Around The World In 80 Waves

I have borrowed this aerial shot of the Hoover dam and the equally impressive bypass road which was opened in 2010, both of which span the Black Canyon of the Colorado River. It really shows what a staggering feat of engineering it is, and perhaps why so many lives were lost during it’s contruction in the 1930s. There is enough concrete in the dam to construct a 4 foot wide path around the Earth at the Equator, and it is as thick as two footballs pitches measured end-to-end at its base.

I arrive in the middle of the night on my way back from the Grand Canyon and am expecting it to be closed to the general public. However before the bypass was opened it used to be part of the main road travelling east to west with traffic travelling along the top of the dam itself, and that road is still open even if it is strictly monitored by the local police.

The dam was built to supply drinking water to the local area and generate cheap electricity for the south west of the USA. It is still vital for these purposes and a terrorist target as a consequence, which means both myself and the car have to be checked out by the guards before I am allowed to cross the dam.

Apart from the police cars watching my every move from both sides of the dam there is nobody else there and it is eerily quiet. Again it is like something out of a science fiction movie but fabulous to experience it on my own.