Hoover Dam

[music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Where the Colorado River once cut through a narrow canyon, Hoover Dam now stands. Downstream, the river still follows its age-old channel to the sea. But behind Hoover Dam, the river has become a farreaching lake of quiet waters. [music] In contrast to most of the nation, these states of the Colorado River Basin were not endowed with a steady supply of water. For within this region, there are vast areas of desert. The little rain that falls drains quickly off the land in deep gullies. And the sunbaked earth supports only the heartiest plant life. Mosquite and Joshua trees, cactus and sage brush. Yet this low desert country covers only part of the region. Far to the north, beyond the horizon, there are highlands that shed their waters into the Colorado River system. Waters that have always been vital to the entire Southwest. It was along this river that the early homesteaders settled. During the last half of the 19th century, hundreds of farms sprang up throughout the region. With each new generation, plows bit farther and farther into the wilderness. For the farmers of the Southwest possessed a stubborn faith in the soil, working together, they built their fences strong. [music] Year after year, they improved their land. But the rewards of their hard work were always threatened by water. Often there was not enough and crops withered. Sometimes there was too much and floods ravaged the fields. Yet they remained convinced that they could solve this water problem if somehow they could control the Colorado River. >> [music] >> Rising in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, fed by their melting snows and teeming rains, the Colorado plunges south, cutting more than half its course through plateaus of solid rock until it reaches the plains and empties into the Gulf of California. A journey of 1,700 miles. [bell] Each spring, farmers built rock and brush dams along the river's tributaries to ease the load that poured into the main street. [music] But there were years when spring rains were heavy or mountain snows melted too fast. Years when the threat of flood loomed across the land. Everywhere farmers fought to stem the tide, for they knew the meaning of flood, the loss of top soil, the drowned crops, the ruined homes. These were the years when makeshift dams were not enough. [music] Other years when the river was low, drought took its toll of the land. Marauding winds carried off the powder dry soil and the sun beat down on the broken equipment of desolate farms. Looking about them at the havoc, the people of the southwest knew that in order to survive, they must conquer the Colorado. How do you tame a river like the Colorado? Throughout the Southwest, farmers began to think seriously about this question. With the initiative of a free people, they organized meetings. For their leaders, they chose men who had studied the river. And as these men spoke, the people listened thoughtfully. To most of them, this man made good sense. The basic problem, he said, was to stabilize the flow of this river, to reduce it in flood years, and to increase it in times of drought. The solution he suggested was this. Upstream, where the river cut deep narrow canyons through a deserted land, its waters could be trapped by a dam and then released at whatever rate of flow man desired? Yes, it sounded like good sense. But could such a dam be built? Would such a dam assure flood control and irrigation? With so much at stake, these people had to be certain. Some were skeptical and shook their heads. They decided it was all wishful thinking and they left. But almost everyone remained. This was their problem and they were determined to keep working until it was solved. It takes money to build a dam. And so after the long months of planning, a committee called on the local banker. This man had always worked with farmers and understood their needs. Yet he was astonished as they outlined their project. It would cost millions. It would involve legal questions. And even if a group of banks could help, how would the loan be repaid? Certainly, their plan to sell water for irrigation would never earn enough. No, this was a public project, if anything, not one for a community bank. Everywhere, the discouraging news was answered with more work. Meeting whenever they could, the farmers of the Southwest planned their next move. Since the banker had said this was a public project, they decided it was time to call on their state government for assistance. At the state capital, a delegation argued their case convincingly. Officials wanted to help, but state laws stood in the way. For no [music] one state may interfere with the sovereign rights of another. And because the Colorado belongs in part to every state through which it flows, no one of them may exploit the river. Despite their disappointment, the people of the region resolve to work on. As the months went by, the movement grew and gained a new era of confidence. Confidence based on a fresh approach to the problem. Why not make the dam a federal project? Some disagreed, but soon a majority was convinced. What one state couldn't do, surely the union of 48 states could. In Washington's seat of the federal government, hearings finally began. explaining their proposal in detail. Advocates of the dam were wellreceived by the examining committees of Congress. Yet, many congressmen objected to a dam that would never earn back its staggering cost. Committee members fought hard to reconcile the expense of the dam with the need for it. And finally, the dilemma