So two weeks ago the Army sent me to Las Vegas for a Vision Conservation conference. It was basically a 3 day class about keeping people from hurting their eyes. There were a handful of optometrists, some occupational nurses, and some industrial hygienists.he

On the second day we went on an exclusive tour of the Hoover Dam. A chance to see places there that only employees see. Our tour guide was one of the mangers of the plant.

Enjoy the pictures.


This is a bridge that they're building across the canyon. From this view the dam is just to my left. It was quite the sight. I think for most of us it was more interesting than the dam.

As you can see the water level is way down - I think they said almost 100 feet.


For all of those that saw the movie "Transformers", I found the tanks where they keep them.


A view from the top - the Nevada side.


This is one of the spillways. This is the one on the Nevada side. It's definitely the largest drainage pipe I've ever seen.

This is the hallway we went down after we went down the elevators. Notice the granite floor, tiled walls and ceiling, and fancy light fixtures. Although this is an industrial plant in the middle of the desert, all types of craftsmen were utilized in the dam's construction (obviously to put people to work).

Generators.


The CONTROL ROOM!

The two pictures above are of one of four LARGE pipes used to bring water from the resiviour to the turbines.

Our tour guide showing us a diagram of how the dam works.


The upper portion of the turnbines. The turbins are below us here and the generators are above us.


Here we are on the Arizona side looking at the end of the pipes that go to the generators. If they wanted to bypass the generators the water would come out of the holes up there on the cliff wall.


Me at the bottom.


Some pictures of the cool designs in the floors. These Native American-inspirered floor designs were all over the place. Very cool.