The Hoover Dam: America’s Engineering Miracle

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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Morris M
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
Business inquiries to [e-mail]
Source/Further reading:
Popular Mechanics, history and future: www.popularmechanics.com/tech...
National Parks Service: www.nps.gov/articles/nevada-a...
ThoughtCo history: www.thoughtco.com/geography-o...
History: www.history.com/this-day-in-h...
Interesting podcast on the engineering behind it all: www.stitcher.com/podcast/unpr...
What’s under the lake: www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140...
1902 Reclamation Act: www.theodorerooseveltcenter.o...
St Francis Dam failure, 1928 - effects on Hoover Dam: failuremag.com/article/the-st....
Colorado River Compact, 1922: www.britannica.com/place/Colo...
Hoover Dam strike: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexpe...
Repayment: www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...
Naming: time.com/4045046/hoover-dam-n...
First hydroelectric dam: www.nationalgeographic.org/th...
Lake Mead’s decline: www.latimes.com/business/hilt...
Future of the dam: www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

[@geographicstravel]

Thank you, Skillshare! The first 500 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: skl.sh/geographics

[@bobmar9239]

I tried to sign up for this. They were going to give me two free months. But I was going to have to put in my credit card number in order to get my two free months. That sounds like the Nigerian money scam. I won $1000000. I just have to give them $500 as a processing fee. Maybe I'm just too cynical.

[@JonManProductions]

2:50 You have created meme worthyness. "KILL THEM ALL"

[@zackatwood2867]

2:23 Why say "white farmers" rather than something more inclusive like American farmers? Guess we don't live in a time much different than the 1920's...

[@Robert-xp4ii]

Geographics You're a good doobie, Simon.

[@leekrichbaum3334]

And he a biz blaze channel too that is just horrible. He actually acts like a normal person allegedly. I can you imagine? Like it is almost he is working and wants wants money. How dare he. Ha ha ha

[@collinscody57]

The most amazing fact about the Hoover dam? It was a government project that was done ahead of schedule and under budget

[@jackssmirkingrevenge9365]

incredible 😆

[@SkywalkerSamadhi]

Only took 96+ people to die for this accomplishment too.

[@Bobelponge123]

cody collins not possible

[@SkywalkerSamadhi]

@ozy well they cared about the half that were white and male and had money anyway.

[@planescaped]

@ozy Were you watching? The Great Depression was in full swing, any 1 worker could be replaced in seconds by literally dozens of guys who'd gladly take the work... and the companies in charge of building it manipulated the fuck out of it!

[@th3thrilld3m0n]

Here's a fun fact about the dam: it's so thick at it's base that the concrete is still technically cooling and thus getting stronger even today.

[@aryaaswale7316]

Wait really?

[@zimbo246]

concrete is technically always getting stronger for hundreds of years, no matter how thick it is

[@cameronsienkiewicz6364]

It won’t be giving off much heat from exothermic reactions these days , but yes, it is in fact still curing and getting harder every day .. when the dam was built and they were pouring the concrete, they actually ran pipes through the concrete slab and pumped water through them to keep the curing temperatures down so the slabs didn’t crack (cracks in a dam are no bueno lol), then once they were set , they filled the pipes with concrete

[@l.h.9747]

i cant stop thinking about the NCR and Ceasars legion

[@someturkishguy8638]

Neither can I. He has to mention it.

[@epikmanthe3rd]

We won't back down easily. The legion can count on that.

[@digitalcthulhu143]

Ave. True to Caesar.

[@listenmypeople108]

Would someone please tell (ignorant people like me) just what the OP is alluding to?

[@l.h.9747]

@@listenmypeople108 what do you mean with OP ?

[@e.rudsar1633]

*slaps roof of Hoover Dam* This badboy can fit so much power, it can power the strip and the entire Mojave wasteland

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

"Wasteland"?! What do ya think this is? The place they filmed "Mad Max"? The first one, because they did film the new one, here.

[@sepuljason]

@@firstnlastnamethe3rd771 The dam is humongous and Humongous rules the wasteland.

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

@@sepuljason You mean "Lord" Humongous? The Ayatollah of Rock & Rolla? Yeah, I seen em around.

[@marsneedstowels]

May I interest you in a Helios One solar power plant?

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

@@marsneedstowels Is that the lighthouse in the desert, that warns birds to stay away from the lighthouse in the desert? Or the lighthouse in the desert, that controls killer satellites? I'm interested in either one.

[@Luscious3174]

"We came, we saw, we concreted" Motto of every Italian construction worker LOL

[@aJacksonHoleguy]

Italians - building stuff with concrete since the Roman Age

[@michelleherbert3058]

The inventors of cement/concrete are the Italians.... Very inventive people.... :)

[@arthurguseynov7167]

“We came, we saw, we feared, we cemented all our problems, we were happy, we realized it’s Arizona, we saw it crack, and crack even more, and finally it broke, we saw it break, we saw it flood, we saw it take away our children, we saw our wife’s drown, but seconds before we were taken away by the current, we discover: BUD LIGHt And we forgot about all our problems, we bought guns, we shot guns, we drank bear, we made steak, we realized were American not Italian.....”

