Photo: The Mighty Colorado River

On the approach to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge from the Arizona side, there is a scenic overlook that gives a view of the high desert plains, the Colorado River below, and the rocky mountainous terrain.

The government searched this area to try to find the best site for the construction of Hoover Dam. there were fissures in the rock in some locations, and other locations were too isolated for access or too narrow to construct the spillways.

I am sure that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau is delighted with the location that was chosen, as it is only about 35 miles (50 km) from Las Vegas.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether to fly or drive to Vegas. It is about 4 1/2 hours to drive from the Phoenix area to Vegas, and all of the casino hotels have free parking. It is about 3 hours to go to the airport, park, check luggage, go to the gate and wait for the flight, fly, then get your luggage on the other end. For business trips where I don't have luggage, of course it is easy to fly up and back in a day.

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Photo: Gorgeous Purple Wildflower

Here is a closer photo of the flowers that I showed yesterday. The architecture of flowers fascinates me. What construction do you think is the most ingenious and impressive, the nearby Hoover Dam bypass bridge, Hoover Dam, or these flowers?

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Photo: Purple Flowers at the Dam

I showed the desolate terrain yesterday and mentioned a few days ago that there is a trail that leads from a parking area up to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge. Even in these harsh conditions, there is beauty in the desert.

These tiny, delicate flowers were growing seemingly out of the rock alongside the trail leading up to the bridge.

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Photo: Rugged Mountains At Hoover Dam

I am showing this photo to give you an appreciation for how rugged and rocky the terrain is around Hoover dam, a portion of which is visible in the background of this photo. Think of the logistical challenges and human hardships building what was at that time the largest concrete construction project in human history, in such a remote and harsh site.

Thousands of workers came to the desert in search of construction jobs during the depression. There was no town nearby. Workers camps and bunkhouses developed. A rail line was built from Las Vegas to near the construction site to bring supplies.

Sadly, the construction contracts specified that no workers of Chinese heritage would be employed, and there were never more than 30 African-Americans among the approximately 5,000 workers, and they were confined to the lowest paid jobs and had to drink out of segregated water containers.

The heat along the Colorado River is hotter than the phoenix area because it is 1,000 feet (300 m.) lower in elevation. During the summer of 1931, the average daily high temperature at the construction site was 120 F (49 C), as the canyon walls reflect and radiate the sun's heat like the inside of a brick oven.

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Photo: Walking on Hoover Dam bridge

Here is the pedestrian walkway along the side of the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge that I have showed during the last few weeks. As you can see, it is popular with tourists who take the time to drive around and walk up to the bridge.

You can also see the concrete wall that keeps the tourists safe from the passing highway traffic and that also blocks the view from vehicles so that they will not be distracted or slow down to look at the amazing view of the dam far below.

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Photo: Long View of Hoover Dam

One of the benefits of the new Mike O'Callahan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge bypassing Hoover Dam is that the bridge offers the best view of the Dam. This is a photo of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead taken from the bridge.

They anticipated that people would want to stop on the bridge to view the dam. They built a pedestrian walkway on the side of the bridge that overlooks the dam. They also built a concrete barrier on the bridge that blocks the view of the dam so that motorists would not slow down and block traffic to view the dam.

To see the dam from the bridge, you have to exit highway 93 on the Nevada side and take a road that doubles back to a location near the bridge. There is a walkway that goes up to the bridge. the road also continues to a parking garage and visitor center for tours of the dam itself.

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Photo: Workers at Dam; Triple Tragedies

This silhouette of a bronze statute against the late afternoon sky is a memorial to the workers who built Hoover Dam.

Tragically, 112 construction-related deaths are attributed to Hoover Dam, but even more tragically, there were another 42 fatalities that are not counted as construction deaths.

Compounding the above tragedies, 42 more construction workers died, but pneumonia was listed as the cause of death, undoubtedly so the construction companies would not have to pay workers compensation to their families. They worked in the diversion tunnels in the midst of gasoline powered construction vehicles in temperatures up to 140 degrees F. (60 C.). The cause of death was most likely carbon monoxide poisoning. There were no deaths from pneumonia in the area among non construction workers.

Another tragedy is that the first fatality was a surveyor scouting for a site for the dam in 1922, J. G Tierney. The last fatality during construction was his son, Patrick Tierney, 13 years to the day after his father died.

In my job I do a lot of work to promote workplace safety and compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) standards. Hoover Dam shows how far we have come in making improvements in this important mission.

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Photo: Mighty Colorado River Gorge

This is a photo from Hoover Dam looking back at the Mike O'Callahan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, with the Colorado River far below. The structures on the right are massive utility transmission poles that carry the electricity up from the dam to the transmission complex that I showed about a week ago.

