My ex-girlfriend's great uncle (or some family relative) we the chief engineer for Boulder/Hoover/Boulder Dam. Frank Crowe as studying engineering at the University of Idaho and his roommate essentially wrote the book on how to build a modern dam. Frank took the chief engineer name for Boulder, and his roommate took the chief engineer name for their next project, Grand Coolee Dam is central Washington. But they both worked on both dams as the chief engineer. My ex has a frame with two side-by-side photos. One is with Frank standing with FDR, Governor Mead and one other person I can't remember posing with the dedication plaque for the dam. The other is of her standing in the exact same spot Mr. Crowe stood and with the same pose. It's one of the coolest photos I've ever seen.

The most amazing part of that dam is - it STILL hasn't fully cured yet. And won't for a long time still. When they were laying all the concrete for Boulder, they laid pipes in the middle of the dam to run cold water through the center part because curing cement gives off so much heat; the running water would help dissipate the heat and help the dam to cure properly. They are STILL running cold water through the dam because there are sections in the center of the dam that haven't hardened! So Boulder Dam, after 81 years, is still not at its strongest. And how many mega trillions of gallons of water has it held back already?

Another fascinating thing about Boulder is the electricity it creates. Creating electricity was a complete afterthought. Boulder Dam was created to control the Colorado River from its usual flooding, provide water irrigation for farmers and with the creation of Lake Mead, provide some recreation. The electricity it generates now (along with Grand Coolee for the Pacific Northwest) has provided millions with a less expensive and environmentally clean form of power wasn't even thought of as a possibility in its creation.

If anyone has a question about Boulder, please let me know and I'll ask my ex if she knows the answer to it.