The Hoover Dam and Its Construction Essay -- Hoover Dam Research Paper

Outside of China, the United States is the most-dammed country on the planet. Counting hardly dams taller than fifty feet high, the U.S. has some 5,000 dams that range from giant hydroelectric dams such as the Grand Coulee in Washington State to flood control dams in the selenium and dams that provide water for irrigation in California. Overall the United States has as some as 2.5 million dams of one sort or another. The design and construction of many of these dams alsok place between 1930 and 1975. This 45 years stay is known as the golden age of dam building, starting with the construction of the Hoover Dam reference in 1931. By the 1970s the golden age of dam construction began to come to an end with increased concerns of the impacts of dams on their surroundings. To better understand this time period I will look at the construction of Hoover Dam during the 1930s followed by an examination many of todays arguments for and against dams i. The nee d for a dam on the Colorado River was known decades before construction actually began due to the numerous destructive floods of the Colorado River. A need for water and electrical energy was also discovered to help with the development of the West. But there were many factors standing in the way such a large-scale construction project. Finally, in 1927 a bill detailing the project passed in Congress. Many construction companies began to look over the proposals but most agreed that the plan was too ambitious, too difficult, the project site was too unforgiving, and that the technology was not available to build a dam of that sizeii. Hoover Dam is located in the Black Canyon, on the Colorado River, about thirty miles southeast of Las V... ...onomic impacts of the dam, the impacts of removal, and the economic costs.Notesi Davy, Emma. Robofish Current Science March 2, 2001 10.ii http//www.hooverdam.usbr.gov/iii http//xroads.virginia.edu/MA98/haven/hoover/front2.html iv http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/hoover/5 Robbins, Elaine. Damning Dams. E Jan 1999 14.6 Franklin, Chris. Let the Colorado River run free. Earth Island Journal Spring 1997 23.7 http//www/irn.org/8 Not so fast Eliminating dams Why dams thunder mug be green. The economist March 3, 2001 4.9 Wade, Beth. Bringing down the dams. American City and County June 1999 20.10 Knocking down dams A good year for alewives. The Economist July 29, 2000 32.11 http//www.saveourdams.com/12 McMahon, Richard Jr. Lets not damn the dams. The Business Journal January 28, 2000 47.