Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam

An Engineering Marvel

Only Lake Mead Cruises offers visitors the opportunity to observe the wonders of the Hoover Dam up close from the water. From the blue, tranquil waters aboard the Desert Princess, you’ll marvel at one of the greatest man-made engineering wonders of the modern world.

Constructed in the 1930s by 21,000 men who used supplies from every state, Hoover Dam is 726 feet tall and 660 feet thick at the bottom to hold back the water pressure of 45,000 pounds per square foot. There’s enough concrete in Hoover Dam (4.5 million cubic yards) to build a four-foot wide sidewalk around the Earth at the Equator. During peak electricity periods enough water runs through the generators per second to fill 15 average-sized swimming pools.

From the decks of the Desert Princess, you’ll see just why Hoover Dam has been designated as a National Historic Landmark—attracting seven million visitors a year with its sheer magnitude as a testament to the power of nature and human ingenuity.

To learn more about the history of Hoover Dam, visit the Hoover Dam website.


Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

America's greatest technological achievement - the Hoover Dam - now has a soaring companion piece, a massive looming bridge held up by the longest arch in the Western Hemisphere.

The Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (Colorado River Bridge), was completed in 2010. Construction on the nearly 2,000 foot long bridge (with a 1,060 foot twin-rib concrete arch) began in late January 2005 and traffic began using the Hoover Dam Bypass on October 19, 2010.

This signature bridge spans the Black Canyon (about 1,500 feet south of the Hoover Dam), connecting Arizona and Nevada highways nearly 900-feet above the Colorado River. It is the seventh highest bridge in the world, behind four in China, one in Papua New Guinea and one in Colorado. And here's a tip - you can get great views of this magnificent bridge framing the Hoover Dam from the deck of our Desert Princess paddle-wheeler boat.

To learn more about this amazing bridge, its history, and name, visit Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.