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<br />n 1760 <br /> <br />.Il1jh'I'Jol Prt>lin,innru 10 ('ful.'dru..t;on <br /> <br />Huge trucks were needed to haul men. material~, and equipment-some <br />of 16-cuhic yard capacity. others of .=)O-Ion capacity, and still others which <br />were operated as 100- and ISO-man transports. <br />Air compressor plant~ of 1.:1..;500 cubic fef'! per minute capacity \H'I-e buill <br />near the dam !;ite, <br />The ~and and gravel screening and wa~hing plant to provide aggregate was <br />the largest of ils type. It could screen. wash. and place aggregate in readiness <br />for mixture with cement and water at the raIl'" of more than 161,S tons per <br />minute. <br />The dispatch with which the job \\-as ultimately accomplished bears <br />testimony to the efficiency of the planners. <br />And final]y a great number of laborers h"d to be recruited. Even though <br />the effects of the business elf'pression of th{:' t:'arl~ ,'1(Ys re~ultf'd in p:reat <br />numbers of unemployed worke~s, yet it was imperati,'e that a method be <br /> <br />B~fnre actual construction of the dam could hegin. much preliminary work <br />had 10 he done in order to insure successful c(Jll1pletion of the gigantic task. <br />\'\?ays and means had to be devised to cope with the rig(lr.~ of a forbiddiIlg <br />desert. Facilities had to be provided for transporting material and equip. <br />ment over miles or burning sand and onto the construction .site-SOO feet <br />helow the sheer wall". of the canyon. <br />It nlu;;.t he: emphasized that all e,;;;.entials had to be planned and created. for <br />t1lf' locale in \\hich the dam was \0 he buill was utterly devoid of any facilities <br />f(,r modern living. Therefore. faulty planning would mean delays in con- <br />struction. if not total failure. of the project. I\no. it \\8S the responsibility <br />of the engineers to plan so well that not the _"lighte.::ot item would be overlooked. <br />The first need was faciliti~ for transportation. The unioll Pacific Hailroad <br />laid a hranch line from Las Vegas to the site of Boulder City. From this <br />point the Bureau of Reclamation built its own railway to the dam site. High. <br />way". had to be built. Also it was necessary to erect machine shops. air <br />compre~snr plant..;. garages, and warehouse~. It was imperative to span the <br />canyon first by bridges and later by aerial cahles. A great gravel screening <br />plant and two huge concrete mixing planb were designed and constructed. <br />It \vas necessary to acquire power draglines and power shovels, truekR, cars, <br />derricb, and cranes in great numbers. It was necessary to bring electric <br />power 222 miles across the desert from San Bernardino, Calif. <br />Living facilities for the const; uctiOTl workers V.ias another maUer which <br />rf'quired earnest thought. There wa" no "labor pool" in the area. and worker" <br />had to be recruited from all parts of the Nation. Homes !lad to be provided <br />fur dlese workers. The ordinary cunstruction camp would not do. Nor <br />could the workers be eXjJected to live in the immediate vicinity of the dam <br />site, {or here the temperatures in summer often rose 10 1300. \,\raves of heat <br />as from a hlast furnace rose from the canyon. <br />After studying climatic and soil conditions in the area, a location for ~ <br />townsite was chosen 7 miles southwest of the dam site. Here, on a high <br />sUlnmit. the Government erected a modern town. l\fodenl homes were built, <br />la\vns and parks were plotted, streets were laid out and paved. ~chools, <br />churches. and stores were erected. A sewer and ~ewagc system was installed. <br />And \vater was piped from the Colorado River 7 miles away. 1n short, a <br />JllOdnll desert oasis was brought into being. <br />Still another matter requiring careful planning was to assure the securing <br />and delivery of materials as needed. Materials were required in quantities <br />never hefore shipped to a single construction joh in so short a tinlc-5,OOO.OOO <br />harrels of cement; 8.000.000 tons of sand. gravel, and cohble~; 45,000.000 <br />pounds of reinforcement steel; 18~OOO,OOO pounds of structural steel; <br />21.000.000 pOllnds of gates and valves; 840 miles of pipt,. All of these \\pre <br />hauled over the railroads in the first 4 year~ of com.trllctioll. <br />AJ."o. some of the greatest ma5'sing of specialized machinery ever assembled, <br />up to that time, had to be procured. <br /> <br />Niggf'r.rodnum I('ilh topography $urrey purly iFf Black C(lrlYO/l 01/ ]\'euula .~itle. <br />f{odmatf is IOlt'ertul on:r Black Ctwya/l rim on ropt! muf gh-es fJohll,.; whidl <br />fire recordetl Kith both hori::o'lwl mul t.errical angle fJY rll'O trall..;il purties. <br /> <br />If; <br /> <br />