Miniature Concrete Hoover Damn Is Tiny Engineering Done Right

Growing up, we got to play with all kinds of things in minature. Cars, horses, little Lego houses, the lot. What we didn’t get is a serious education with miniature-sized dams. This recreation of the glorious Hoover Dam from the [Creative Construction Channel] could change all that for the next generation.

The build starts with the excavation of a two-foot long curve in a replica riverbed. A cardboard base is then installed in the ditch and used as a base for vertical steel wires. The arch of the dam is then roughed out with more steel wires installed horizontally to create a basic structure. The cardboard is then be removed from the riverbed, with the steel structure remaining. It’s then time to pour real concrete, with a foundation followed by the main pour into foam formwork. The dam is also given 3D-printed outlets that can be opened to allow water to pass through the dam, complete with small gear motors to control them. The structure is then finished with a roadway on top.

The finished product is quite impressive, and even moreso when the outlets open up to spill water through the arch dam. Such a project would be great fun for high school science students, or even engineering undergrads. Who doesn’t want to play with a miniature scale dam, after all? Bonus points if you build an entire Lego city downstream, only to see it destroyed in a flood. Video after the break.



Miniature Concrete Hoover Damn Is Tiny Engineering Done Right
Source: Manila Flash Report

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