They took us 550 feet down in a huge elevator, and showed us how the water from Lake Mead was being used to generate enough power for 1 million people.
Before construction began on the Dam, they had to reroute the water of the Colorado River. So these huge tunnels were dug into the mountains on either side of the river and the water was directed thru them. After the Dam was completed, the tunnels were put into service with the hydro-electric plant. Here I am inside one of the tunnels:
The generators for the power plant. This is half of them. The other half are in another tunnel.
Looking down from the street on top of the Dam:
Shay with the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge in the background. It was completed recently and it is literally waaay up in the sky compared to where we were down at the street on the Dam.
If you have time, you can get to the upper parking area in the morning and walk across the Bypass on a walking path that's on the side of the bridge. But around 10am it gets so crowded you have to wait in a mile-long line just to get into the parking lot. I think we'll wait to do that when the attraction isn't so popular!
But we did drive across the bridge. It was uneventful, because the sides are built up so high you don't even know you're that high up. Couldn't see the Dam or the lake below.
