Hoover Dam Facts and Statistics

Hoover Dam

• 726.4 feet high (221 meters)
• 1,244 feet wide (379 meters)
• 660 feet (203 meters) thick at the base
• 45 feet (13 meters) thick at the top
• $165 million dollars to build
• 4.5 years to build
• 4.4 million yards of concrete used for construction
• Building began March 1931; Lake Mead began to form behind Hoover Dam in 1935
• September 30, 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the completed Boulder Dam Project, and in his speech Roosevelt officially named the dam “Boulder Dam”
• A three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name “Boulder Dam”, the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947
• Boulder Dam was re-named “Hoover Dam” by Congress in 1947

Hoover Dam Powerhouse

• Hoover Dam has Two Powerhouses – one on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, and one on the Nevada side of the Colorado River
• 17 generators – 9 on the Arizona powerhouse, 7 in the Nevada powerhouse
• 4+ billion kilowatt hours produced each year
• 10 acres of floor space

Power from Hoover Dam is used by:

• 56% California
• 25% Nevada
• 19% Arizona

Water from Lake Mead, controlled by Hoover Dam:

• Serves 8 million people in Arizona, Nevada and California
• Downstream releases of water from Lake Mead at Hoover Dam provide water for both municipal and irrigation uses.
• Water released from the Hoover Dam eventually reaches the All-American Canal for the irrigation of over 1,000,000 acres of land in Southern Arizona, California, and Mexico.

Lake Mead

• Required over 6 years to fill. This slow filling process was necessary to reduce the pressures on the dam and helped prevent small earthquakes from land settlement from the weight of the water.
• 589 feet (181 meters) at the deepest point
• 247 square miles
• 110 miles (176 km) long
• Named after Dr. Elwood Mead, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation (1924 – 1936)
• Largest man-made reservoir in the United States