The Hoover Dam in Nevada along the dividing border of Arizona is a massive structure that was built between 1931 and its opening of 1936. It was always a work in progress, so I am not sure anyone could factually state that the construction ended on a particular date.
During the construction of the dam, 96 men died in accidents that were labeled as “Industrial Accidents.” It has been rumored that some bodies are beneath the concrete walls of the dam, however that has never been proven. If bodies were left in the concrete, it would actually give way to decay. In other words, it is likely to be a tale as opposed to a truth. The Department of Interior says that no one is buried in the dam.
Enough concrete was poured to make the dam to actually build a two lane road from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The project took 21,000 workers to construct the dam.
The goal was to generate electricity and to tame the Colorado River. Taming the river would prove to be as hard on engineers as it was on a jokey to tame his horse long enough to make it around the tract to claim victory.
“We are here to celebrate the completion of the greatest dam in the world, rising 726 feet above the bedrock of the river and altering the geography of a whole region: we are here to see the creation of the largest artificial lake in the world-115 miles long, holding enough water, for example, to cover the whole State of Connecticut to a depth of ten feet; and we are here to see nearing completion a power house which will contain the largest generators and turbines yet installed in this country, machinery that can continuously supply nearly two million horsepower of electric energy.”