[@ProbablyNotLegit]

I know an Italian family who's in the "concrete business" down in Naples. Hmmm.

[@lucastaylor6255]

“It’s number one hobby would’ve been bursting it’s banks, and flooding the shit out of the place”

[@tacklecentralfishing1051]

😂

[@Crashed131963]

How do you flood a barren desert ? Las vegas was many miles away with a population of 200.

[@NajwaLaylah]

@@Crashed131963 It happens in a *flash*. (Pro-tip: don't camp in arroyos.)

[@stevencooper4422]

Que muffin man music*

[@robmurphy806]

The most rememberable part of the dam's history is when the Courier had Yes Man yeet General Oliver off the side in 2281.

[@julieenslow5915]

Please say more or delete this. "The most rememberable part of the dam's history is when the Courier had Yes Man yeet General Oliver off the side in 2281." First, what is "yeet" supposed to be? Meet? Greet? Get? Perhaps most of the word is deleted... Second, the Hoover Dam is not old enough for an event happening in 2281 to have been any part of it's story.. yet. You might want to say who or what the Courier, Yes man, and "yeet General Oliver" is, and what "off the side" refers to? Off the cliffs? the dam? Into the Lake? the River? who, what, the real when and perhaps even why. I assume this is a murder so, a reference would be nice. I am so confused, i could write a (fictional) story off your post in so many directions it would be freakish, possibly science fiction based (time travel included) and would definitely have to include karma! But i am sincerely curious now - so please take a minute and tell us more to explain. Or just delete it.

[@robmurphy806]

@@julieenslow5915 You don't know? After the great nuclear Holocaust of 2077?? Oh boy.

[@robmurphy806]

@@julieenslow5915 But seriously if you're lost it's a reference to the video game Fallout: New Vegas. In one of the many possible endings you (the Courier) can have a Robot named Yes Man throw (yeet is slang for throwing) a leader of a rival faction off the dam at the end of the game.

[@rangamans1060]

Huh, I thought the NCR claimed it for their own under the leadership of both The Courier and General Lee Oliver

[@robmurphy806]

@@rangamans1060 There's four different endings lol

[@Lrr_Of_Omikron]

I'm a 3rd gen vegas local and iron worker. I always love it when someone shows some love to buildings that either me or my family had a hand in building. I worked on the bridge in 2010, my dad built the newer power lines in the 80s and my grandpa did a bunch of the upgrades that went up in the 70s. This was a awesome video to watch, thank you for putting it out there.

[@plinkitee]

"All they had to do now is build the dam thing." 🤣

[@JTA1961]

There's a sign there that says... PLEASE KEEP THIS DAM GATE SHUT. 😎

[@saulthechicanootaku]

All I can think of is Percy Jackson with these puns

[@hddun]

"I went to the dam to get some damn water, but there was NO dam water so I didn't get any damn water..."

[@stephenblack7168]

"Is this a God Dam. Y'know God Dam. Heh heh" -Beavis

[@NotOneOfUs]

"None of us live there." Me, an Arizonian: "Hey!"

[@adventuresofwillandshelby6013]

Not One Of Us Arizona, much like Australia is a fictional place! You can’t fool us! Jk🤣

[@jimmym3352]

LOL. I live in Las Vegas, while we aren't technically downstream, I do often travel in these areas.

[@mikecorbeil]

@Not One Of Us : Idiotic username, someone who needs to live behind a mask, BUT no one lives by the Hoover Dam. Within some miles, not far, I suppose, by surely not by the dam. When I visited with a cousin in 1995 there wasn't any residential property in sight. You, in Az., are closer than Bostonians, New Yorkers, ..., but this doesn't mean that you reside within just a few minutes walk from this dam. You could reside in Az. 100 or more miles from this dam.

[@eowyn-faramir-reads]

*me, being born in AZ and returning to my hometown on the Strip after 16 years* RUDE

[@wastelanddv8062]

Mike you went to the damn with your cousin in 1995? I think I saw that movie it came out a couple years later.

[@cookieusa1]

Patrolling the Mojave makes you wish for a Nuclear Winter.

[@Azerkeux]

Well, aint that a kick in the head

[@mikeaustin5479]

got my big iron on my hip

[@lDarkSlayerl]

NCR for life.

[@austinparker5053]

DAMN. Too slow

[@pabloramirez7874]

Ave, true to Caesar

[@mikewhitcomb6558]

At 19:39 you have a shot of the Arizona spillway in action. The spillways have only been used twice, once in 1941 when Lake Mead filled enough to test the spillways, and 1983 after record precipitation filled all the reservoirs along the Colorado River to capacity. I got to witness the spillways in action in 1983 and it was a tremendous sight. I also lived in Henderson in the late 70's, mere minutes form the dam. My friends and I would go there often and take the tour, which as I recall at the time only cost $2.00

[@alexmontgomery255]

Q: What did the fish say when it hit a concrete wall? A: Dam.

