USA - 1986

Rhyolite is a ghost town in Nevada, near the eastern boundary of Death Valley National Park. The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine.

scanned slide, Minolta X700

Zabriskie Point is located east of Death Valley in California, noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago. The location was named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. Zabriskie Point is also the name of a 1970 movie by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. scanned slides, Minolta X700 ► Poly's view ► Stefan's view

The Devil's Golf Course is a large salt pan on the floor of Death Valley. It was named after a line in the 1934 National Park Service guide book to Death Valley National Monument, which stated that "Only the devil could play golf" on its surface, due to a rough texture from the large halite salt crystal formations. scanned slide, Minolta X700

Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin in Death Valley, California, noted as the lowest point in North America and the United States, with a depth of 86 m below sea level. The PiP shows an image 10 years later, when we made a 10000 miles roundtrip through the West by Harleys in 1996. scanned slides, Minolta X700

Mojave Yucca (Yucca schidigera) on the wayside of Nevada State Road 160 west of Las Vegas. One of the important "yucca complex" of native foods it was roasted and eaten. Its flowers are sweet and were also eaten as ma-huve-gar. Strong leaf fibers were used for weaving, sewing and fastening into garments and sandals. Pith was used for soap and shampoo and the leaves made a slow match for "relocating" fire. The food and fibers could also be stored. scanned slide, Minolta X700

Looking downstream from Hoover Dam to the Colorado's canyon - Nevada/USA scanned slides, Minolta X700

The two intake towers (Nevada side) upstream of Hoover Dam, in Lake Mead. See this Link: ► Upstream view with intake towers The water level in 1986 was much higher than now. The Colorado river flow decreased dramatically and the water level decreased for about 40 m. ► Poly's Hoover Dam Pics ► Stefan's view scanned slides, Minolta X700

Hoover Dam is protected against a uncontrolled overflow by two flood spillways, one on the Nevada side and die other on the Arizona side. The spillways are controlled by drum gates and the overflow goes into side channels and huge 15 m wide tunnels to the tailwater. The total capacity is 11000 m³/s. The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983.

Hoover Dam is protected against an uncontrolled overflow by two flood spillways, one on the Nevada side and the other one the Arizona side. The spillways are controlled by drum gates and the overflow goes into side channels and huge 15 m wide tunnels to the tailwater. The total capacity is 11000 m³/s. The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. scanned slides, Minolta X700

A view down the concrete wall to the left bank power station on Colorado river. More informations will be given with the next image. The architectural dam height is 221 m. scanned slide, Minolta X700

A view down the concrete wall to the 2 power stations. More informations will be given with one of the next images. The dam is 221 m tall. ► Poly's Hoover Dam Pics scanned slides, Minolta X700

View from the left bank power station downstream. The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. Originally known as Boulder Dam from 1933, it was officially renamed Hoover Dam for President Herbert Hoover later. Height: 221.4 m (in 1936 the highest dam in the world) Length: 379 m Width: 14 m at crest, 200 m at base Reservoir capacity (Lake Mead): 35200 km³ total, 19554 km³ active Catchment area: 435000 km² Max. hydraulic head: 180 m Installed power: 2080 MW (2.08 GW) Annual energy production: 4.2 TWh Look at the following interesting Wikipedia-Links: ► Upstream view with intake towers ► Ansel Adams photography ► Downstream view with new bridge (opened 2010) ► Wikipedia

The left bank Arizona Power House with the turbine outlets. Above is the bypass outlet. scanned slide, Minolta X700