System Design Process of Hoover Dam

This article discusses the system design process of the Hoover Dam, including the preliminary design and detailed design stages. It also covers system testing, validation, and optimization. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the construction of the Hoover Dam and its uses.

System Design process of Hoover Dam 1
SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS OF HOOVER DAM
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

System Design process of Hoover Dam 2
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................3
Preliminary design..................................................................................................................................4
Detailed design.......................................................................................................................................4
System test..............................................................................................................................................9
Validation..............................................................................................................................................10
Optimization.........................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................13

System Design process of Hoover Dam 3
Introduction
The Hoover Dam is located in the region of Black Canyon and is situated along the River
Colorado in the United States. Its construction began in the year 1930 and came to a completion
close to 6 years later. Also referred to as the Boulder Dam, It is a curve Dam that has got the
most concrete elevation within the United States. The dam is utilized for controlling the flood
and controlling the sediment, it is also used in generation of hydroelectric power, Irrigation in
agricultural field, as well as water supply for the households. It is also a major tourist attraction
center, witnessing up to one million guests of the total seven million tourists annually.
The research carries out an investigation of the processes of design that were carried out for the
Hoover Dam. The preliminary design is mainly concerned with investigating the dam’s necessity
all through the project development. It also outlines the functional examinations, operation
estimation, recognition and system arrangement, the concept of support as well as maintenance.
A pictorial illustration of the Hoover Dam while under construction is as below;
Figure 1: The Hoover when under construction.

System Design process of Hoover Dam 4
Preliminary design
This is a stage of any given project that involves generating a noteworthy concept level of
design that is meant to play the role of complementing to the project that is to be carried out.
During this stage, assumptions are made that out of all the available choices or options,
considerations have already been made and a decision to settle on a certain project has been
arrived at. The project settled has been determined to certify the financial, monetary and
environmental criteria. The Hoover Dam construction began in February 1930. The construction
works were performed by the state commission for streams and water supply. The main
motivation behind its construction is that River Colorado, being one of the largest and unusual
rivers in the world, would occasionally break its banks during spring and would the flood the
zone. A lot of consultations were therefore made on how to handle the issue, thus the
construction of the dam.
Detailed design
Once the preliminary design activities have been completed, there are a number of
aspects that have to be put into consideration to organize the detailed design. The aspects for
consideration can be expressed in the below diagram;

System Design process of Hoover Dam 5
Figure 2: Design aspects of the Hoover Dam
The major design specifications for the construction of the Hoover Dam include the following;
 It has a height of 221 m
 It is close to 379 m wide.
 Has a thickness pf 379 m at its base and close to 203 m at its top.
 The construction period lasted close 4.5 years.
 The initial design and construction were all set out in the year 1930
River diversion
Before beginning the construction, a proper planning for all the perspectives for working
and living within the construction site had to be carried out. Therefore the workers and the
engineers had the obligations to organize every part of the project which includes the navigating
of the river to give room for the construction of this dam. The engineers also checked at the
climate and the soil where the dam was to be allocated. The general arrangement for the

System Design process of Hoover Dam 6
construction of the dam was to drive the tunnels via the dividers in the dam location and channel
River Colorado through the tunnels.
Once the watercourse was directed in the location of the dam, workers were capable of
exhuming the location as well as the construction of the power plant and the dam. The valley
restriction spread the operation of construction up and down the stream and the huge of river
fluctuation resulted to the stream preoccupation works remarkably challenging. The engineers in
charge of operations made 4 tunnels of diversion, of these four, 2 on every side of the Colorado
River as well as around the site where the dam is to be constructed. The four burrows are meant
to serve other purposes when they are not needed for redirection. The two external tunnels were
basically for the huge spillage outlet in the dam. Massive pipes are the inserted within the
internal tunnel to help in carrying water from the reservoir to the point of control, and this is
achieved by the outlet valves put under the dam. ´The construction of the Hoover dam or any
dam cannot be undertaken perfectly if the naturally river is not diverted out of its natural course
for some period of time while the dam is still under the operation.
Penstock design
Penstock is pie like tunnel always employed in the transportation of water from the
reservoir to the power house, therefore for this design, it is very important to consider its design.
Installation of the penstock is exceptionally carried out by big pipes that carry water to supply
the power house at a very high pressure which can rotate the power. This penstock was
constructed in 3-inch plate steel pipe to enhance its durability and strength during the operation.
In order to manufacture and transport the finished pipe segment to the dam location, some
uncommon gear was required. There was introduction of materials such as planers, rollers, x-ray
equipment as well as welding materials that were used to carry out analysis of the welds. Besides

