(MUSIC)
BOB DOUGHTY: The area chosen for the dam was called Black Canyon. The walls of Black Canyon rise almost two hundred forty-three meters above the river. An ancient volcano formed the rock in Black Canyon. Engineers decided the rock would provide a good strong support for the proposed dam.
However, the area also presented problems. The nearest railroad was sixty kilometers away. There was no electric power. And, in the summer, the temperature in the desert in Black Canyon could reach as high as forty-eight degrees Celsius.
A great deal of work was done before operations started on the dam. Workers built a town called Boulder City to house employees working on the dam. They built a large road from Boulder City to the area of the dam. They built a railroad from a main line in Las Vegas, Nevada to Boulder City. They built another railroad from Boulder City to the dam area. And they built a three hundred fifty kilometer power line from San Bernadino, California. This provided electric power to the area where the dam was being built.
Workers drill into the canyon wall above the Colorado River
STEVE EMBER: The work on the dam began in April of nineteen thirty-one. Workers called “high scalers” were some of the first to begin building the dam. They were suspended from ropes as they used heavy air-powered hammers to break any loose rock away from the face of the canyon walls. When they could not use hammers, they used dynamite. One high scaler became very famous. His name was Arnold Parks. He caught another worker who had fallen off the top of the canyon.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25