On July 7, , after a dominating tournament showing, the U. Held in host country France, the final saw the United States facing the Netherlands, with the first goal scored in the By , large numbers of women were already On May 28, , 62 of these female cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants.
The United States Military Academy—the first military school in The synchronized suicide bombings, which were thought to be the work of al-Qaida, killed 56 people including the bombers and injured another On July 7, , Heinrich Himmler, in league with three others, including a physician, decides to begin experimenting on women in the Auschwitz concentration camps and to investigate extending this experimentation on males.
Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. A battalion of the U. The soldiers were the first of 25, troops that were withdrawn in the first stage of the U.
More than 8. There are miles of transmission lines sending electricity from Hoover Dam to Los Angeles. At its base, Hoover Dam is as thick ft. Each of the 17 generators can supply electricity to , households. Take NV SR for about 2 miles to the dam.
All vehicles are required to undergo a security inspection prior to visiting the dam. Tickets for tours of the dam and the power plant are available at the Visitor Center. Tickets can also be purchased on-line. There is a charge for the tours, in addition to an admission charge for the Visitor Center.
The Visitor Center is open every day of the year except for Thanksgiving and Christmas days. All visitors are required to go through security screening when entering the Visitor Center. Access to the Visitor Center is most convenient from the parking garage on the Nevada side of the dam. There is a fee for parking. Oversized vehicles, recreational vehicles, and vehicles with trailers must use the parking lots on the Arizona side of the dam.
Check the Hoover Dam website for more detailed information, including seasonal hours of operation. One of the definitions of the word "reclamation" is "the recovery of a wasteland or of flooded land so it can be cultivated. The goal was to encourage the growth of small family farms. The U. Reclamation Service, renamed the Bureau of Reclamation in , was created to design and build these systems. By this time, however, Reclamation's objective was changing and expanding. Where agency efforts had focused on building dams and irrigation systems to supply water to small farms, Reclamation was now envisioning vast projects that would cover whole river basins and use the water to do more than irrigate agricultural fields.
These new projects would also control floods, supply water to growing cities, and generate electricity to fuel industrial growth in a new West. The first of these great multipurpose projects would be a huge dam on the lower Colorado River.
Reclamation Service and the Bureau of Reclamation. The geographic area drained by a river and its tributaries is called a "basin. The canals and aqueduct in California receive water from the Colorado. This map shows only Reclamation's dams in the basin. Questions for Map 1.
Trace the course of the Colorado River. Where does it start? Where does it end? There are two places where the river forms the boundary between two states.
Which states are they? Trace the boundaries of the Colorado River Basin. Which states are within the Basin? Which are in the Upper Basin and which are in the Lower Basin?
Most of the water in the Colorado comes from melting snow in the Upper Colorado Basin. Most of the water is used in the Lower Colorado Basin. If you had to decide how much of the river's water each state could have, what factors might you consider? If the states did not agree with what you recommended, who do you think should have the right to make a final decision? The river crosses the border into Mexico. How would you decide how much water Mexico could claim?
Who could make that decision? How many dams can you find on the Colorado River? Hoover Dam was the first of those on the map. Why do you think there are so many now? Before the building of Hoover Dam, the Colorado River was dangerous and unreliable. Melting snow in the mountains caused damaging floods during the late spring and early summer.
Unpredictable flash floods could occur in any season. In , the Colorado River flooded rich, irrigated farmland in the Imperial Valley in southern California. It caused enormous damage and permanently flooded thousands of acres. Reclamation engineers began to study the Colorado River soon after passage of the Reclamation Act in They were looking for places to build dams to store the water from the annual spring runoff, releasing it gradually during the summer for irrigation.
By the early s, most people thought that building a big dam on the lower Colorado was the best way to store water to irrigate the low-lying valleys of Arizona and southern California and to protect them from floods. By this time, too, developers in Los Angeles and other rapidly growing cities in Southern California had added their powerful support for the project.