System Design process of Hoover Dam 7
the introduction of the penstock channels, the construction of the concrete placement was also
being carried out at the same time. It is possible to obtain the friction losses for the penstock this
can be achieved through the formula below;
hf= f( L
D ) v2
2 g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Where:
f - Friction constant
v - Velocity flow of water
L – The penstock length
D – Penstock diameter
This is called the Darcy Formula.
Clearance of the ground water and rock.
During early stages of the construction and design of the dam, groundwater as well as the
underground rocks must be dealt with at this early stages tom give room for a perfect and
professional construction of the dam. In order to construct the dam’s concrete establishment on
the walls of the dam, it was important to dispose of the amassed misfortune soil till when the
bedrock soil is reached (Melosi, 2013). This was carried to ensure that a good amount of volume
required for the dam is attained. Clearance of underground soli were literally done through
digging the site. The purge vital foundation shake of the dam location had a protection with
grout. A number of gaps were designed within the canyon and the divider. Any depression were
also to be involved in the gout. (McBride, 2012) This was performed in order to develop a steady

System Design process of Hoover Dam 8
shake and also due to the anticipation of water from leaking through the canyon shake. This was
also to reduce the rising weight of water from leaking below the dam (Stevens, 2013).
Spillage
The use of two spillways was employed in order to help prevent the overtopping of the
dam. The entrance of the spillway was located behind each bolster, which runs to the parallel
canyon dividers. The ways of entry are raised and discouraged subordinate on the water power
that is within the lake and the flooding situations (Melosi, 2013). Water that streams over the
spillway will fall into the spillway metros and will with some interface to the burrow adjustment
that is externally before finally returning to several channels of the dam.
An illustration of the spillage and other related parameters is as shown below;
Figure 3: The spillage and its related parameters
In order to obtain the Hoover Dam storage energy. The formula illustrated below is applied.
Q=V× H × ρ × η × g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Where; gravity

System Design process of Hoover Dam 9
V- Water volume
ρ- Water density
H- Head pressure elevation
η- System efficiency
This will help find the storage capacity of the dam.
In order to determine the daily power levels (kWh/day) that is required to pump a given amount
of water on a daily basis, the following formula can be applied (DuTemple, 2013).
Pelec= 0.1885× H × Q
η . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Where
Q- The water quantity
H- Head pressure
Pelec- electrical power (in watts)
η- System operation efficiency.
An illustration of the final design of the Hoover dam in Colorado River is as shown below;

System Design process of Hoover Dam 10
Figure 4: Final design of the Hoover Dam
System test
For any given project development, it is quite important to perform an elaborative
framework test for the stated project (Editors, 2012). This will help all the participants, including
the client and the developers to make a determination of whether the venture will achieve the
stated security benchmarks (Rocca, 2011). This will also help reduce the chances of occurrence
of a hazardous event (Wolf, 2014). A system test that is properly performed as required will act
as the basis on which assessments on whether the project complies with the intended objectives.
This idea was put into practice by all the participants that were involved in the Hoover Dam
construction (Vilander, 2011). They came up with a need to increase the spillway capacity. Such
a need would warranty achievement of a worthy hazard level when compared to the modern
safety requirements for constructing a dam.
Validation
The main idea of constructing the Hoover Dam was to ensure an inclusion of a number of
highlights that would the whole project is perfectly optimized (Billington, 2017). The dam has

