Boulder Dam - 1937

This Department of Interior film captures Boulder Dam — better known as Hoover Dam — in the midst of its construction. See how the Colorado River flowed before, and after, the construction of what was then the world's tallest dam.

SUMMARY
Part 1 shows the Colorado River and the arid deserts of the Southwest. Bulldozers build a road to the proposed dam site. A train brings in supplies and materials made throughout the U.S. The dam site is surveyed. Shows Boulder City, Nev., including workmen's dormitories, kitchen, and mess hall. Workers ride to the dam site in trucks and drill and blast out diversion tunnels. Power shovels clear debris. In part 2, diversion tunnels are blasted open and coffer dams are constructed. Bulldozers and trucks clear excavated material. Sand and gravel is brought in by train and is screened, washed, and graded. Concrete is mixed and is carried by truck and locomotive to the dam site. In part 3, concrete is poured into forms. Shows the interior of a tunnel, the intake towers, spillways, and penstock valves. Tubing is made at the dam site and is assembled by workmen. In part 4, penstock pipe sections are trucked from factory to the dam site and lowered into position by cable. Concrete is poured into coffer dams. President Roosevelt speaks at the dedication ceremonies. Shows flashes of spillways, transmission towers, and power lines, and an aerial view of Boulder Dam and Lake Meade.

Boulder Dam, 1937

Transcript (PDF): https://www.archives.gov/files/social-media/transcripts/transcript-boulder-dam-11722.pdf

CREATED BY
Department of the Interior. Division of Motion Pictures.

ARC ID 11722
LOCAL IDENTIFIER 48.91

REPOSITORY:
Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-M), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.

For information about ordering reproductions of moving images held by the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records Section, visit: https://www.archives.gov/research/motion-pictures/order-copies

SUBJECTS
Blasting
Building
Concrete
Dams
Earthmoving machinery
Electric engineering
Reservoirs
Roads
Surveying
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation.(06/20/1923 -11/06/1979 ), Producer
Boulder City (Clark county, Nevada)
Colorado River

MORE INFORMATION:
More information is available in the National Archives online catalog:
https://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=11722