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As in any construction project, the dam's base was a major factor in building an enduring structure. This required the men to excavate the mud and muck at the river bottom. Simultaneously the "high scalers" worked the canyon walls. Earning $5.60 a day, this was one of the highest paying jobs at the site.
(The photo below is the same Intake Towers above, but Lake Mead waters has
covered most of them.) After much preparation on June 6, 1933 concrete began to be poured at the dam's base. The total amount of concrete used for construction was 3.25 million cubic yards. (This is enough concrete to pave a 16 feet wide highway from San Francisco to New York City!) With the dam's building process complete, in 1935 Hoover Dam became the largest dam in the world. |
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Before the concrete arch-gravity type dam construction could begin the Colorado river needed to be diverted through diversion tunnels. Building tunnels directly through the canyon rock walls required dynamite, rock removal and structure for support to be built.
Once the first two tunnels where in place, cofferdams were built to divert the Colorado River. This allowed the dam construction to begin.
(The photo to the right is Hoover Dam on the Lake Mead side with the Intake
Towers.)