Hoover Dam: Generators
We took the short tour of the dam (it was longer before 9/11). A guide led us to an elevator that took us 500 feet (150m) down into the canyon wall. Then we walked down a long tunnel drilled out of rock. At the end of it we saw these huge hydroelectric generators. This 650-foot long room is on the Nevada side of the dam. (The Arizona side has something similar.) The generators are turned by the force of the river running through huge pipes near the base of the dam - which at that point is 660 feet (201m) thick.
Originally posted in 2006.
Hoover Dam: Generators
We took the short tour of the dam (it was longer before 9/11). A guide led us to an elevator that took us 500 feet (150m) down into the canyon wall. Then we walked down a long tunnel drilled out of rock. At the end of it we saw these huge hydroelectric generators. This 650-foot long room is on the Nevada side of the dam. (The Arizona side has something similar.) The generators are turned by the force of the river running through huge pipes near the base of the dam - which at that point is 660 feet (201m) thick.
Originally posted in 2006.