The Construction of the Hoover Dam an Example of the Topic History Essays by

The Construction of the Hoover Dam by Expert Nerdy Maureen | 20 Dec 2016 The Hoover dam is a concrete-made dam located in the Colorado River on the boundary between Nevada and Arizona. It was named after President Herbert Hoover that was very influential in the construction of the dam. The construction of this project started in 1931 and was finished in 1935. The objective of the construction of this dam was multi-purpose. First was to control the flooding in the nearby counties along the Colorado River. Next was to provide irrigation to agricultural lands of California and Arizona. And last was to provide hydro-electric power to nearby regions. It was measured to be 726 feet high and 1,244 feet long. The base of this dam is 660 feet thick that is 60 feet longer than 2 football fields placed end-to-end. Need essay sample on "The Construction of the Hoover Dam" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The Hoover dam is one of the modern day construction projects that show a very creative and ingenious side of a construction corporation. The company named Six Companies Inc. was the lucky construction company that was given the job to do this state-of-the-art dam project. The construction company was called the Six Companies Inc. because in reality, it was a consortium of six construction companies that merged and worked together for this project. The six companies included were J.F. Shea Co., Morrison-Knudsen Co., MacDonald & Kahn Ltd., Pacific Bridge Co., Utah Construction Co., and joint venture of Henry J. Kaiser, Warren Brothers & W.A. Bechtel Co. These construction companies merged together for this project because of the reason that no construction company could produce the required $5,000,000 performance bond. Another company was contracted to assist the refrigeration needs of the concrete during the pouring and curing stage of the construction. The Union Carbide Corporation was contracted for this job. The onset of the Great Depression in 1931 paved way to massive migration of unemployed workers from Las Vegas and earned them jobs in building this historical project. The workers and their families were temporarily housed in camps like Ragtown as the work in the town advanced. Then after the construction of Boulder City, the workers were moved from Ragtown to this place where they stayed until the completion of the dam. During the construction, two cofferdams were built to protect the construction area from flooding. The upper cofferdam was constructed in September 1932, although the persion of the Colorado River was not yet finished. A temporary dike secluded the cofferdam from the river. The construction of the project was boosted when the Arizona tunnels and the persion of the Colorado River were completed. After the construction of the cofferdams, the excavation for the foundation of the dam started. Loose materials were removed so that the dam would rest on solid rock. The excavation for the foundation of the dam was completed in June 1933. Approximately 1,500,000 square yards of loose materials was removed that includes materials from the canyon walls. The people who were assigned to remove the loose rocks from the canyon walls were called high-scalers. These high-scalers were suspended from the top of the canyon using ropes and they used jackhammers and dynamites for removing the loose rocks on the canyon walls. Four persion tunnels were constructed through the canyon walls to pert the river flow around the construction site. Two were built on the Arizona side and the other two were built on Nevada side. The diameter of these tunnels was approximately 56 feet. The total aggregated length of these tunnels was around 16,000 feet. The work on the tunnels began at the lower entrance of the Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Afterwards, the work on the tunnels at the Arizona soon started. Lining of the tunnels with concrete started in March 1932. The concrete base for the tunnels was first poured. In order to execute this efficiently, gantry cranes, moving along the rails positioned through out the entire length of each tunnel, were utilized to pour the concrete. The sidewalls were then constructed. Moveable segments of steel forms were employed. The overheads were constructed last. The thickness of the concrete was measured to be 3 feet, hence reducing the final tunnel diameter to only 50 feet. The ent rances to the two outer tunnels were sealed after the completion of the dam. On June 6, 19333, the first concrete block was positioned into the dam. Because of the fact that no construction as big as the Hoover dam was done before, a lot of the procedures and techniques employed in the construction of the dam were untested. The uneven cooling and contraction of the concrete posed a very big problem for the construction engineers. The engineers of the project calculated that if one continuous pours of concrete was done to build the dam; it would take around 125 years for the concrete to cool down. It would definitely result to stresses on the concrete and therefore create cracks on the