was solved. Add a hydroelect electric plant to the structure, engineers said, and the dam could be made to pay for itself by the sale of hydroelect electric power. The press rolled into action, explaining both sides of the issue. Across the nation, public forums argued the case. Radio carried the debate into millions of homes. Everywhere citizens wrote to their representatives in Washington urging them to vote for or against the project. Some people telephoned. Others sent telegrams. And at the nation's capital, every message was recorded. At last, Congress voted. The issue was decided. News of the vote went out across the land. Congress had approved [music] the construction of a dam across the Colorado. The long struggle to win support was over. Now it was time to build. Black Canyon came to life with a mighty rover. The best of 70 sightes. It shook with the thunder of dynamite as man reshaped his walls to receive the dam. Day after day, the nation's largest steam shovels bit deeper into the layers of blasted rock and [music] hard packed earth. Week after week, an endless line of trucks carried the waste over miles of new roads to dump it far from the site. Five bridges were built to carry men [music] and materials across the river, and skip loaders suspended from cables shifted workers back and forth to their various jobs. >> [music] [music] >> The task of stripping the canyon walls called for crowbars and krampons, air hammers, and special rigging. Yet, as in every job at Black Canyon, tools and equipment were not enough. What counted most was the individual skill and courage of almost 6,000 men to divert the river. Four huge tunnels were poured through the canyon's flanking walls. Excavating and lining them took 18 months. And when they were finished, these tunnels carried the waters of the Colorado [music] unseen past the busy site. Work began at last on the dry riverbed. From this point on, concrete became a vital factor. Day after day, these buckets soared out into canyon full and came back empty. [music] >> [music] >> Week after week, concrete was poured into the growing forms at a rate of 50,000 cubic feet an hour. [music] Each month, the dam climbed higher. Workers stayed on the job night and day. For concrete doesn't stop drying at sunset and demands constant attention as it hardens. Many unforeseen problems arose and were solved. When they learned that steel tubes for piping water through the dam were too large for shipment, engineers built a steel fabricating plant nearby. They also developed new X-ray [music] tests to make sure that faulty tube sections were caught before they were lowered into place and buried under tons of concrete. >> [music] >> Slowly, the dam assumed its final shape. To accomplish this, six of the nation's most skillful engineering and construction firms had combined their full resources, and they finished the job in 5 years, 2 years ahead of schedule. Nearing completion, the dam rose over 700 ft from the canyon floor. It was a quarter of a mile wide. Yet dimensions mean nothing. For the majesty of Hoover Dam can be measured only by the eye. Like the vision of those farmers who fought for its construction, Hoover Dam represents more than a wall across a river. Behind it stretches Lake Me, a vast man-made sea. Once these waters might have been floods, stripping fields and destroying homes. Today they lie quiet until man releases them to flow calmly southward. [music] Watering fields and filling aqueducts that lead to distant cities. The Colorado meanders across the plains toward Imperial Dam, 250 mi below Lake Me. Here it halts again for diversion to the states of Arizona and California and for the process of desilting. In this process, the water enters a series of huge basins. As it moves slowly through them, [music] the particles of sand and dirt which it carries settle to the bottom, permitting only clean water to flow out into California's All-American Canal. 80 mi in length, this artificial river feeds more than 4,000 miles of irrigation ditches, furnishing them with water all year round. [music] No longer are these farmers dependent on the whims of a vagrant river. Today, they [music] can water their fields and orchards at will. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Where tired mules once pulled harrows across a few dry acres, farmers now cultivate rich sections of land with valable able mechanical equipment for farm income has increased [music] with the earth's productivity. [music] The soil of California's Imperial Valley has more than justified man's efforts to reclaim it by producing abundant crops of vegetables and fruit. Equally important, yearround irrigation and good weather have enabled this region to harvest and ship its crops while most of the nation's farms are still blanketed with snow. [music] >> [music] >> As a result of its plentiful water supply, the Imperial Valley area has become ideally suited to the production of certain garden crops. Of these, one of the most important is lettuce. With the aid of modern farm machinery, large crops of this perishable salad plant can be gathered and loaded quickly before they have passed their prime. [music] Close to the farms they serve, processing plants sort and pack the incoming crops for shipment to markets. Here, as a final step, food grown with the Colorado's water moves from hand to hand on belts driven by hydroelect electric power. The ultimate rewards of Booer Dam. Flood control and irrigation brought new life to the farmers of the Southwest. But what of the dam's third great objective? The generation of hydroelect electric