[@roadmaster720]

har-dee-har har. so funny. like a wet blanket.

[@yaboimahilez9916]

Q: what did the wall say back? A: dum bass

[@HeavenlyMandate]

FALLOUT 4 CODSWORTH!

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

"I see. Yes Man, please throw General Oliver from the Dam."

[@the1flym459]

"I was a dam builder, across the river deep and wide; Where steel and water did collide. A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado; I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below. They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound; But I am still around, I'll always be around" -From the song "Highwayman"

[@piperar2014]

Great song but I roll my eyes during that verse. Lyrically compelling, factually destitute.

[@JR_harlow]

I always pictured that mention in the song is about a rodbuster, guy who installs the rebar.

[@johnchedsey1306]

The biggest problem with the Colorado river water pacts is that it was made in the 20s when the region was undergoing a rather wet era. Turns out that frequent drought is the more likely climate of the southwest US. Now we have two half full reservoirs along the Colorado (the other major one being Lake Powell). There's occasionally some talk about how the Glen Canyon Dam is one that should be taken down and allowing Lake Mead to take on the storage of that water. Interestingly, Glen Canyon Dam was nearly overtopped in 1983 when snow melt was so high that the system almost couldn't contain it all. Engineers used plywood to prevent the dam from being overtopped and potentially avoiding a massive disaster. and finally, I do recommend to anyone interested in the southwest's water situation to check out Cadillac Desert, which is a fascinating book on the subject

[@dmannevada5981]

The data used for water allocation rights in the 1922 compact was wrong(well, not technically). This knowledge wasn't known until recently, when all the water agencies commissioned the University of Colorado and Northern Arizona University to do parallel studies (encompassing a 300 year period). The study showed that the original data only encompassed a 20-year period(not long enough), and that 20-year period was a wet period, which included an El Nino cycle... something not understood in that era. The data from the 20-year period was actually correct, unfortunately, I didn't cover a long enough period. Because the original data was wrong, hence the reason for the renegotiation of the current allocation rights going on, obviously trying to get the allocation rights more reflective of the actual average runoff statistics. The reason for low elevation at the reservoirs has nothing to do with Cadillac desert, it's an unfortunate reality of the global economy. BOR' own data states that 83% of the water is being used for agricultural production(shipped globally). Potable water usage in the region is still pretty minimal(and decreasing per capita). Until the new water allocations are renegotiated, agriculture has the legal right to use their allocation per the 1922 data, hence the low elevation at both of the dams. The Dam's won't recover until those negotiations are completed. Another Point, the Colorado Basin isn't designated as being in meteorological drought. The drought designations per NOAA are agricultural, and hydrological. Agricultural because there isn't enough water to supply the international demand for agriculture, and hydrological because reserves are being used to meet that demand. Lastly, if you mentioned the term "Cadillac Desert" to any of the engineers and hydrologists at BOR, they simply scoff. Cadillac desert was considered an interesting read when it was first published, it's really become irrelevant today with the advanced understanding and knowledge of water management.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:25 - Chapter 1 - The mighty colorado 4:55 - Chapter 2 - Searching for the spot 8:55 - Mid roll ads 10:45 - Chapter 3 - Construction (Part 1 / Prelude) 14:30 - Chapter 4 - Construction (Part 2 / Building's god dam) 18:15 - Chapter 5 - Into the future

[@kevinrwhooley9439]

Hey Simon you should do Newgrange next. It's a massive Neolithic structure in Ireland that's older than the Pyramids (the oldest one being the Pyramid of Djoser at 2600 bc)and Stonehenge(3000bc) being built in 3200 bc. And it has a door with a roof box above it that perfectly aligns with the sun on the Winter solstice and a roof so well made that it's still waterproof to this day. Archaeologists are baffled on how these people were able to build such a sophisticated structure before the advent of writing and the crane and how advanced their knowledge of the cosmos and the exact alignment of the sun was. Shows how skilled my ancestors were in construction techniques,lapidary design, mathematical calculations and astronomical observation.

[@ladymopar2024]

Great suggestion. I'd like to hear that too.

[@patricianorton3908]

WOW!!! Patricia from New Hampshire (US) 👵🏻 😳

[@jackssmirkingrevenge9365]

its not older than the pyramids, if you believe they are less than ten thousand years old you are way off. the ancient greeks asked the ancient egyptians who made the pyramids and they said they were from a previous time unknown to them. they arent tombs either btw 😅

[@kevinrwhooley9439]

jacks smirking revenge jacks smirking revenge But the Geographics video on the pyramids states that the first pyramids were built around 2630bc. Also isn't Herodotus notorious for his inaccuracies?