concrete walls. The solution to this dilemma was to build a series of trapezoidal pillars interlocking with each other. Every concrete pour was no more than half-foot deep, which ensured that no construction would be accidentally buried alive in the concrete. To quicken the cooling of the concrete, cooling coils were contained in each concrete pillar. Water from the Colorado River was circulated along these cooling coils to help disperse the heat from the concrete. Overall, the Hoover dam required more than 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete for its construction. The base of the Hoover dam alone needed 230 inpidual massive concrete blocks. Five foot high blocks of different width, varying from 25 square feet on the downstream side to 60 square feet on the upstream side constituted the dam. The columns or pillars of concrete were connected together with a system of alternating horizontal and vertical plots. The excavation for the power plants was performed simultaneously with the excavation of the foundation of the dam. The excavation for the U-shaped construction situated at the downstream side of the dam was completed in 1933. After the completion of the excavation, seventeen turbine-generators were installed at this powerhouse. These generators provided a maximum hydro-electric power of 2,074 Megawatts to the nearby region of the Colorado River. The first transmission of electricity happened on October 26, 1936 when the power plants provided electricity to Los Angeles, California that was 266 miles away from the Colorado River. The original plans for the front wall of the dam and the powerhouse comprised of simple concrete wall with gothic-inspired barrier and the plant that appear to be a warehouse. But many criticized the plan to be too simple for a ground-breaking project. Gordon Kaufmann was assigned to do the redesign of the exteriors. He restructured the buildings and employed a stylish Art deco design to the project, with structured turrets on the face of the dam. The construction was finally completed in 1935. The total cost of the entire project was $165 million and took four and half years to complete. A total of 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete was used for the whole project. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the project on September 30, 1935 that drew massive crowds. He called the project as an Engineering victory for the American ingenuity. But sadly, there were 112 deaths related with the construction of the Hoover dam. The first person killed in the construction was J. G. Tierney. He drowned while he was finding a perfect spot for the dam. His son P. W. Tierney also died in the construction of this dam. A total 96 deaths happened on the construction site. There was a controversy with the naming of this dam. The dam was originally planned to be constructed in the Boulder Canyon. This was the reason why the dam was sometimes called the Boulder dam. But it was moved to the Black Canyon for better impoundment. At the official start of the project construction, Interior Secretary Ray Wilbur declared that the new dam would be named Hoover dam in honor of the U.S. President Herbert Hoover, who was in seat when the construction of the project started. Secretary Wilbur adhered to the tradition of naming the important dams after the U.S. President who was in seat when the construction started. The name Hoover dam became official when the U.S. Congress passed an act on February 14, 1931. But during the 1932 U.S. Presidential elections, Hoover lost to Franklin Roosevelt for the Presidential seat. Roosevelt took his seat on March 4, 1933, and he placed Harold Ickes as Secretary of Interior. Ickes sought for the removal of Hoovers name from the Boulder dam project. He made a memorandum to the Bureau of Reclamation renaming the project, the Boulder dam. After few years, all references to the Hoover dam disappeared in favor of the Boulder dam. But after the death of President Roosevelt 1945 and the retirement of Harold Ickes in 1946, California Congressman Jack Anderson submitted a resolution on March 4, 1947 to return the name of the Boulder dam back to Hoover dam. This resolution passed the House on March 6, 1947 and the Senate on April 23, 1947. President Harry Truman signed the new law on April 30, 1947 stating the restoration of the name Hoover dam to the dam constructed on the Colorado River in Black Canyon. The Hoover dam is a National Historic Landmark in the United States. It attracts millions of tourists each year. And currently, the Hoover dam is one of the busiest U.S. National Park. It also serves as a passage for U.S. Route 93. Works Cited Construction History of Hoover dam. Arizona Leisure. 1 December 2007 http://www.arizona-leisure.com/hoover-dam-building.html>. Construction of Hoover dam: A Historic account prepared in cooperation with the Department of Interior. KC Publications, 1976. Historic Construction Company Project Hoover dam. 2006. Construction Company.com. 1 December 2007 . Stevens, Joseph E. Hoover dam: An American Adventure (Paperback). University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.

