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KF5JRV > TODAY 07.07.19 13:34l 12 Lines 2629 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 10174_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jul 07
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<VE2PKT<N9PMO<NS2B<KF5JRV
Sent: 190707/1015Z 10174@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQK6.0.18
On this day in 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam begins. Over thenext five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to producewhat would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one of the largestmanmade structures in the world.
Although the dam would take only five years to build, its constructionwas nearly 30 years in the making. Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer fromthe Bureau of Reclamation, originally had his vision for the Hoover Damback in 1902, and his engineering report on the topic became the guidingdocument when plans were finally made to begin the dam in 1922.Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States and a committedconservationist, played a crucial role in making Davis’ vision areality. As secretary of commerce in 1921, Hoover devoted himself to theerection of a high dam in Boulder Canyon, Colorado. The dam wouldprovide essential flood control, which would prevent damage todownstream farming communities that suffered each year when snow fromthe Rocky Mountains melted and joined the Colorado River. Further, thedam would allow the expansion of irrigated farming in the desert, andwould provide a dependable supply of water for Los Angeles and othersouthern California communities.
Even with Hoover’s exuberant backing and a regional consensus around theneed to build the dam, Congressional approval and individual statecooperation were slow in coming. For many years, water rights had been asource of contention among the western states that had claims on theColorado River. To address this issue, Hoover negotiated the ColoradoRiver Compact, which broke the river basin into two regions with thewater divided between them. Hoover then had to introduce andre-introduce the bill to build the dam several times over the next fewyears before the House and Senate finally approved the bill in 1928.In 1929, Hoover, now president, signed the Colorado River Compact intolaw, claiming it was “the most extensive action ever taken by a group ofstates under the provisions of the Constitution permitting compactsbetween states.ö
Once preparations were made, the Hoover Dam’s construction sprintedforward: The contractors finished their work two years ahead of scheduleand millions of dollars under budget. Today, the Hoover Dam is thesecond highest dam in the country and the 18th highest in the world. Itgenerates enough energy each year to serve over a million people, andstands, in Hoover Dam artist Oskar Hansen’s words, as “a monument tocollective genius exerting itself in community efforts around a commonneed or ideal.ö
73, Scott kf5jrv
KF5JRV @ KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
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