[@Mimi.1001]

@@jackssmirkingrevenge9365 The ancient Greeks lived more than another 1000 years after the pyramids were built, so a regular Egyptian at the time would probably have no clue how and why these were built, and they might already become legendary buildings from an "unknown" time surrounding myths. Since most of them also couldn't read the Hieroglyphs and language evolves, it's assumable that they don't know more than we do, despite living next door. If the pyramids were indeed way older, how can we pinpoint one pharaoh who was supposed to built it? Wouldn't multiple Pharaohs claim them as their achievement and tomb or did all competitors suffer from damnatio memoriae?

[@pamelanapierrice1394]

Thanks Simon. My dad actually worked on the Hoover Dam as a teenager. He was in Roosevelt's public works program the 3 C's. My dad actually hung off the side of the dam helping to build it. It was the depression and he traveled from West Virginia for work. Hoover Dam is impressive to see in person btw.

[@In_TheMoonlight]

Thank you for sharing! How cool must it be to have such a personal connection to this marvel of architecture!

[@ThePhysicalReaction]

To anyone that hasn't visited the Hoover Dam in person - It is absolutely phenomenal in scale and effect. Really amazing. Especially if you're afraid of heights like I am

[@ginnrollins211]

My family just went to the Hoover Dam today, it was my cousin's first time there. As a Nevada native, I'm very proud of this feat of engineering. Sad you didn't talk about the O'Callagan-Tillman Memorial Bridge overlooking the dam, that bridge is also major engineering marvel.

[@sargentmeatmissile-hs1us]

Who? Cares

[@ginnrollins211]

@@sargentmeatmissile-hs1us Dazedwoozey is funny as fuck.

[@clintlewis8122]

The mighty Colorado is so depleted by people taking the water, it doesn't even reach the ocean...

[@phillipnunya6793]

I'll take your word since I don't know, but it's not like there are many good alternatives.

[@QuantumRift]

well it does but by the time it reached the Gulf of California it's a trickle.

[@johnballs1352]

Who cares

[@dmannevada5981]

The Colorado River rarely reached the Sea of Cortez. It only made it that far during a year of flooding, hence the reason why it was built to begin with. BOR does the "pulse" every so often to mimic flooding for environmental reasons.... thus benefiting the estuary in northern Mexico.

[@dmannevada5981]

@@QuantumRift The Colorado River was always a trickle when it reached the Sea of Cortez, with the exception of the every 10-15 year flooding.

[@brianm6117]

I've swam and fished in Lake Mead and visited the Hoover Dam. This was late 1980's. The dam is an amazing site to behold. I was just a kid when I last saw it, and it is forever emblazoned in my memory.

[@matthewmoser1284]

I'm really glad you mentioned the Salton Sea! I would love to see a video focusing on it!

[@brucebartman4782]

Simon, this was a very informative vdo reguarding Lake Mead, did you know that there is a B-29 bomber at the bottom? I lived in Las Vegas for 20 years and it was common knowledge to most residents. Anybody can take a guided tour of the dam, it is really something to see.

[@d4mdcykey]

Even Beavis and Butthead were impressed by this damn dam, so you know it has to be a sight to see...

[@thomasfholland]

Brings back memories. 30 years ago we were waterskiing on Lake Mohave and decided to head up the Colorado River towards Hover Dam. It was truly an awesome sight to see the whole Hover Dam rising above you from the bottom. And the water was ice cold, 4°C = 39°F and this was in mid July! So such a contrast with an air temp of 105°F

[@sargentmeatmissile-hs1us]

Who? Cares

[@lightninsadventures2692]

Tour guide: Welcome to the Hoover Dam. Today I will be your dam your guide. If you have any dam questions, please hold them until the end of the damn tour. Cousin Eddie: Yeah, where can I get some dam bait?

[@TampaBayRays9]

aric lewis Haha, the first thing that came to mind!

[@khkartc]

“Where’s the damn dam tour?”

[@shawndoucette9797]

Stolen from Vegas vacation.

[@heatherbee4248]

I'd be super interested in a video about the Nazca Lines if that would work for you guys.

[@jr2904]

This needs more likes dammit

[@LilDroidBlue]

I second (third?) this! Very interesting subject, I've seen several different documentaries and specials on them, but would love to see Simon and the crews take on it.

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

I'm willing to make one, if _you_ are, Heather!☝️😃 You can be myyyy... ✌️"assistant"😏✌️ *🤥•==== 👈😜•••boop*

[@krisf4969]

@@firstnlastnamethe3rd771Reality check incoming: Have you ever talked to someone else than your parents irl? Please get just a little, little self-respect so people don't have to read these completely desperate attempts to get attention from someone with a pfp of a female. Seriously, take a long look at yourself and ask if you are so depraved of human contact that it seems like a good plan to write a comment like yours. No one wants to see such pathetic behavior anywhere on the internet or irl so please get serious help to build up your self-worth. Thank you. /Everyone

[@philricher9844]

Good idea

[@rebeccacheney4732]

I'm curious about the flood that created the Salton Sea. It'd be nice to see a video on it.

[@lmpeters]

There's a pretty good video about the Salton Sea on the "Veritasium" channel.

