Oasis @ the Library! Hoover Dam-The Greatest Work of the Depression

From 1930 to 1935, tens of thousands of jobless, desperate men traveled to the hot deserts outside of Las Vegas, Nevada to find work on the biggest project in the history of civil engineering. The U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation were set on a goal to bring water to the arid lands along the vast Colorado River Valley. But could it be done? Six major companies, led by a hard-driving visionary, dug huge tunnels and blasted thousands of tons of rock from the walls of the canyon to erect the biggest dam in history. The massive project was beset by accidents, deaths, strikes, and the worst working conditions since the digging of the Panama Canal. Here is the story of why and how it was done, and who did it.