How workers conquered the Colorado River at Hoover Dam

Daredevil workers called high scalers swung from canyon walls with jackhammers and dynamite to clear away loose rock before dam construction could start.

The Daredevil High Scalers of Hoover Dam

Rerouting an entire river for the first time in history

In late 1932, construction crews dumped rock barriers across the canyon to force the Colorado River into diversion tunnels, leaving the dam site bone dry.

The Day Engineers Diverted the Colorado River

A full locomotive inside a single water pipe

Giant steel plates were curved and welded into 30-foot wide rings, illustrated dramatically as a full-size locomotive rolls through a single pipe section.

Hoover Dam Pipes Were Bigger Than Trains

Specially designed trailers and giant overhead cableways haul massive penstock pipe sections across the canyon rim and lower them into underground tunnels.

Lowering 150-Ton Steel Pipes Over the Canyon

Crews poured the final bucket of concrete at Hoover Dam in May 1935, completing the monumental project two and a half years early.

Hoover Dam Finished Years Ahead of Schedule

The original 1930s operator returned decades later

Giant generator sections were ferried across the canyon by the very same cableway operator who helped erect the dam in the early 1930s.

The Veteran Operator of Hoover Dam

Massive overhead cranes lower a 254-ton stator and a 466-ton rotor into position to complete the largest hydroelectric installation in the world.

Installing Hoover Dam's 466-Ton Rotor

Hoover Dam repaid its entire construction cost

Costing 175 million dollars, the entire construction debt was repaid directly to the federal treasury at 3 percent interest through clean electricity sales.

How Hoover Dam Paid for Itself

An animated diagram and interior footage demonstrate water plunging 500 feet through intake towers and penstocks to drive massive power turbines.

How Hoover Dam Turns Water into Electricity

It takes 10 days for this water to travel 500 miles

The All-American Canal channels vital Colorado River water across the desert, taking ten full days to arrive at remote agricultural valleys.

The Ten-Day Desert Water Journey

[06:02] The Daredevil High Scalers of Hoover Dam
[06:35] The Day Engineers Diverted the Colorado River
[13:07] Hoover Dam Pipes Were Bigger Than Trains
[13:43] Lowering 150-Ton Steel Pipes Over the Canyon
[14:58] Hoover Dam Finished Years Ahead of Schedule
[17:44] The Veteran Operator of Hoover Dam
[19:40] Installing Hoover Dam's 466-Ton Rotor
[20:38] How Hoover Dam Paid for Itself
[22:26] How Hoover Dam Turns Water into Electricity
[25:07] The Ten-Day Desert Water Journey

How workers conquered the Colorado River at Hoover Dam

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