power. Here again, Hoover Dam has achieved its purpose. Although the plant operates at less than full capacity, still it supplies electric power to over 7 million people, equal to the combined populations of Syria and Iraq. Built with the precision of a watch, these generators produce almost three times the energy of Russia's great nephestroy dam. Finished only four years earlier. Every day, hundreds of visitors come to view this man-made wonder. And as they watch, power is constantly generated. Power whose sale has paid back 1/3 of the dam's cost in less than 13 years. These generators are driven by turbines far below to which they are connected by thick steel shafts. The turbines themselves are driven by the thrust of Lake Me's water, plunging 60 mph past their blades, converting natural [music] energy into hydroelectric power. From the generators, the electric current moves on to transformers, which increase its voltage for the long journey ahead. >> [music] [music] >> Power lines carry it up the canyon walls, past the bluffs, and finally it starts across the land. >> [music] >> Spreading as far south as Yuma, Arizona, this new power has aroused the whole region to greater activity. Agriculture and industry have prospered. With cheap power available, lonely farms have discovered the comfort of electric lights and radios, and towns which had stopped growing have come to life. Since Hoover Dam was finished, the population of Yuma has increased almost 400%. There are three more schools, a new medical clinic, more churches, food processing plants, and nearly 2,000 new homes. Drawn together after their day's work in the gleaming shops and recreation centers, people throughout the area have developed a deeper sense of unity and common purpose than ever before. Thanks in part to cheap power, a new society is growing in the southwest. Northward, Uber Dam's energy has invigorated the zinc and lead mining districts of Nevada, long threatened by high operating costs. Today, miners who were often without work have found steady jobs here in Pioi. For lowcost power has made it possible to reopen idle mines and operate them at a profit. Underground, electric power has revolutionized working conditions and standards of safety. Light is no longer a problem, and miners now breathe clean, fresh air, circulated by powerful electric ventilators. Even the practice of working ore by hand is giving way to power-driven machinery. Formerly, when it reached the surface, this ore would have been shipped to distant smelters. To save this costly step, there are now smelting plants on the spot, where impurities are removed from the minerals by an electrical separation process, another in the long line of benefits flowing north from Hoover Dam. >> [bell] >> 250 mi west of the dam lies the fast growing city of Los Angeles. Known for many years as the home of moving pictures, Los Angeles is rapidly assuming a major role in the nation's economy. Every year the population increases. Every year new industries are settling nearby. There are numerous reasons for this vast growth and underlying many of them is the city's abundance of cheap power distributed throughout the area by municipal power stations. Energy from Hoover Dam turns the lathes of engine and machine tool plants. >> [music] >> In the past 10 years, Los Angeles has produced more aircraft than any other city in the world, turning out everything from experimental military planes to giant commercial transports. New textile mills have made Los Angeles the nation's second largest garment [music] producing area and only Akran Ohio surpasses the city's output of rubber products. To meet the huge western demand for automobiles, new assembly plants are now operating in Los Angeles, using power which has come 250 m to help man and his work. Throughout the area, busy freight terminals keep the products of the Southwest moving to the nation. clothing and furniture, canned foods, machine parts, fresh fruit and vegetables. All these and more are the things that millions of people work hard to produce. But beyond that, these are the results of man's triumph over the Colorado. >> [bell] [music] [music] >> moving across the continent. This flow of goods has promoted the welfare of the nation. As the Southwest produced more, it developed new markets for its products. Markets in every state of the union. The more it sold, the more it bought. This exchange of goods has stimulated business throughout the country. Everywhere, factories have stepped up production to fill the new orders of the Southwest. From the east, the west, the north, the south, carriers are moving, moving more freight to more people every day. >> [music] >> The people of one region struggled to gain a more abundant life. The nation felt the benefit. It all began with a handful of farmers fighting to tame a river. In open debate, they won the support of the people. They used their government and together the people and their government built Hoover Dam. With the dam came control of the river. With the dam came energy, hydroelect electric power. [music] Powered by electricity, factories are spreading throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and California. >> [music] >> Free from the threats of flood and drought, a wasteland now produces yearround crops. [music] The men of the Southwest turned a local problem into a national asset. They have challenged all people everywhere to face their problems with imagination and daring to work them out with skill and perseverance. They have built a monument of hope. They have engineered the future. [bell] [music]