symbol in contemporary America; however, the changing attitude of river-management technology has altered its image. In the 1990s, many observers saw Hoover Dam as the symbol of all the development that has prohibited the Colorado from reaching the ocean for over twenty years. As the great dams begin to clog with silt, many observers suggest that Hoover and the other dams may have only a limited life. Marc Reisner noted that "we set out to tame the rivers and ended up killing them." He suggested that Hoover and others might eventually be viewed as "uniquely productive, creative vandalism."

In terms of structural design, though, Hoover Dam will always serve as a symbol of the modern era. For many Americans, achievements such as this sleek yet powerful dam led the way to a century of innovation and development.

Jackson, Donald C. Building the Ultimate Dam. Lawrence, University of Kansas Press, 1995.

Reisner, Marc. Cadillac Desert. New York, Penguin, 1986.

Stevens, Joseph E. Hoover Dam. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.

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