American Experience explores one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering. Rising 726 feet above the raging waters of the Colorado River, Hoover Dam became a symbol of hope during the Great Depression.

Hoover Dam, built during the Great Depression, drew men desperate for work to a remote and rugged canyon near Las Vegas. There they struggled against heat, choking dust and perilous heights to build a colossus of concrete that brought electricity and water to millions and transformed the American Southwest.