Boulder/Hoover Dam, Colorado

Lake Mead is now the 28th largest man-made lake reservoir. Lake Kariba in South Africa is the largest. The dam, which was actually built in Black Canyon instead of Boulder Canyon as originally planned, was called both Boulder Dam and Hoover Dam interchangeably for years, but the name Boulder Dam never really caught on and Hoover Dam, named after the US president at the time construction was begun, became the official name in 1947, and is how it is known to the world.
The Hoover Dam is currently 28th in line for the tallest, 18th in line for concrete construction dams, and 63rd for generating electricity.

Boulder Dam
Boulder Dam, now known as Hoover Dam, is one of the biggest dams ever built. This picture shows only the topmost part of the huge wall. (CC BY 2.0 , ©2013 Paul Hudson)

 

Lake Mead
Behind Boulder Dam is a great artificial lake, called Lake Mead. In front of the dam is the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Construction of the bridge started in 2005 and finished in 2010. Originally called the Hoover Dam bypass, it was renamed to honor a former governor of Nevada and a fallen soldier from Arizona. It is the largest bridges of its kind in North America. (CC BY 2.0, ©2016 Prayitno))

 

Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam as seen from the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. (CC BYSA 2.0, ©2017 mariordo59)