Theodore Roosevelt was 26th president of the United States and served from 1901-1909. Although the Roosevelt Dam had yet to be completed during Roosevelt’s presidency, it was none the less name after him. Its construction, however, began in 1903 and was commissioned by President Roosevelt.
On this day March 18th, in 1911, the Roosevelt Dam is completed and opened. The Roosevelt Dam is in Arizona and also has a manmade lake called the Roosevelt Lake. A dam has two primary purposes, and at times both of them can be achieved simultaneously. Beavers build dams to stop all water flow, but this is not the only thing that manmade dams are intended for.
The Roosevelt Dam was the largest dam in the world when it opened. It was the largest masonry project as it stood at 280 ft. height and 723 ft. width, which cost $10 million – in the early 20th century that is. In 1989 the height of the dam was augmented by 77 ft. The Roosevelt Dam stops flooding, irrigates, as well as provides 38 megawatts of hydroelectric power. As water passes through the dam, the force of the water is used to power turbines which in turn create power. Criticism for dams is the environmental impact it makes, i.e. killing fish, not providing animals with water, and depriving nearby plantations of water.