They saw the dam as a potential source of water and hydroelectric power for homes, businesses, and factories. In , the seven states of the Colorado River Basin met to decide how to divide the waters of the river. Herbert Hoover, at that time the secretary of commerce for Republican President Calvin Coolidge, led the discussions. Most of the states were afraid California was going to get more than its fair share of the water. Ultimately, they managed to agree on a document, called the Colorado River Compact.
The compact also committed the U. Some states were not happy about the compact; Arizona did not ratify it until It did permit planning for the dam to proceed, however. Also in , congressional representatives from California introduced a bill to authorize Reclamation to build the big dam on the lower Colorado.
By this time, they were among the most knowledgeable and experienced dam builders in the world, but even they had never done anything this big. Hoover Dam would be the highest dam in the world, far taller than anything they had built so far. The lake it created would be the largest in the world.
The proposed dam would be so tall and the pressure of the water it held back so great that many people were worried. Others wondered whether the expected benefits would be enough to justify the enormous cost. Despite these questions, planning and design went forward. Six Companies was a group of some of the largest construction companies in the country. They joined specifically for this project. The contract divided the work between Six Companies and Reclamation. Reclamation engineers designed the dam and created the hundreds of detailed plans and specifications that the contractors would follow.
If the work was consistent with the plans, they approved it for payment. They hired and housed the workers. They transported supplies to the dam site. They were responsible for keeping the project on schedule and within budget. The plan was for construction to start in the fall of , in the depths of the Great Depression, which had begun with the stock market crash of Herbert Hoover, now president, wanted to start work on the dam earlier, probably as a way to ease high unemployment.
Work actually began during the summer and continued around the clock until the dam was completed in , two years ahead of schedule. By this time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, had been elected president. The huge dam on the Colorado captured the imagination of journalists, authors, and filmmakers. The New Deal was famous for using public works projects to put Americans back to work. In the early 21st century, almost a million visitors a year still come to see the great dam on the Colorado River.
Hoover Dam is 1, feet long at the top. It is feet high from the lowest point of the foundation to the crest. The dam is feet thick at the base and tapers to 45 feet thick at the top. Its reservoir was the largest artificial lake in the world for decades and is still the largest in the United States. Questions for Reading 1 1. Why did many people think something needed to be done to control the Colorado River? What sort of problems did the river create?
What benefits would controlling it provide and to whom? Why were congressional representatives from the state of California the leading supporters of a big dam on the Colorado? Why do you think President Coolidge's secretary of commerce led the discussions leading up to the Colorado River Compact?
What role might the federal government be able to play in making decisions like this? An acre-foot is the volume of water that would cover one acre one foot deep. Why do you think they used a measure like that, rather than something like gallons? How many gallons of water are in an acre-foot? How much would that weigh? What were some of the concerns people had about its construction? How did Reclamation and Six Companies divide the work on the dam? Department of the Interior, ; and Donald C.
The guide included the instructions excerpted below: 15 Minute Course in Engineering Full? In fact there are still quite a few nice canyons along the Colorado River.
You can take one of them—no one will miss it—maybe. And you will need to build some roads and erect a power line. At Boulder Dam they had to get the electricity from Los Angeles to build the dam which now sends electricity back to Los Angeles. Sand and gravel—get quite a bit of this to mix with the cement; enough to make 4,, cubic yards of concrete. Pipe for ice water— miles of it will do. Plate steel for making pipes—88 million pounds—when you get into pipe 30 feet in diameter, you have to make your own.
Structural steel, nuts, bolts—and other stuff like that—18 million pounds. Assorted steam shovels, etc. Make them each 56 feet in diameter, then line them with three feet of concrete. The winter months are mild with an average December temperature of 45 degrees. The first Europeans to venture into the American Southwest were Spanish conquistadors and missionaries who traveled into what is now southern Arizona.