It is difficult to imagine how structures such as this can be built. They built temporary towers on each side of the gorge, strung cables between them, and poured the concrete bridge in place. One of the cables failed during high winds in September 2006 and delayed the project by two years.

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Photo: Lake's Bathtub Ring

Here is a closer photo of the "bathtub ring" around Lake Mead, due to the drought during the past 10 years. This photo is about two months old, taken after the record snow run off this winter. The lake last fall was even lower, as I discussed yesterday.

There was an article in our daily newspaper, The Arizona Republic, about a week ago reporting that Lake Mead is now 16 feet higher than it was last November, its record low, and that it will rise another 30 feet by the end of this year due to the snow this past winter.

Hopefully we will have several more winters of good snowfall in the Rocky Mountains to replenish Lake Mead even more. I am sure that would make the ski resort industry happy, and it will be welcome by the farmers and residents of the desert Southwest.

Even though Scottsdale is more than 200 miles (300 km) from the Colorado River, we get some of our drinking water from the Colorado downstream from Lake Mead, transported that distance by the Central Arizona Project pumps and canal system.

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Photo: Lake Mead and Hoover Dam

This is a photo of Lake Mead looking upstream from Hoover Dam. Lake Mead extends from this point 112 miles (180 km) upstream.

Last November the water level was at an all time low. This winter, there was the most snow and water run off in 10 years, which will postpone any water rationing until at least 2016.

At the end of this year Lake Mead is projected to be 100 feet (30 m.) below its high water mark, and less than half full. We need water in the desert Southwest, but thank goodness for the water storage capacity of Lake Mead.

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Photo: Light From Above

Here is a break from the photos of Hoover Dam and the new bridge. I had to stop on the side of the road on the drive back to Phoenix/Scottsdale to capture the last rays of the sun hitting the tops of the mountains to the east of the highway. The sun is setting behind me as I took this photo.

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Photo: Hoover Dam Bridge Span

Here is a photo of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge that I mentioned a couple of days ago. Its official name is the Mike O'Callahan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. This is the second tallest bridge in the USA, 840 ft. (260 m.) above the Colorado River.

Because the bridge links Arizona and Nevada, each state got to suggest a name for the bridge in late 2004. O'Callahan was a decorated Korean War veteran who was governor of Nevada from 1971 - 79 and was editor of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper until he passed away in 2004. Pat Tillman was a star football player for Arizona State University and the Arizona Cardinals. He gave up his lucrative professional football career to volunteer, along with his brother, for the Army after 9/11, and he was tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. This causes one to reflect on how many professional athletes left their careers during World War II.

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Photo: Looking Way Down

Yesterday I mentioned that you can walk across Hoover Dam. Here is a photo from the top looking straight down, more than 700 feet

(210 m.) to the base of the dam.

Yesterday's photo and today's photo show that the concrete was poured in blocks. The dam is not solid concrete. If the dam had been built with a single, continuous pour, it would have taken 125 years for the concrete to cool, and it would have cracked and weakened as it cooled.

As the concrete was poured in blocks, they used steel pipes in the concrete with river water, then ice water, to cool the concrete, then filled the pipes with grout when the concrete cooled and hardened. The dam contains 582 miles miles (9277 km) of cooling pipes and enough concrete to build a two lane highway from New York to San Francisco.

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Photo: The Top of Hoover Dam

People who have visited Hoover Dam in the past will notice something very different about the way it looks in this recent photo -- no traffic! The road across the top of the dam is now closed to traffic and is used only by pedestrians.

Until the bypass bridge across the canyon just below the dam was opened in October 2010, highway 93, the main highway between Phoenix and Las Vegas, went right across the top of the dam. It was a bottleneck, always full of traffic that presented a danger the tourists walking across the dam and lining up for tours.

Construction of the bypass bridge became a higher priority after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. The dam was considered a possible target and the government starting inspecting some of the trucks driving across the dam. It is safer, and a lot more pleasant, not to have any traffic on the dam.

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Photo: Electricity

This is a photo of the electric transmission lines on the Nevada side next to Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam provides electricity for parts of Arizona, Nevada and California. Nearby Las Vegas certainly uses a lot of electricity for the casinos with their excessive electric signage.

The primary purpose of Hoover Dam was and remains water supply. 8 million people are served by its water. Electricity generation repaid the 50-year construction financing, and continues to pay for the costs of maintenance plus a profit. This is an example of the federal government doing something right, i.e. providing a public benefit and earning a profit while doing it.

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Photo: Hoover Dam Spillway

On each side of Hoover Dam is a spillway to be able to release water around the dam so that water will not flow over the dam if Lake Mead becomes full. As you can see in this photo, there is no danger of Lake Mead filling up with water for years to come. The lake is down, way below capacity.

The spillways have been used only twice, in 1941 for testing, and in 1983 due to high water. Both times caused damage to the concrete tunnels below, as the water drops into a 600 foot (180 m.) long before connecting to tunnels that redirect the water back into the river below the dam.