System Design process of Hoover Dam 11
been beneficial since it has a lot of uses. It is commonly used for water conservation, water
supply for both industrial and residential uses, system handle and also for the generation of
hydroelectric power (Rose, 2015). The dam is also consistently maintained to ensure that it meets
its uses. Being that it is one of the largest dams within the country, its capacity therefore helps
guarantee enough water for use and preservation.
Optimization
The process of optimization involves ensuring that the system fully utilizes the
profitability of any given project. The Hoover Dam consists of a water reservoir that is actually
the largest within the Colorado waterway framework (Company, 2013). The dam equally has a
very noteworthy bank. The dam is therefore able to accommodate up to 40% of the stream
Colorado full capacity. The high water holding ability led to development of the Hoover control
station that begun its operation around the year 1981. The control station has one 180MW hydro-
generator and activities are controlled remotely by AGL hydro.
A power station constructed at the dam has the ability to perfectly carry out its operation
without any restrictions. This is achieved when the water levels range from 434m to 484m
beyond sea levels (Denton, 2012). The power station also makes releases that are used for
irrigation. It also has a reservoir that acts a well-known trout fishery. It must be stated that the
dam has greatly increased the food security levels within the region since it was commissioned.
A better way to manage the flooding problem that has for long been a major issue in the region
was finally put into practice (Miller, 2013).

System Design process of Hoover Dam 12
Conclusion
In conclusion, the article articulates a critical analysis of the system design process of the
Hoover Dam. The analysis is done on the preliminary design stage and the detailed design stage
of the project. For the construction of the Hoover Dam, it was necessary to carry out proper
system test in order to determine whether the project will be able to meet its intended
objectives .The system test also enabled all the parties involved to carry out a risk analysis and
put in place proper strategies that will ensure that the risks are reduced. During the system design
process, it is also necessary to carry out an optimization process. Optimization process will
ensure that the parties involved are able to reap full benefits from the Hoover Dam. This is
because for any given large project or resource such as a dam, a lot of funds or resources are
always invested on it and therefore there will be a lot of expectations to equally benefit from it.
The paper has analyzed the strategies that were put in place in order to ensure that the full
benefits are achieved.

System Design process of Hoover Dam 13
Bibliography
Billington, D., 2017. Big Dams of the New Deal Era: A Confluence of Engineering and Politics. 2nd ed.
Hawaii: University of Oklahoma Press.
Company, I.-R., 2013. The Story of the Hoover Dam. 2nd ed. New York: Nevada Publications.
Denton, S., 2012. The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World. 4th ed. chicago: Simon and
Schuster.
DuTemple, L., 2013. The Hoover Dam. 3rd ed. Chicago: Twenty-First Century Books.
Editors, C. R., 2012. The Hoover Dam: The History and Construction of America's Most Famous
Engineering Project. 3rd ed. Hull: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Hiltzik, M., 2012. Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century. 2nd ed. Florida: Simon
and Schuster.
McBride, D., 2012. Building Hoover Dam: An Oral History of the Great Depression. 2nd ed. Hull:
University of Nevada Press.
Melosi, M., 2013. The History of Large Federal Dams: Planning, Design and Construction. 2nd ed.
Chicago: Government Printing Office.
Miller, H., 2013. The Hoover Dam. 1st ed. Hawaii: Norwood House Press.
Rocca, A. M., 2011. America's Master Dam Builder: The Engineering Genius of Frank T. Crowe. 3rd ed.
Florida: Createspace Independent Pub.
Rose, K., 2015. Construction of the Hoover Dam. 3rd ed. Chicago: Springer .
Stevens, J. E., 2013. Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Oklahoma
Press.
Stevens, J. E., 2013. Hoover Dam: An American Adventure. 2nd ed. Florida: University of Oklahoma Press.
Vilander, B., 2011. Hoover Dam: The Photographs of Ben Glaha. 3rd ed. Florida: University of Arizona
Press.
Wolf, D., 2014. Big Dams and Other Dreams: The Six Companies Story. 3rd ed. Florida: University of
Oklahoma Press.