They found the land populated by several native groups including the Pima, Yuma, Maricopa, and Papago. The Spaniards also discovered traces of earlier inhabitants who had developed cultures of fairly high order. Ruins of their towns and villages, some with structures three and four stories high, spoke of their high level of achievement.
The Indians of the Southwest and their ancestors had been forcing a living from the desert with irrigation. Beginning sometime around A. By the time the Spanish entered the region, these systems had supported numerous cultures for over 1, years.
In , Ulloa sailed into the Gulf of California. Near the head of the Gulf he noted rolling, murky water and assumed that a large river or stream was in the area. Although he did not see the river, he noted its location. The following year, Hernando de Alarcon was sent into the Gulf to sail up the coastline until he made contact with Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, who was traveling overland in search of the legendary seven cities of Cibola.
Alarcon did not find Coronado, but did locate the Colorado River, sailing upstream to a point just above where the Gila River meets the Colorado, near the present day site of Yuma, Arizona.
Also in , Lopez de Cardenas, a member of Coronado's party, led a group of men through northern Arizona until they reached the rim of the Grand Canyon. Unable to continue further, Cardenas and his men turned back. Cardenas was not the last person to be stopped by the Grand Canyon. Many who followed his party were turned back by the canyon's steep walls and awesome depth.
It was not until the mid that the canyon was successfully crossed. Weakened by the hardships of winter, the party decided to abandon their journey and return to Santa Fe.
The Colorado River blocked exploration of sections of the West for several centuries. Those who attempted to follow it's course were rewarded with hardship or death. Able to be crossed at only a few points, the majority of those who traveled west took a more southern route, crossing the Colorado near its junction with the Gila River. Following the end of the Mexican War in and the acquisition of Arizona, New Mexico and California by the United States, the desire to explore the unknown reaches of the Colorado River grew.
In , the War Department sent Lt. Ives up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California, and in , Ives succeeded in taking his boat, The Explorer, almost miles upstream to the lower end of Black Canyon.
At that point, The Explorer struck a submerged rock and was destroyed. Ives continued upstream in a skiff until he reached Las Vegas Wash, about five miles upstream from the site of Boulder Dam. Traveling over 1, miles through uncharted canyons and rapids, Powell and his party became the first men known to have traveled through the Grand Canyon and live to tell about it.
Even before Powell and Ives explored the river, others had seen the possibility of using its water to irrigate lands in California's Imperial Valley. The idea was proposed in the s, but it was not until the s that actual development began. In , the California Development Company began constructing canals in the Imperial Valley and the first water from the Colorado River was delivered in The Imperial Valley of southern California is a deep depression with its lowest point, the Salton Sink, some feet below sea level.
The Colorado River flows along the valley's southeastern rim, about feet above sea level, and is separated from the valley by a ridge of alluvial material deposited by the river.
The canal ran along side the river for about four miles before turning west into the old Alamo River channel and into the Imperial Valley. In , floods filled the first four miles of the canal with silt and prevented diversion of water. To solve the problem, a temporary channel was dug directly from the river to the old Alamo River channel. Since the channel was temporary and supposed to be closed before the spring floods, no control works were installed.
Unexpected winter flooding caught the canal's owners off guard, sending floods into the Imperial Valley. The uncontrolled flows began to cut into the channel making it deeper and deeper until the entire flow of the Colorado River was flowing into the Alamo channel and the Salton Sink, creating the Salton Sea. The river ran uncontrolled into the valley until November when the bypass channel was finally blocked. In December , the river once again flooded, breaching the dam that had been built across the bypass channel and the river again flowed into the Salton Sea.
The river was again controlled in February , but renewed flooding in and underscored the need to find a way to control the river. The Imperial Valley was not the only place to suffer from the unpredictable nature of the river and its tributaries. Levees built to protect the city and the project proved to be less effective than hoped, and the area became subject to regular floods. In , flooding on the Gila River breached levees, and water stood four feet deep in the streets of Yuma.
Faced with constant cycles of flooding and drought, the people of the region looked to the Federal Government for relief, and the Bureau of Reclamation began investigations into how to control the river and best use its valuable resource.
