Engineering Features of Boulder Dam and Power Plant

The combination flood control, water conservation, and power development now being constructed on the Colorado River by the federal government represents one of the outstanding engineering achievements of recent years. The dam, which is 726 feet high and 1,180 feet long at the crest, and which contains 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete, will create a reservoir having a capacity of 30,500,000 acre-feet, a length of 115 miles, and a maximum width about 8 miles. The power plant is designed for an ultimate installation of 15 82,500 kva units and 2 40,000 kva units, making a total ultimate capacity of 1,317,500 kva; 4,330,000,000 kilowatt-hours of firm energy and an average of 1,500,000,000 kilowatt-hours of secondary energy per year will be made available. The principal engineering features of the dam and power plant and appurtenant structures and equipment are described in this paper.