[@danielfay8963]

Just one note: Arizona and Nevada are only in different time zones part of the year. Technically they are in the same time zone, however since AZ doesn't use daylight savings time for about half the year they are one hour off. This was quite annoying sometimes as I live in AZ and have relatives in NV, so remembering if were on the same time or not is a pain.

[@joelturnipseed3528]

I would love an overview of the Sulton Sea, and its current and past issues. The potential environmental impacts remind me a lot of the aftermath of the Dust storms of the 30's. There are a lot of videos out there with a lot of difference in their "Facts" I would love to see your overview on it.

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

Arizona also doesn't follow Daylight Saving Time. So depending on the time of year we are either Mountain or Pacific time zone.

[@piperar2014]

Not observing that fool daylight saving time is one of the few sensible policies of Arizona's.

[@davidhenningson4782]

... just to add to the confusion of course🙄

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

@M Detlef you're right one of the reservations in the Northeast corner doesn't

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

@@davidhenningson4782 far better than having to get used to getting up an extra hour early

[@whatitbescottyb3699]

I think it would be interesting to do a geographics on the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Thailand. That cave system is fascinating

[@savagestacks5911]

My great uncle was an engineer for the Hoover Dam, his namesake on a plaque. Savage, J. L.

[@blazertundra]

Speaking of the American Southwest, you should cover the Hohokam civilization. They tamed the Salt River, built large structures, made petroglyphs, and then disappeared. The modern natives moved in and discovered it all and were an important part of their preservation.

[@deusexaethera]

4:54 - "By 1922, Davis was running full-tilt at his hydroelectric windmill." That is a surprisingly awkward choice of words.

[@jiiaga5017]

only if you've never heard of don quixote

[@catherinespencer-mills1928]

I grew up in Yuma AZ and I remember the name change. My parents just said, hope this doesn't change again, not really caring what the name was or is. Water out of the tap (faucet) in Yuma is so silted and salty, it is undrinkable. People buy water from desalination stations around town now. Part of the Hoover Dam project was to supply Los Angeles with water. They had to cut back on that when the Central Arizona Project was implemented. A canal from Yuma to Tucson - and people in Tucson were appalled at the quality of the water. Now that water is allowed to seep into the almost completely depleted aquifer under Tucson, hoping that it will be somewhat rendered drinkable via sand filtration. I won't ever move back to southern Arizona in part, because too many people live there already and it has killed the ecosystems.

[@dmannevada5981]

Stop whining.

[@LikeTheBuffalo]

"Um, yeah, I-I just have a question, um: Is this a Gaw Dam?" - Beavis

[@Aosman2234]

“It affects an area that none of us live in” ..... I live here and I’ve been to the dam twice !

[@theshadowman1398]

It is pretty amazing that in that time without any help of computers such a structure was build

[@jantschierschky3461]

Actually in history so many amazing buildings were build over thousands of years with amazing details. Just look at European cathedrals, mosques in middle east Turkey etc. All with using skilled labour using pen, paper, compass etc. Since computer most are engineered stunning projects, but not the soul and character of those prior.

[@theshadowman1398]

Jan Tschierschky Agree.

[@demigodproductions9179]

Tf you mean without computers? Our brains out computers.

[@davidlafleche1142]

Great buildings like Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge, Gateway Arch and Houston Astrodome were built with slide-rules, pencils and paper. That pedestrian footbridge in Florida was built with computers doing Common Core Math...and it collapsed in one day.

[@loddude5706]

'Use it or lose it' seems very relevant. Given what it knows to start with, any computer's outcome can only be in it's own imagination . . . until proven by a few Neolithic mates & a spot of hard graft. Nice shed lads, straight too : )

[@bloomune]

My family all live in that area (Laughlin). The Dam is really quite impressive.

[@semipenguin]

I became a truck driver in 1998. In January 1999, I got to drive across the dam in my truck. The switchbacks going down and back up were the most challenging part. For the next three years, I got to cross it, and the dam in Laughlin. After 9/11, that all changed. Trucks were no longer allowed to use the dam. Trucks had to make their way to Laughlin and cross the bridge through downtown.

[@mattf666]

The history about the unsafe conditions gives new meaning to that song by the Highwaymen, the part about “slipping and falling into the wet concrete below”

[@pioneercynthia1]

Except that no one has ever died and was then buried in the concrete. The decomposing body would actually create a fault in the dam, leading to future disaster.

[@Azerkeux]

That shirt is incredible, what sort of fabric softener you use? The distilled essence of sacrificed virgins forskins? You could wipe tears off of Jesus with linens of that calibre

[@thomasdarby6084]

He bought it at a Walmart.

[@thomasdarby6084]

@Murilo LOL

[@Azerkeux]

@@thomasdarby6084 I just looks so goddamn fluffly, I spend good money on fabric softener and my shirts don't look like clouds.