The passage of the Boulder Canyon Project Act came after more than two decades of studies and investigations. One of the most difficult steps in gaining approval for the project was determining the equitable allocation of the waters of the Colorado River. The people living in the Colorado River Basin depended of the waters of the river, and in many cases water rights held greater value than land titles. While all of the Basin states recognized the advantages of a large dam on the river, there were concerns about one state's ability to claim the lions's share of the water, leaving the other state without sufficient water for development.
Under the doctrine of prior appropriation which was recognized by all Basin states, an individual or agency meeting certain legal conditions and first appropriating water for beneficial use had first right to the water.
Several of the Basin States feared that California, with it's vast financial resources and great thirst for water, would be the first state to begin beneficial use of the waters of the Colorado River and therefore claim rights to the majority of the water. It was clear that without some sort of an agreement on the distribution of water, the project could not proceed. In , representatives of the seven Basin states met and endorsed a proposal for an interstate compact.
A commission was formed with a representative from each of the Basin states and one from the Federal Government. The commission first met in January with Hoover presiding.
At first, negotiations attempted to establish amounts for each state, but an agreement could not be reached. Hoover proposed that the Colorado River water resources be divided into two groups, the Upper and Lower Basin States, with the division of water within each Basin to be agreed upon at a later date.
The proposal, known as the Hoover Compromise, led to the Colorado River Compact, which was signed by the Commissioners on November 24, The Compact was approved by the legislatures of six Basin States Arizona did not approve the Compact until and the Federal Government. The states of the Lower Basin could not reach agreement, and the Secretary of the Interior determined the state's allocation. The matter was sent to the courts for determination, and in , the Supreme Court upheld the Secretary's decision.
The Colorado River Compact allocated each Basin 7,, acre feet af per year, slightly less than is, on average, available. The first attempt to gain approval for construction of Boulder Dam came in with the introduction of two bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The bills were introduced by Congressman Phil D. Swing and Senator Hiram W. Johnson and were known as the Swing-Johnson bills. The bills failed to come up for a vote and were subsequently reintroduced several times. Many parties joined to oppose the bills. Arizona feared that a thirsty California was trying to get their water. Eastern legislators saw the project as a white elephant that would in no way benefit their constituents.
The power lobby, under the guidance of Utah Senator Reed Smoot, saw the project as an attempt by the federal government to get into the power business, directly competing with private industry. Also joining the fight was the influential publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Harry Chandler, who owned , acres of irrigated land in Mexico.
Chandler feared that the proposed project would siphon off water that was irrigating his land. In December , after many failures, both the House and the Senate approved the bill and sent it to the President for final approval. Construction History Investigations. The Bureau of Reclamation began studying construction of dams to control the Colorado River in Early studies involved investigations throughout the entire Colorado River Basin.
The basin is divided into two sections. In , while on a reconnaissance boat trip through Boulder and Black Canyons, U. Geological Survey hydrologists J. Lippincott and Jeremiah Ahern noted several potential dam sites and suggested that surveys be conducted.
In and , E. Perkins made a number of topographical surveys in the Lower Basin for the Geological Survey. Over the next 15 years, investigations continued throughout the entire basin. These studies later served as the basis of a comprehensive plan of development for the entire basin. The increasing demand for water in California's Imperial Valley and nearby cities, and the need to control the unpredictable habits of the river led to in-depth studies in the Lower Basin.
Davis, ordered a thorough investigation of Boulder and Black Canyons as sites for a high dam for storage and flood control. In the years that followed, many sites were mapped and several potential dam sites were located. In , Homer Hamlin and Edward T. Wheeler reported to the Secretary of Interior, John B. Payne, that both the Boulder and Black Canyons contained several suitable sites. Their study was supplemented by Geological Survey studies conducted in and In , as a result of the Reclamation Service and Geological Service studies, Congress passed the Kincaid Act authorizing Secretary Payne to fully investigate the potential of a large dam on the lower Colorado River.
