Dam, It's Big

摘要

Our hardhat-wearing tour group, made up of delegates from the Renewable Energy World Conference and Expo in nearby Las Vegas, is more than 700 feet underground. We are making our way through a rough-cut tunnel that connects the turbine hall at the base of Hoover Dam to a second tunnel. This tunnel, also cut through hard volcanic rock, contains one of four 13-foot-tall penstocks. Standing on top of the penstock we can feel the vibration and hear the roar as water flows from Lake Mead upstream of the dam to one of 17 main turbines housed in this storied hydroelectric facility.