Ranger Rick: Exploring Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam used enough concrete to build a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York (not the one on the Las Vegas Strip), spawned an entire city (Boulder City) to house 5,000 dam workers and as the largest project of the time it is one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.

As the many workers that keep Hoover Dam a highly-sought after tourist attraction would say, it is worth the Dam trip from the rows of blackjack tables and bars on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Hoover Dam has a number of viewing options depending on how much time you have. The get-in, get-out quick route is via the new Mike O’Callahan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which offers views that were previously only available by helicopter. If you find a little more time, you could drive across the old-fashioned way and take the two-lane road over the dam and snap a few pictures from a small parking lot on the other side.

But to truly appreciate the magnitude of Hoover Dam it is best to take a tour deep within the concrete structure. Once inside, you can catch a glimpse of the massive generators and the tunnels that make energy production possible. The tour offers a world of information you won’t find otherwise such as the original cables used in the dam’s construction were used to build the bypass bridge.

While Hoover Dam doesn’t house Transformers as Michael Bay depicted on film, the technology involved in the 80-year-old project offers enough excitement.