Exploratory drilling at potential dam sites began in late and continued for three years. Detailed topographic surveys were conducted in and with geologic surveys being conducted from to Also during the period of to , studies into the availability of materials for concrete aggregates were made and investigations were conducted to determine the locations of railroads and highways for transporting supplies and equipment to construction sites.
In , after several years of investigations, the Bureau of Reclamation recommended construction of a high concrete dam at a site in the Black Canyon. The Black Canyon site was chosen for several reasons including accessibility, better foundation material, depth to bedrock, and a greater reservoir capacity. Although the Black Canyon site was chosen, the name Boulder Canyon Project was retained because of prior legislation under that title. The design of Boulder Dam evolved during several years of study that involved the efforts of some engineers and other workers in Reclamation's design office in Denver and several consulting firms that were retained during the design process.
At just over feet high, Arrowrock Dam was less than half the height of the proposed dam in the Black Canyon. It was clear from the beginning that many new problems in design and construction would be encountered and solutions would have to be found before the dam could be built.
A tentative design produced in called for a straight, concrete gravity dam with a cross section similar to the design later adopted for construction. The diversion plan for the design was similar to the design adopted in the final plan: four large diversion tunnels, two on either side of the canyon.
Spillway provisions included thirty-two, foot by foot siphons discharging into the diversion tunnels. Similar to the design of Arrowrock Dam, there were three banks of outlets running through the dam. When the designs were drawn up, there were no plans for power development, so provisions for a powerhouse were not included in the plan.
In , a report on the development of the Colorado River Basin included a preliminary design for a concrete dam at the lower Black Canyon site. Prior to this time, several types of dams were considered, including earth and rock-fill, rock-fill with concrete face, multiple arch concrete, concrete gravity, and concrete arch.
By the time the report was issued, all but the rock-fill with concrete face and concrete gravity or arch designs had been eliminated. Further studies determined that a concrete gravity or arch structure would be best. The design was for a concrete arch structure. Although a preliminary design, it was selected as representing a reasonable estimate of the final design for use in cost estimates.
Unlike the design, the design eliminated the spillways and was designed to be overtopped during maximum floods. Diversion would be handled via three foot diameter tunnels through the Nevada side of the canyon. The design retained the outlet conduits through the dam structure and still did not have provisions for power development, although designs for future power development were considered. In , the Secretary of Interior appointed a board of engineers and geologists to review all designs and determine the best design from the standpoints of economy, safety, and engineering feasibility.
By , power development had become an essential feature of the project. Studies into the best arrangement for the powerplant and dam led to two designs. The first design placed the powerplants and outlet works on the Nevada side of the canyon with two circular vertical shaft spillways on the Arizona side. The second design called for a "U" shaped powerhouse at the base of the dam with spillway tunnels and double banks of outlet works contained in both canyon walls.
Intake towers would supply water to the power penstocks and outlet works. Both designs eliminated the outlet conduits through the dam structure and were designed as gravity-arch structures. The second design would form the basis for the final plan. The initial appropriation for construction was made in July At that time the design had been modified to eliminate the two vertical shaft spillways and replaced them with two side channel spillways with uncontrolled crests, with upstream openings controlled by foot by foot gates that would be opened if greater flows were required.
Modifications in the tunnel layout and intake towers were added, but the design still retained the double banks of canyon wall outlet works that had been part of the design. In , the contract for construction was awarded, and the final design was determined. In the final design, the side channel spillways were retained, but they would be controlled by drum gates and connected to the diversion tunnels by inclined shafts, and the upper set of canyon wall outlets was eliminated.
The final design called for the diversion of the river via four, foot diameter tunnels driven through the walls of the canyon, two on each side. Following completion of the dam, the outer tunnels would be plugged at about mid-point, and inclined shafts from the spillways would discharge into the downstream portion of the tunnels. The inner tunnels would also be plugged about one-third of the way downstream from their openings and foot diameter steel penstocks would be placed in the downstream portion connecting the powerhouses to the intake towers.