[@jantschierschky3461]

I seen many hydroelectric dams, some more massive and bigger in electricity production. However the Hoover dam is still the most interesting, beautiful art deco dam I seen. Love to see the overflow running, but I doubt I ever will.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Jan Tschierschky yeah only time they were in use was 1983. Even the outlet tubes are only rarely used.

[@corkycobon1481]

I have only seen that once....summer of 83. Historic flooding on the Colorado that year. The amount of water that was flowing that year was hella impressive. The sound is something I will always remember. It was a roar that I can not possibly put into words. Even with the dam, over 15% of my hometown of Yuma, AZ flooded. If I remember correctly, the amount of water that had to be released that spring/summer was the same amount for the previous 20 years. I could be completely wrong on this though. What I do know was that there are videos that were shot of them opening the overflow channels to max and the amount of water that came out literally rooster tailed. I'm sure you could prolly find a vid or 2 here on YT to get an idea of what it looks like when the channels are opened.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Corky Cobon Yes, and one spring in the 90’s they only released “keep the fish wet” water, to keep Yuma from drowning when the Salt, Gila, and Verde rivers were flooding. A flood which washed enough salt out of the basins, that there was little need for the Desalting Plant for many years.

[@corkycobon1481]

@@deonmurphy6383 I moved out of Yuma in 92 up to Phoenix but I go back to Yuma as I still family that still live there. I was hella bummed about summer of 83. Between the massive spring melt in the rockies the previous winter was bad. THEN we had an extremely active monsoon that years with at least a couple tropical storms hit Yuma that summer. I coukd not wait to get old enough to the annual July 4th tube race on the river in Yuma. It was a town tradition for as ling as possible. My dad would plan leave from the Air Force so that the family coukd be in Yuma for the tube race. Summer if 83 I was finally old enough to be able to do the race and that was the year the river flooded and it was canceled. The tube race never happened again after that. I was so seriously pissed about this for YEARS. After 83, my family syarted spending 4th of July out at The Imperial Sand Dunes or El Gulfo de Santa Clara in Mexico, depending on weather.

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

@@corkycobon1481 You need to have lived in the Bay Area, in the 1970s, to use "hella" that much. I'm hella sorry, about that... 🤥•===== 👈😜•••boop (I'm hella immature for my age, aren't I?•••✌️😏)

[@killerlalu1]

I really enjoyed this video, especially as this is something about which I've often wondered! Thank y'all so much for covering such a variety of subjects.

[@nastybastardatlive]

I've been over that dam twice in my life. The part you didn't mention is that it's a time zone where when you cross you skip an hour ahead or behind. There's a big clock on either side, an hour apart.

[@greggd3351]

There's several places in the States where the time zones follow state borders. BONUS FACT: At the dam, there's an hour time difference for only about half a year. WHY? Arizona doesn't observe the daylight savings time change, so it's sometimes the same as the Pacific zone, the rest it's the same as Mountain.

[@thomasdarby6084]

I was a tour bus driver for many years and often visited the Hoover Dam, along with the Grand Canyon and other points of interest in the region. What I wished you had done, for the sake of the Luddite Americans here who can't figure Metric measurements any more than cubits, is use common English/American figures. You usually do that with subtitles, but this one is missing them. So I have to get my calculator warmed up to figure out if your stats are right!

[@midievalcat7770]

Damn, this Dam dams up the damn lake pretty damn well

[@samihiggins]

I hope you someday do one about the Oroville Dam/2017 crisis. We weren't able to evacuate, and watching this got me rewatching some footage from the time. I don't think I realized just how lucky we were that the emergency spillway didn't cause it to fail like they thought it was going to.

[@bluebirdeyes]

The Hoover is a really neat place to visit. It's hard to get a proper sense of scale just looking at images. That thing is enormous. When you look down, it's like looking from the roof of a skyscraper, except the skyscraper is a concrete wall holding back an entire lake and your dad behind you won't stop making "dam" jokes.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Davis also got a dam named after him, a few miles south of Hoover. It’s near Laughlin NV/Bullhead City AZ.

[@01cumminsho26]

yep, it holds Lake Mohave. I prefer going to Mohave over Mead.

[@carschmn]

I bet it made you smile inside getting to repeatedly say “dam” without swearing.

[@jefferyepstein9210]

I was a dam builder across the river deep and wide Where steel and water did collide A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound But I am still around, I'll always be around and around and around and Around and around. Thank you Waylon Jennings.

[@pioneercynthia1]

Oh my God, I love that song. Even though no one has ever died in the dam, it's still a fantastic song.

[@alternavent]

You can drive through the St. Francis damn on San Francisquito road. And when you do, you can still see the signs of water damage. It's a trip

[@DickDiamond74]

I grew up in Baldwin Hills and we always heard stories of that dam bursting.

[@EmmaGravesKarlsson]

Everything on these channels are really good, but hoover dam; thank you very much for the extra toppings on my new vegas pizza

[@potatopants4691]

Wait, u guys didnt talk about Megatron and the all spark being held in the damn?