work emotions essays

work emotions essays In life everyone has different characteristics of personalities and thus everyone reacts to situation differently. Some people can manage dissatisfactory with extreme tolerances and roll with the punches while some people are more concerned with well being thought of, rather than providing optimal care to everyone. It is nevertheless very important for an individual to display uniqueness in their lives as in a relationship or for other social issues because everyone has their individual rights and entitlements that let them act in a certain way. However, in the field of business or an organization, we will always have to consider every tiny factor accounts as a group because it is not only ones matter but rather a two way or multiple relations. Towards this direction as the principal concern, I would suggest my friend to handle his/ her emotions with moderately strong internal locus of control while maintaining own personal ethics to values and determines whether actions his/her acti ons are right or wrong. This will likely make his/her life easier in the work field and performs better on both individual and team work basis. In long term, the great thing about this is that he/she will find himself/herself with job satisfaction and also aware of his/her own limitations, needs and means for improvement. There are two sides to any coin, and the currency of management science is no different in that respect than the dime in your pocket. Many people have discovered that a career is not just about matching ones technical skills with job requirements. Indeed, it also requires certain types of personality dimensions upon their job. In the past four years, I have been working as an escort for my parents travel company, it had given me a chance to recognize the presence and needs for working inside an organization. It was a very precious experience to me because I found out that working inside a group is not as simple as I ...

Background The Employee Selection Process

An analysis of the appropriate measures employers must take in order to minimize the risk of hiring unsuitable employees. This paper analyzes methods employers must take to protect themselves from hiring bad personnel especially these days, when violence, sexual arrestment and corporate fraud are increasing in the workplace. The author suggests several steps human resources personnel should take in order to minimize the risk of hiring unsuitable employees. All work environments, big or small, have potential for trouble. Human relationships are complicated in all situations. Thus when workers spend such a large percentage of their days in the workplace problems are bound to happen. If employers stay aware of developing problems and deal with issues as they occur, the risk in the workplace will be minimal. Background checks and references are crucial for control of the problems arising in the work place. Defamation suits and discrimination can be avoided through carefully drafted written policies. Being wary of providing references is not the solution. The employers must work with the employees to draft policies that will be secure, efficient and control workplace problems. Privacy issues can be avoided if the employees know the underlying reasons. Education is the key and hence, human resource managers must work to provide the necessary security for both the employee and employerthrough background and reference checks.

Personal Ethics Statement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Ethics Statement - Assignment Example The paper "Personal Ethics Statement" examines Personal Ethics Statement. I believe that all patients must be treated with the highest standards of health care, and that they are entitled to the highest quality of medical services. I believe that all health care professionals must not, in any case, do harm to a patient, or do things that may be against their best interest. I believe that all health care professionals must respect the privacy of their patients, and that they must always be able to maintain confidentiality on all information regarding their patients. I believe that prevention is better than cure, and that all medical professionals must be able to focus on preventive medicine. I believe that all health care professionals must be able to contribute to the development of knowledge regarding their profession, and use it for the overall development of medicine and the provision of health care. One of the main references that I used in my personal ethics statement is The Mod ern Version of the Hippocratic Oath, as written by Louis Lasagna. As known by any health professionals, the Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest medical documents in history, and is also one of the major ethical guides that are used by medical professionals (especially physicians) up to the present Personally, I still view the Hippocratic Oath as an important ethical guide for all medical professionals because it outlines one of the main purposes of medicine: to treat patients according to their best interests.

Achieving Less Stress in the Lives of Informal Caregivers of Adult Research Paper