In addition to the diversion tunnels, two additional tunnels, one on each side of the canyon, would be driven to house penstocks that would supply water from the intake towers to the power houses. When not needed for power generation, these tunnels would discharge through the canyon wall outlet works.
Before construction of the dam and appurtenant works could begin, an enormous amount of preparatory work had to be undertaken. The site of the dam is a deep canyon more than 30 miles from the nearest town. The site was in the middle of the desert with limited access and no provisions for housing the almost 5, people that would work on the project. Before work on the dam itself could begin, many support features had to be constructed.
These included transportation and communication facilities, housing, water and sewage systems, power and lighting facilities, and a ton cable way for handling heavy equipment at the dam site. To house the estimated 5, workers and officials involved with the project, the Government designed and built Boulder City.
The site for the town, about six miles west of the dam, was chosen because it was at a higher elevation than the surrounding countryside.
It was felt that the climate at the higher ground would be more mild and hospitable than at lower altitude were the temperature was often well over degrees, 24 hours a day.
The town was planned using the accepted standards for municipal development and was constructed with paved streets, a water and sewer system, electrical power, a city hall, administrative building, schools, a hospital, and houses for the workers and their families. Work on Boulder City began in December The original plan called for completion of the town before work on the dam began, but the construction schedule for the dam was accelerated, and the town was not ready when the first dam workers arrived at the site in early During the first summer of construction, workers were housed in temporary camps while work on the town progressed.
By the end of , most of the town was ready for occupancy. A project of the magnitude of Boulder Dam required an enormous amount of material and equipment.
In order to transport the material to the site, it was necessary to construct a The railroad was built and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, which also built a car switchyard at Boulder City. The railroad issued the contract for construction of the branch line September 10, , and regular service to Boulder City began on April 17, The railroad was continued from Boulder City to the rim of the canyon above the dam site.
Construction of this section of the line, just over 10 miles, was carried out under contract by the Lewis Construction Company. The final four miles of the line required significant excavation and fill, and construction of five tunnels totaling over 1, feet. To facilitate the movement of men and equipment to and from the construction site, the State of Nevada constructed a 24 mile long highway from Las Vegas to Boulder City.
The road from Boulder City to the canyon rim, about seven miles, was constructed for the Government by the General Construction Company.
Designed to transport men and equipment to and from the dam site, these roads later formed a link in the main highway between Las Vegas and Kingman, Arizona.
Since it was not practical to transport much of the equipment and material to the canyon floor by means of a roadway, a permanent cableway with a ton capacity was constructed by the government. The cableway spans the canyon near the downstream ends of the powerhouses.
The loading station was constructed on the Nevada side of the canyon near the end of the highway and rail line, and several landing platforms were constructed on both canyon walls.
The cableway is supported by a foot high steel tower on the Nevada side, and is anchored into the side of the canyon on the Arizona side. The cableway is 1, feet long from anchor to anchor and has a usable span of 1, feet. The operating machinery is located in the hoist house on the Nevada side of the canyon. The cableway can be remotely controlled from the control house that overlooks the canyon or from any of the landing platforms.
Since no source of electrical power existed in the vicinity of the dam site, two alternatives were investigated: construction of a diesel or steam powered generating plant near the dam site, or securing power from distant plants already in operation. After examining several proposals, the Government determined that securing power from existing powerplants was the best solution. On October 28, , the Government signed a contract with the Southern Sierras Power Company and the Nevada-California Power Company for the construction of a mile-long power transmission line from San Bernadino to a substation at Boulder City, and the delivery of power to the construction site.
