The Most Implausible Part of Building Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam could not be poured as one gigantic mass. The heat produced by curing concrete would have created dangerous thermal stress and long-term shrinkage. Engineers instead built the dam as thousands of separate blocks, embedded cooling-pipe networks inside the concrete, actively removed heat, and then pressure-grouted the cooled blocks together into one arch-gravity structure. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Hoover Dam Construction Chronology U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Hoover Dam: Historic Views U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — Hoover Dam: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers — Tunnels, Towers, Penstocks and Spillways Bureau of Reclamation — Boulder Canyon Project: Final Reports, Part IV – Design and Construction Bureau of Reclamation — Boulder Canyon Project: Final Reports, Part IV – Design and Construction, Bulletin 3, Diversion, Outlet, and Spillway Structures Bureau of Reclamation — Hoover Dam: Fifty Years