| A Trip to the Southwest and the Plains November 2007 The Southwest — Page 4 |
Hoover Dam
Our day began with a field trip of sorts. We drove to the Hoover Dam where
we would see one of the engineering wonders of the twentieth century. We also
had another motive for making this trip to the Colorado River site. Our son
— an architect — was on the team that designed the new visitor center.
And the company where he currently works designed the new bypass bridge that
can be seen under construction.
The drive to the Hoover Dam was shorter than I expected. The last time I was in Bolder City was in the early 1960s, so needless to say, a lot has changed. The city of Las Vegas has expanded to where it almost reaches Bolder City. As a result, our route was mostly a drive through an urban environment.
 The highway goes through the center of the city of Boulder |
I was surprised to see RVs including large motorhomes coming from the direction of the dam. I was under the impression that RVs were banned from driving across the dam. It was a short time until we arrived at a security check point. I asked the security officer if motorhomes are permitted to go across the dam. He said that RVs are now allowed to drive on the roadway over the dam after a thorough search.
 New road heading for the new bridge, both under construction |
Off to the side, of the check point, I saw a small motorhome being searched by a team of security agents. There were personal belongings laid out on the pavement on one side of the vehicle with all storage doors open. One agent was stepping out of the RV as we continued on our way.
In a short time I was pulling into a multi-story parking garage that was built as if wedged into the rock formations. I believe that the parking garage was built as part of the new visitors center project. Off to the side of the parking garage the new bridge construction could be seen.
 New bridge will carry traffic across Colorado River in front of dam |
| The floor of the parking facility was a smooth and shiny concrete. The smoothness caused a strange squishing sound to come from car tires as they maneuvered around the structure. With several cars coming and going, the sound was somewhat bizarre. We squished our way into a parking place on the third floor. |
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As Kay and I walked to the elevator, we first walked out to the edge of the parking area to take a look at the scene laid out before us. This turned out to be a good vantage point to get a photograph of the new visitor center. I noticed the roof appeared as if it had been designed to compliment the original towers on the dam.
Click on image to view a larger version A view of the top of the new visitor center as seen from the parking garage |
We made our way to the visitor center by crossing the roadway via a hallway the goes under the road. Inside the center are displays celebrating the achievements of the thousands of construction workers who toiled to erect an engineering marvel. The displays are made up of miniature models and full size dioramas. For example, one exhibit shows workers emptying a large bucket of wet concrete. The huge bucket is one of the containers that were actually used in the construction.
| An actual concrete bucket used in the construction of the dam |
An impression I got from many exhibits is the very large scale of everything. There is a display that shows a cross-section slice of the concrete used in the construction of the dam. The aggregate used in the concrete was much larger that the pea-gravel used in the pavement of my driveway. The cross-section of one stone in the Hoover Dam concrete was probably eight inches across. Even the smaller rocks used were larger than what is used in home concrete applications.
| A cross-section of the concrete used in the dam |
An observation area allowed us to get a good view of the front of the dam, the Colorado River below the dam and the towers of the new bypass bridge which appears to be rising out of the native rock formations. The scale of everything associated with the dam is too large to be captured in a single photograph.
Click on image to view larger version View of the dam as seen from the new visitor center |
Even though it is understood that things are really big, it is sometime difficult to tell just how big without a familiar reference. When I looked down to the river things looked not much different than viewing a model of the scene. Then Kay called my attention to a man working on the side of a cliff dangling from a rope. The man looked very small which illustrated that what we were viewing was very large indeed.
 This looks very much like a model when seen from afar |
 A man looks very tiny hanging on the side of the rocks |
After leaving the new visitor center, we found our way to the old visitor center which is located across the road from the new facility. While the new site gives a great view of the river side of the dam, the old observation area gives a view of the lake side of the dam. Also found on the lake side of the road are two very large, bronze Liberty statues positioned on either side of a very tall flag pole.
The liberty statues have developed the green patina that comes with age. However, the toes of the feet of each statue are very shiny and looking very new. We were told that the toes are polished as a result of people rubbing the toes for good luck and good fortune.
 Bronze toes made shiny by people rubbing them for good luck |
 Two bronze, seated and winged lady liberties with shiny toes |
| Looking back from the old observation area toward the liberty statues, was a great view of the new visitor center as well as the towers of the new bypass bridge on the Nevada side of the dam. This was the scene we had before us as we walked back to the parking structure. |
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Once in our car we returned to our motorhome using a route that went around the downtown area. As we were heading north on US-93 the skyline of Las Vegas was visible in the distance where a layer of smoggy air was hanging over the city.
Click on image to view larger version Smog hanging over Las Vegas reminds me of Los Angles |
Today, as yesterday, we had a late lunch, but not as late as yesterday. We grabbed a quick take-out meal and brought it back to our home-on-wheels. After lunch I felt a nap coming on, so I gave in for about an hour.
It was decided that we would end our day at the nearby Silverton casino. Kay went to the slot machine area while went to the Bass Pro Shop toy store. Then I went to observe the interactive feeding of the fish in the casino aquarium.
I found this to be quit interesting as a scuba diver swam down to a position in front of the glass to feed the ray fish. There are several kinds of ray fish and it was fun to see how they acted like puppy dogs when food was handed out. The diver had a microphone hook-up that allowed them to explain what was going on inside the big tank.
 Residents of a very nice aquarium at the Silverton Casino |
 Closer view of aquarium fish |
Click on the following link to download a short video file of the fish being fed in the Silverton Casino Aquarium. Feeding the fish video — 2.9MB
Outside among the audience there was a person who would ask for questions from the observers. A question would then be relayed to the diver using a wireless microphone that transmitted the query to the diver. I took advantage of this situation to learn more about the fish in the tank.
Kay and I decided to have dinner in one of the casino restaurants before return to our RV to catch a couple of favorite TV shows. It was a relaxing way to end a fun day.
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