Achieving Less Stress in the Lives of Informal Caregivers of Adult Children with Multiple Disabilities and the Elderly with Alzheimer - Research Paper Example Such activities not only involve physical stress but mental stress as well. It could have a devastating effect on the informal caregivers, due to the nature of their jobs and criticality of the illnesses of their loved ones. Alzheimer’s is estimated to be the sixth largest cause of deaths in the U.S. annually. A significant number of patients suffering from critical illnesses, contrary to popular beliefs, are cared for by informal caregivers rather than in a formal setting (Arno, Levine, & Memmott, 1999; Brody, 1985; Kosberg & Cairl, 1992; Martire, Schulz, Wrosch, & Newsome, 2003; McAuley, Jacobs, & Carr, 1984). According to latest statistics, approximately 15 million people are involved in informal care to their loved ones suffering from Alzheimer’s, contributing to approximately 17 billion hours of unpaid care. The informal care-givers, often suffer from high amount of stress due to the critical conditions of their loved ones, thus impairing their own health in the pr ocess. It has been proved through research that caring for people suffering from chronic illnesses leads to an adverse and negative impact on the lives of the informal carers, resulting in strained relationships; and often leaving them no time for their families or for leisure, resulting in increased mental stress. Thus, it is of utmost significance to offer assistance and develop strategies to help such informal caregivers in coping with stress, and develop alternative strategies to help reduce or eliminate the physical and mental setbacks suffered by them, in the process of providing care to their loved ones. This paper on â€Å"Achieving Less Stress in the Lives of Informal Caregivers of Adult Children with Multiple Disabilities and the Elderly with Alzheimer† attempts to seek ways and means, which can successfully be applied to reduce such stress and improve the quality of life of the informal caregivers. - Problem Statement: Informal caregivers of persons with disabiliti es experience large amounts of stress due to their constant care giving responsibilities. - Research Question: If caregivers of the disabled adult child and elder received respite care (two or more day a week) intervention during the regular work week will they have lower stress than those caregivers who receive the standard caregiver services? - Background: Providing care to people suffering from critical illnesses entails significant amount of responsibility and dedication towards the patients, which might lead to situations of stress and affect the quality of life of the caregivers in a negative way. Owing to the critical nature of the illnesses of those around them, the caregivers often carry tremendous burden - both

Motivation and the Brain - Eating Healthy Essay Example for Free

Motivation and the Brain Eating Healthy Essay Eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. The brain, specifically the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation. This includes all five of our senses, specifically speaking, taste. Explaining the brain function associated with eating, I will discuss the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors, which will include heredity and involving the environment. In addition I will discuss the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. The main function of the hypothalamus is homeostasis, or maintaining the bodys state in which it works. Factors such as blood pressure, body temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance, and body weight are held to a precise value called the set-point. The Hypothalamus organizes and controls many complex emotions, feelings and moods, as well as all motivational states including hunger, appetite and food intake, and everything to do with the concept of pleasure including satisfaction, comfort and creative activities (Incredible Horizons, 2009). It appears that almost everything the Hypothalamus does is related in some way to weight management and controlled weight loss. When the Hypothalamus is not working properly, food becomes more important, but increasingly more unfulfilling. We end up never feeling satisfied with the foods which we have eaten, gradually eating more and more to try to compensate for whatever is lacking. From a metabolism point of view, the Hypothalamus not only governs the motivation to eat, but most importantly how eating is to be experienced, if it is satisfying or not, and how deep the satisfaction occurs. This gives an idea just how important a healthy hypothalamic function really is (Incredible Horizons, 2009). Understanding how the hypothalamus works and keeping it healthy could be an extrinsic motivational factor to eat healthy. Being educated on how food affects the brain but also the body as a whole would be an example of extrinsic motivation. However, it is how we learn to eat, hereditarily speaking that gives us the tools to start out eating healthy from a young age or not. Lifelong food preference tends to start to develop while a baby is still in the mother’s womb. The strongest pattern for future food preferences is formed during the age of 9 to 19 months of age (Vera, 2009). At this time, everything connected with food intake leaves a strong imprint on the child’s brain. Also, the baby is tasting everything with his or her mouth; toys, shoes, body parts, etc. Concurrently, the child is memorizing the experiences of his mother and fathers eating habits; what they are eating, what they are feeding the baby, their emotional reaction to the baby’s consumption of these foods all while the unsuspecting parents believe that the child does not comprehend much of what is going on. The reality is the child is forming food habits for a lifetime. Whatever the first tastes, textures, smells an sights of food are, that child will crave them for the rest of his or her life, especially in moments of distress. Because of this, it would appear that comfort food is not too far from the truth. This was often a time in a child’s life when their mom or dad focused much love and caring on them and purely through association finds its way into our adult lives when we feel emotionally distressed or needing comfort. Human behavior patterns forming in childhood are crucially important for parents to pay close attention to the eating habits they are helping their children form (Vera, 2009). Promoting healthy eating habits with special care introducing fresh fruits and vegetables to their children as much as possible; in addition, parents must keep this promotion up otherwise children will fall prey to the society’s image of food which is unhealthy; another extrinsic example. In today’s society negative eating habits are advertised in every corner. According to Not Alone website, the top ten lists of popular food most people eat on a regular basis may not appear too alarming: a burger meal, Pizza, Spaghetti, or even a hot dog meal. However, after reviewing the nutritional analysis it should be alarming! For example, a burger meal contains 1300 calories, 34 grams of protein, 189 grams of carbohydrates and 44 grams of fat. This is equivalent to 38 teaspoons of sugar and a half of a stick of butter (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). The normal daily calorie intake should be 2,550 for men and 1,940 for women (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). Unfortunately the typically daily intake for both men and women are on average 3, 877 calories. Knowing these statistics should lead a person to use internal motivation to recognize the severity of the issue and begin to eat healthy. To conclude, eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. We have learned the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation including taste. I’ve explained the brain function associated with eating, discussed the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors including heredity and the environment. Lastly, I discussed the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. References Breck, K. B. (2011). A practical guide to a happy life. Retrieved from http://www. kristenguide. com/Health/Weight_Loss/ways_to_stay_motivated. asp Incredible Horizons. (2009). Hypothalmus Function. Retrieved from http://www. incrediblehorizons. com/balance-Hypo%20function. htm McKeith, Ph. D. , G. (2005). 10 Foods People Eat On a Regular Basis. You Are What You Eat: The Plan that Will Change Your Life. Not Alone. Retrieved from http://www. enotalone. com/article/25017. html NowLoss. (2011). Getting Motivated. Retrieved from http://www. nowloss. com/how-to- get-motivation-to-lose-weight. htm The Life Co. (2009). A new recipe for life!. Retrieved from http://www. thelifeco. com/cok-okunanlar. aspx? id=478 Vera, Dr. (2009). Hereditary Eating Habits. Quantum Evolution. Retrieved from http://www. quantumevolution. comau/hereditary_eating_habits. htm.