[@rangamans1060]

Or the NCR clashing against the Legion in 2281. He neglects to mention so much history

[@bradbutcher3984]

Nope.

[@juliejobob]

Arizona is in the Mountain Time zone, but the state doesn't follow Daylight Savings Time, so when the rest of the Mountain Time Zone moves ahead for Daylight Savings, AZ stays, and Pacific DST moves "ahead". Thus, part of the year AZ is in the same Time as Pacific.

[@davidhamilton2093]

Love it! The Colorado rivers hobby was bursting its banks and flooding the shit out of everything. Brilliant writing.

[@DrakoDragonis]

Beavis: Uhm yeah, I just have a question. Is this a God-dam?

[@tehbonehead]

Came to post this. Heheh heheh heh. (I thought it was Butthead, tho)

[@DrakoDragonis]

@@tehbonehead I was a little confused as to which of the two said it to begin with aswell. Thank goodness for KZbin (is this a god dam?) ;)

[@tehbonehead]

@@DrakoDragonis heh heh. I'll be dammed.

[@NarwahlGaming]

"This is Travis and Bob Head." "My first name is 'Butt'. Huh-huh-huh."

[@lightninsadventures2692]

Where can I get some dam bait?

[@jackmason5278]

The water in Lake Mead is low, and threatens to get down to the point where the Hoover Dam can no longer generate electricity. The proposed solution is to build a pumping station to return water that has passed the dam back upstream. Powered by what?

[@Swansniff2]

"Solar powered pumps" its said in the video!

[@Vincrand]

Anyway it's a stupid idea. You'll need to generate more energie to get the water up there than that you get back.

[@Swansniff2]

@@Vincrand solar produce a surplus of energy during the day, much more than we might need and our grids can't store this energy. This extra energy is instead used to pump up water to be used during night and cloudy days. Think of it like charging a giant battery.

[@Vincrand]

@@Swansniff2 in that case it would make sense depending ofcourse on the amount that would be wasted otherwise.

[@DickDiamond74]

@@Vincrand divert the "wasted" energy to surrounding areas. as its in basically the desert its mostly sunny in phila...oops

[@nrg6245]

This channel has slowly but surely become my fav channel. So interesting I love the history and it helps me on long road trips! Thank you!

[@stevemccarthy7871]

Simon, love the channel! Would love to see a video on the Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY! Such an interesting history!

[@nobairavare]

Me: "hah, now all they gotta do is build the dam thing" Simon: "now all they had the do was to build the dam thing"

[@CardinalTreehouse]

2:44 *Gasp* Simon did a swear

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

*Gives whiff of smelling-salt* Wake up. You ok?

[@loddude5706]

Yep, some Pulp/Jackson vengeance 'shall surely come down on him' for that one : )

[@genobreaker1054]

"Mellon pulled the whistle, Hoover rang the bell, Wall Street gave the signal and the country went to hell!" This was a rhyme from the Great Depression that shows just how the people blamed Hoover for the Depression, though it was quite frankly unfair to do so. He had barely done anything.

[@driverbwm]

Thanks Simon! I’ve done the “Damn” tour twice, once as a kid and then as a 36 year old. On the 2nd go around, my wife and I went all the way to the bottom and stood outside and looked up, awesome was my thought.

[@alexanderveritas]

To all the New Vegas fans: _I salute you!_

[@ecmc1072]

oh my gosh you mentioned the salton sea!! that's one of the coolest places in America, PLEASE i am actually begging you, do a video on the salton sea! please please please!!! 💜💜💜 Love your videos, also. 😁

[@kristopherwilliams7849]

As a resident of the American Southwest I appreciate the care you shown this topic in your video.

[@cmdrflake]

Herbert Hoover left office March 4, 1933. That was the final time presidential terms began and end on March 4th. In 1937, FDR’s second term began on January 20, the date that presidential terms became to this day.

[@Urmum3469]

Can you do lake george, New York. It's near my home and it's been in the French and Indian war and revolutionary war. I think it has some pretty cool history and would make a good video.

[@cuttwice3905]

Lac du Saint-Sacrement is lovely.

[@fredd0255]

11:34 aaaaaand there goes your monetization

[@jeffreyrose4240]

You mean the Kaiser-Hitler-ISIS dam isn't a good name for a dam?

[@fredd0255]

@@jeffreyrose4240 it is but youtube just cant handle how amazing it is

[@jeffreyrose4240]

@@fredd0255 God dammit youtube.. get with the program here.. How's he gunna do a video on the Fidel Castro Tower once its built!

[@kinroga]

that would be 2:40

[@fredd0255]

@@kinroga just the nail in the monetization coffin i guess

[@anon1152]

"...running full tilt at his hydroelectric windmill". I love it.

[@pedrohenriquekuhnbraun431]

The Dam Puns are Just Inevitable

[@jbj7599]

When i went there it was over 110° it was Dam hot!

[@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88]

Congrats on pronouncing Navajo correctly! They have a village at the bottom of the canyon that still gets its mail delivered by donkey.

