Design for Engineering
Unit 7 Technology and society
Annette Beattie
August 15, 2006
Hoover Dam
ETP 2006 – Annette Beattie
This material is based upon work supported by the
National Science Foundation under Grant No.
0402616. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
view of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam
 One of the "Seven Modern
Engineering Wonders of the
United States”
 The strong desire to harness
nature's power drove the human
mind and body to build a dam in
the hottest, driest area of the
United States.
Hoover Dam
 People wanting to irrigate low
lying desert areas without
suffering from flooding made it
obvious to the United States
government that the Colorado
River was part of the solution.
Hoover Dam
 The government pursued bids for the
building project.
 This project was so demanding that
one construction company would
not be capable enough to solely
build the dam.
 Therefore, six of the largest United
States construction companies
worked together to acquire the bid
calling themselves Six Companies,
Inc.
Hoover Dam
 Frank Crowe
was chief
engineer of Six
Companies, Inc.
that lead the
project.
Frank Crowe
 Born in Trenholmville, Quebec,
 Graduated from the University
of Maine in 1905 with a degree in
civil engineering.
 The University's Francis Crowe
Society is named in his honor.
Frank Crowe
 Crowe became interested in the
American west during a lecture from
Frank Weymouth, a guest speaker
from the United States Bureau of
Reclamation.
 He signed up for a summer job before
the end of the lecture.
 That summer job began a 20 year
career with the reclamation service
that would change the face of the
American west.
Frank Crowe
 While working on the Arrowrock
Dam in Idaho, Crowe pioneered two
practices that are crucial to the
construction of large dams.
 The first was a pneumatic delivery
system to transport cement.
 The second was a system of
overhead cables to allow the
pneumatic system to pump cement at
any point on the construction site.
Frank Crowe
 Using this technique, Crowe
built some of the largest dams
in the American west, including
the Shasta Dam and 18 other
dams. But the Hoover Dam was
crowning glory.
Frank Crowe
 "I was wild to build this dam,"
Crowe would later recall. "I
had spent my life in the river
bottoms, and (Hoover) meant a
wonderful climax--the biggest
dam ever built by anyone,
anywhere."
Frank Crowe
 It is said about Crowe that he was
not only an engineering genius, but a
people genius as well.
 He finished the dam 2 years ahead of
schedule
 And received a $350,000 bonus
 (In 1936 the avg. salary was $1,500)
Hoover Dam
 Taking on such a project gave jobs
to many during the depression
 However, it cost the lives of
approximately 100 people
 several communities had to relocate
due to (manmade) lake mead that took
up 247 sq. miles
 It serves electricity to Arizona,
Nevada, and southern California
 Lake Mead is enjoyed by 8-10 million
people each year
Sources
 http://www.bigy.com/temp/70th_an
no/bigy70th.php
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover
_Dam
 http://www.hooverdamtourcompany
.com/
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ho
over/peopleevents/pandeAMEX87.h
tml