In 2008 I visited the engineering marvel that is the Hoover Dam, which holds back the Colorado River and forms the border between the states of Arizona and Nevada. It was during this visit that I became aware of an interesting synchronicity related to the construction of the dam.
The Hoover Dam was physically constructed between 1931 and 1936, but the project to build the dam actually began back in the 1920s when the site for the dam was initially identified. It seems that during the project to build the
dam there were 112 officially recorded work related deaths. The first of these is recorded as the death of J. G. Tierney, who was a surveyor who drowned on December 20th 1922, whilst trying to identify the ideal location to place the dam. Strangely, the last recorded death on the Hoover Dam project occurred exactly 13 years later (to the day) on December 20th 1935. The last fatality being Patrick W. Tierney, the son of J. G. Tierney, who fell to his death from an intake tower on the dam.
It is noted that a number of deaths associated with the project were not officially recorded as work related deaths. As some deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning may have been diagnosed as pneumonia to prevent the need for the construction companies to pay out compensation claims to the families of the deceased. Notwithstanding this, it is still an interesting synchronicity.
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| The Hoover Dam |
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| Looking down river. |
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| The dam wall (look at the tourists for scale). |
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| Where the water goes. |
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| Where the water goes. |
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| The other side of the dam. |
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| Looking down the other side of the dam. |
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| One of the statues guarding the dam. |
Pictures Arizona / Nevada (2008).
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