The transmission line served two purposes: transmission of power to the dam site during construction, and from the dam to markets in Southern California following completion of the dam. Construction of the line began in December , and was completed in late April During construction, 1,, pounds of conducting line was used along with 5,, pounds of steel and 49, insulator disks. Providing for the needs of over 5, men and their families was no easy task. To accommodate the workers and their families at Boulder City, Six Companies constructed housing for both single and married employees, a fully stocked department store, a post-office, laundry, recreation hall, school, and hospital.
Single employees at Boulder City were housed in eight man dormitories, and one man dormitory. The bunkhouses contained water coolers, toilets, and one shower for every 13 men. In addition to the dormitories at Boulder City, Six Companies constructed six dormitories and a man mess hall at Cape Horn, a bend in the river downstream from the dam site.
Married employees were housed in cottages that ranged from one to five rooms each. The larger cottages were reserved for Six Companies managers and officials. When Boulder City was constructed, Six Companies and the Government saw that all needs of the workers and their families were met, including police and fire protection.
Bodell, Chief Ranger. The primary task of the Ranger Force was enforcing safety regulations and policing the area in and around Boulder City. One of the chief concerns was bootlegging, and in and , 91 raids were conducted resulting in 72 arrests and the seizure of eight stills. During construction of the dam, there were few major crimes in Boulder City and the majority of arrests were for drunkenness.
Fire protection in a town consisting almost entirely of wood frame buildings was a major concern. Fire fighting equipment consisted of a gallon pumper truck and a ladder truck. In addition, there were 1, water barrels placed throughout Boulder City that were inspected and refilled regularly, and each individual dwelling and all dormitories were supplied with fire extinguishers.
Dormitories were also constructed with standpipes and automatic sprinkler systems. To deal with the high number of accidents that were anticipated on a project the size of Boulder Canyon, Six Companies constructed a state of the art hospital in Boulder City. The sixty bed facility was headed by Dr.
Schofield, Chief Surgeon, and staffed by six doctors, nine full-time nurses, two full-time orderlies, and several support personnel. The hospital was equipped as well as any of its size in the county, and due to the high number of orthopaedic injuries, significant advancements in the care and treatment of fractures occurred. Feeding 5, men was an enormous undertaking. The contract called for three meals a day for the day and night shifts, with an extra lunch provided to the night shift. To accommodate the workers, a 1, man mess hall was constructed at Boulder City, and a man mess hall at the River Camp.
Provisions had to be shipped to Boulder City from the nearest supplier that could provide the amounts needed. Beef, veal, lamb, and pork was purchased in 20, pound lots and shipped from Reno, Nevada, as were eggs. The same was true for fruits and vegetables. Since there were no dairies in southern Nevada, Anderson Brothers purchased a acre farm at Mesquite, Nevada, about 80 miles away, and constructed facilities for dairy cows.
Fresh milk, cream, and butter were shipped to Boulder City daily. A typical menu consisted of grapefruit, oatmeal, bacon omelet, wheat cakes, coffee, and milk for breakfast, and a salad, roast sirloin of beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, spinach, mince pie, rice pudding, milk, and coffee for supper.
Workers were allowed to pack a lunch before each shift. The choices included roast beef or pork sandwiches, jelly rolls, and several varieties of pie and fruit. Workers were allowed to take as much as they wanted. During the construction period prior to January , Anderson Brothers served over 7,, meals, averaging over 4, meals per day. Because of the seriousness of the unemployment problem in , Interior Secretary Wilbur ordered that the Bureau of Reclamation speed up preparation of plans and specifications so that the contract for construction could be awarded at the earliest possible date.
In response to the Secretary's request, engineers at the Denver office, led by Raymond F. Walter, Chief Engineer, and John L.
Savage, Chief Design Engineer, completed and printed specification for the dam and appurtenant works in December , six months ahead of schedule. Bids were opened at the Denver office on March 4, , with the lowest bid being submitted by Six Companies, Inc.
The contract was awarded to Six Companies on March 11, and the order to proceed was issued on April 16, Work at the dam site was supervised by Walker R. Crowe, General Superintendent for the Six Companies. Page, Office Engineer.
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