At the top of the spillway are four steel gates that can be opened to let water into the spillway. Each gate is 100 ft. (30 m.) long and 16 ft. (5 m.) high and weighs 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg.). There are so many statistics associated with Hoover Dam that are too large to comprehend.

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Photo: Colorado River and Dam Beauty

I really like this photo of the mountains, the bridge profile connecting the mountainsides, and the Colorado River flowing below.

It is truly monumental. The span is remarkable.

The dam powers generators that provide electricity for Arizona, Nevada and California.

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Photo: Straight Down

Here is a photo looking straight down the canyon walls towards the Colorado River below Hoover Dam.

It is a long way down.

About one million people a year tour the dam and visit the site.

I have taken the elevators all the way to the bottom. Sort of eery to look back up at the dam from the bottom.

You can feel the pressure of the water on the other side of the dam wall.

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Photo: Perspective of Hoover Dam

When you go way down below the Dam, you can get an interesting angle of the Bridge and mountain.

You can start seeing how high up the bridge is and how difficult it must have been to create this structure.

The Engineers really had some challenges on this project.

There was over 3.4 million cubic yards (2.4 million meters) of concrete used to build Hoover Dam.

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Photo: Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

Here you can see the large Hoover Dam and Lake Mead with its current bathtub ring.

Because there has not been as much rain and the lake has been evaporating, there is this ring showing how low the lake is.

The ring looks odd.

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Photo: Colorado River

Here is a photo of the Colorado River flowing from the Dam.

You can see how the River cuts through the mountains.

When you stand at the top of the bridge and look down, it is a long, long ways.

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Photo: Pedestrian Bridge at Hoover Dam

Here is an interesting angle of the pedestrian bridge at Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam is on the border between Arizona and Nevada.

The Dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936, during the Great Depression. President Roosevelt dedicated Hoover Dam.

Over 100 men lost their lives constructing this monumental dam.

I hope you enjoy this series.

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Photo: Lake Mead

We are now going on a road trip to Hoover Dam.

The new bridges for people and animals were recently completed.

This first photo of the series is a photo of Lake Mead and you can see the sail boats on the water.

The next few days you will see images of the magnificent dam over the Colorado River. It is an impressive structure.

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Photo: Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day! A shout out to my own mother and grandmother to have a special day today.

Here is a photo of an ice sculpture from the Mother's Day Brunch at the Phoenician Resort.

I think ice sculptures are quite fascinating pieces of art.

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Photo: Fluffy Reddish Sunset

Here is a gorgeous sunset.

This sunset looks like a painting.

The colors are very unique and look like they were airbrushed into the sky.

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Photo: Bishop's Flower

My Bishop Cactus finally bloomed.

Here is a photo of a Bishop's Cactus flower.

These are funny cactus with skin that serves as sunblock. The cactus does look like a Bishop's hat.

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Photo: Delicate Blue Hibiscus Petal

Here is a photo of a blue hibiscus petal.

You can see the rich colors of the blue hibiscus flowers.

They really look purple not blue.

The frost this year meant that we had very few blue hibiscus flowers this year.

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Photo: McCormick Stillman Railroad Park

Here is a photo of the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park.

The Park has a railroad theme so it made sense to have the WWII French Merci Train rest at this park.

You can see the bell and the merry-g0-round.

The park also has a train that kids can ride in that goes around the park.

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Photo: French Gratitude Train

Here is a photo of the other side of the WWII French Merci Train.

You can see the French shields that were on the train. There were over 40 shields representing all of the French provinces in 1949.

Why did France send the Merci Train? The French wanted to thank America for sending 250 railroad cars full of fuel, oil, and food in 1948 during a time that the European countries were devastated by World War II.

This train has a long lasting impact in Arizona and a great home at Scottsdale's McCormick Stillman Railroad Park. A special display has been built to protect the railroad car, with a fence around it and a roof over it to protect it from the sun and rain. I wonder what has happened to the other 49 trains cars.

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Photo: WWII Merci Train Boxcar

Here is a photo of the WWII Merci Train Boxcar that is currently located at McCormick Stillman Railroad Park.

On February 17, 1949, France sent Arizona a boxcar packed with war medals, a blue Peugeot bicycle, a white wedding dress from a seamstress in Lyon, France, children's dolls and handmade paper stars. There were over 1,700 items inside.

This boxcar was part of the Merci Train, which consisted of 49 boxcars sent to each state in America. The boxcars were filled with gifts collected by the people of France.

Why did France send the boxcars with gifts? Read tomorrow's post.

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Photo: Theme Day is Mailboxes

Here is an artistic mailbox with a Southwestern theme.

These mailboxes are from Smoke Trail Ranch in Sedona.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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