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Hoover Dam is an engineering marvel. Built during the great depression to not only control the flow of the Colorado River and provide farmers with a consistant source of water but also to generate the massive amounts of energey required for a growing population in southern California.
Located outside of Las Vegas near Boulder City it will always provide an interesting days distraction. Tours are available and they all show incredible things. It is amazing to look out at equipment that is many years old and still looking like it just came of a showroom floor. The dam was dedicated in 1935 by President Roosevelt it has provided an uniterupted electricity source to the southland for 85 years. For many years the only way to get into Arizona from this direction was to travel into the canyon and over the dam. The amount of cars that came through here got so bad that a drive that should take minutes sometimes took hours. And ever since 9-11 security measures that have been implemented require you to drive past a checkpoint and there is the possibilty your car will be inspected. It was a very dificult situation for both travelers and dam secutrity staff until they built a bypass bridge that allow people who are not going to the dam specific to bypass the area completly. This has allowed the traffic over the dam to be greatly reduced and it is once again a pleasure to visit.
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