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

That's the "Havasupai" And, they fly it down in a helicopter, now. I'm a buzz-kill, aren't I? So, I won't tell ya what happened to those Emerald Pools...😭

[@NajwaLaylah]

Not Navajo down there.

[@Mrsection8eight]

Thanks. Totally brilliant. Will keep watching

[@michaelhowell2326]

Never a dull topic. I look forward to your uploads. Can you please cover the Potola Palace? I would super appreciate it.

[@chadchampion6773]

"It will affect an area that none of us live in" don't be so sure...

[@JB-rl7hh]

Interesting fact - the USA's largest uranium mines is literally up the road on the Colorado River and a few blocks from Hoover dam. The USA is trying to clean it up now. Yikes 🤪

[@robertlozonne2012]

Sure glad I live in Bullhead City, just south of Davis Dam

[@nomimalone7520]

Great video. I was hoping for a few more technical bits, and maybe a short sidebar on the amazing Pat Tillman bridge. Oh well - still a great watch.

[@MarshallBuilders]

Damn I enjoyed this one ☺

[@tylerjackson4168]

Dam, me too!

[@TheStrayHALOMAN]

We won't let the Legion take the dam... you can count on that!

[@julianaylor4351]

I did an essay about the Hoover Dam and other American dams in Geography at school years ago.

[@jrproductions1046]

Excellent Job Simon your narrative is very good..

[@thefryingdutchman8795]

Sponsor Segment ends at 10:42

[@Bluefiresea]

When Simon mentions the Great Depression causing a quarter of the workforce being unemployed, and you're living through covid-19 times >.>

[@Jiff321]

Only people with non skilled jobs lost them in covid

[@Bluefiresea]

@@Jiff321 Jobs are based on supply and demand. Many skilled job fields took a hard hit, including healthcare. Any healthcare that did not involve direct treatment of covid patients resulted in direct lay offs. I can tell you that entire hospital departments like interventional radiology had massive lay offs or temporary leaves due to beds being taken up by covid patients. Many skilled trade jobs too like plumbers and electricians didn't get any more contracts for building or repairs.

[@Jiff321]

@@Bluefiresea the plumbing and electrical industries had record breaking years during the pandemic lol. What a weird made up comment. I’m in that business lol.

[@Bluefiresea]

Good that your business thrived like mine did in healthcare. Sad you don't work with enough people to know how many people were actually effected outside of your normal circle.

[@BMSweetLife]

Thanks for the info on my own town! Other than the field trip in elementary, I don't know much about it

[@stephencrabtree4256]

Great video, though I wish there was a bit more on the power plant, too. As to future suggestions, while I’d love to see more outside the US and Europe, I’d also be intrigued by a video about Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, aka that notch that sticks up before the US-Canada border runs due-west along the 49th parallel to the Pacific. The people who live there, as far north as Angle Inlet, MN, actually have to travel through Canada to get to the rest of the US by land. They’re separated from the rest of Minnesota by Lake of the Woods.

[@nicolek4076]

So, they're intending to turn Lake Mead into a rechargeable battery.

[@firstnlastnamethe3rd771]

It keeps going, and going ...dry

[@corkycobon1481]

Lake Mead has always been a rechargeable battery. It is the result of and the reason for the dam. Can't produce power without water flowing through the turbines but......the sad state of the lake now is really sad. Drove over the dam last June while going to Vegas from Phoenix and I was kinda shocked about how dry it is now. Can actually see some of the shanti towns that were built by the workers on the river bed. I actually heard of people going out there with metal detectors looking for stuff people have lost over the decades.

[@grannieannie1371]

They actually have had a similar but smaller system in Scotland for a long time. They're also considering doing the same thing in the snowy mountains electricity scheme in Australia.

[@johnuferbach9166]

@@grannieannie1371 pretty common stuff innit?

[@OzzieTheHead]

15:02 Gotcha, Simon!

[@ryanroberts1104]

I have a pack of post cards from my grandma showing off the "Boulder" dam not long after it opened. I guess they did decide to sell those souvenirs at a loss. :p I wonder if that makes them worth more today?

[@fishingoutdoors4427]

I live in New Mexico. And I didn't know we got power from that far out. What amazes me the most is if they really do make a pump to resupply the Mead. That would be something worth visiting again.

[@andreasantoni6896]

Hoover Dam should be officially renamed to God Dam.

[@jeffborders5526]

16:00 "at an average of about a death per every two days .. ... Overall it's incredible great job everybody!" -you all that died yeah great job you did great!

[@davidhenningson4782]

To work on the Hoover dam... it's absolutely to die for! 💀😬

[@mariusvanc]

Yeah, look at all those privileged men benefitting from the patriarchy.... probably all white too I bet.

[@hddun]

I was there in 2015. I was tremendously impressed. And now the highway bridge which is 200 feet higher than the dam keeps trucks off the dam. It is quite a view to see the dam with the Tillman bridge in the background...go see it--its only 50 miles from Las Vegas ...