Rockets and Space Travel Essay -- Space Exploration Essays

Flying into orbit, at times, seems just an ordinary event. We have been launching objects into orbit for several decades now. Over time, it seems that the knowledge of the first attempt to send an object into the atmosphere was lost. One lone American was very absorbed into the science of this very thing. He had an obsession about him. John Goddard spent endless hours trying to perfect a small rocket launch. Though it sounds simple, lighting a fire underneath a small projectile, and make go in a straight line toward the heavens, is very detailed orientated. In a book written by Arthur C. Clark, he talks about early work that was done in the world of rocketry, but at the time it was only for entertainment. It happened hundreds of years ago. One of the first experiences with rockets came from â€Å"thirteenth century Chinese† (Clarke 71). Today, the technology is so advanced; flights of hundreds of miles are not uncommon. In the beginning of rocket experimentation, there were many trial and errors. They would fire up the engine of a projectile in hopes of a spectacular launch into the atmosphere. Many times it would only result in some kind of explosion. Catastrophe, if anything, is the nature of launching any projectile. Mans attempt to send objects toward the clouds has sparked interests in going further than ever before. The moon and the outer planets of our solar system have now become an obsession with not only the science community, but with a lot of ordinary folks as well. In order to satisfy this obsession, ways had to be found in order to get to these distant objects. The world we live on is small compared to the surrounding planets and universe but it is large compared to the complexities of ways to leave its ... ..., the commander will create a steeper angle of descent to minus 20 degrees (almost seven times steeper than the descent of a commercial airliner) (http://science.howstuffworks.com)†. This is only a small glimpse of what goes on before and after the lift off of the space shuttle. Details of micro gravity during the orbital maneuver and the interaction of the crew during its mission can add volumes to this report alone. In the end, the space shuttle is a very versatile instrument. From experiments in human research to inserting the Hubble space telescope into orbit. What would it be like in another 200 years when man has established colonies on mars or the moon? What an interesting life our future children will have. Works Cited: Arthur C. Clark http://science.howstuffworks.com http://science.howstuffworks.com Physics, a worldview, Kirkpatrick and Wheeler,