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..... CJ 00 -' - ~ . needed, as were vehicles capable of transpOlting 100 to 150 men to the damsite. The plant that would provide the aggregate for the concrete would be the largest of its type. It would be capable of screening, washing, and preparing more than 16V2 tons of aggregate each minute to mix with cement and water. Finally. recruiting an army of laborers for the job presented special problems in spite of the facl that the Nation was in a depression. It was imperative that men qualified to do the work at hand be selected. The Federal GOVCl1llllent and the con- tractors together employed 5,218 men at the peak of construction, with a gross monthly payroll of more than $750,000. The workmen ate at a mess hall that could feed 1,300 men at once. Single men were each charged $1.60 a day J()J' meals, rooms, and transportation to and from the damsitc. Married men rented unfurnished houses from the contractor for $15 to $50 a month. Plan of Attack The general plan of attack for building Hoover Dam was to drive tunnels through the canyon walls around the damsitc and divcl1 the Colorado through the tunnels. After the river was routed around the damsite, workers could ex- cavate the site and build the dam and powcrplant. The naJTowness of the canyon, the spread of activity up and down the river, and the possible large tluctuation of the river's flow made the job of diverting the river a difficult one. The engineers decided to drive four diversion tunnels, two on each side of the river, around the damsite. The four tunnels would serve other purposes when they were no longer needed as diversion tunnels. The two outer tunnels would become outlets for the huge spillways. Penstocks, or large pipes, would be in- stalled in the inner tunnels to carry water from the intake towers in the reservoir to the powerplant or to the outlet valves below the dam, 20 ~~ 0;, ... - , \\ 1!i!1 /'t: ;/I~.l f,J ~ "'II ~,; III i J~' " ~ P "\.~1; ~~~" ' .~'" ... 'iI ~," ..l\L x..~' ~ 'trt...' ~ II ~ fi Rigger-rodmcn l\.'orking with topography sUt1'e)' parry on Nevada sick of Black Canyon at Hoover damsite were lowered Ol'er canyon rim to provide survey control poims which were rater lIsed in the design and comrructioll ofrllcdam.