“‘我不是建设者，’海狸说，‘我是奠基者。’” ——查尔斯·H·唐恩斯
High above the floor of Nevada’s Black Canyon,
内华达州深不见底的黑峡谷中
a group of men repelled down the cliff face.
一群人抵着峭壁下行
Suddenly, a man stumbled over the canyon rim.
突然 一个人在峡谷边缘绊了一下
He plummeted past the men, too fast for them to grab—
从其他人身旁跌落 几乎来不及抓住他
when another climber swung out from the rocks
这时一名攀岩人员拽着绳子蹬出
and carried him to safety.
稳稳地接住了他
Once they’d repelled the engineer up the cliff,
把工程师送回崖顶后
his savior swung back to business as usual—
这位英雄顺着绳子回到原位照常工作
just another day in the construction of the Hoover Dam.
又是胡佛大水坝建设中平常的一天
In the early 20th century,
上世纪初期
the United States had expanded from coast to coast,
美帝从东海岸扩张到西海岸
but many cities in the arid southwest still lacked reliable water sources.
在干旱的西南部 许多城市仍缺乏可靠的水源
While the Colorado River had been diverted into a series of canals,
科罗拉多河被改道进一系列运河 然而
its erratic flow and frequent floods made it unreliable for agriculture.
不稳定的水流 频繁的洪水使其不适合农业灌溉
At the same time, the region’s growing cities and industries
与此同时 该地区不断发展的城市和产业
continually needed more energy.
需要持续的供能
So in 1922, the Bureau of Reclamation decided to solve all these problems
因此 在1992年垦务局决定
in one fell swoop by building a massive hydroelectric dam.
修建一座巨大的水电站大坝 一举解决所有问题
Ensuring water rights for the project required unprecedented cooperation
为确保该项目各方用水权益
between all seven states along the river.
需要沿河七个州之间开展史无前例的合作
But once local governments agreed,
争得地方政府同意后
the Bureau determined that Black Canyon’s narrow gorge was best suited
该局即认定黑峡谷狭窄的山谷
for an arch-gravity dam.
是建造拱形大坝的不二选址
This design curves upstream,
大坝被设计成向上游弯曲
using the force of oncoming water to push the structure into its supports—
利用迎面而来的水的力量将结构体推入其支承
in this case, the canyon walls.
在这个项目中 支承就是峡谷壁
Arch dams have been built since ancient times,
自古以来就有拱坝
but never on such a massive scale.
但规模从未如此庞大
When complete, the structure would be 221 by 379 meters.
建成后 这座大坝足有221米长 379米宽
It would take an enormous labor force to build a dam this massive.
修建如此庞大的水坝需要大量劳动力
And when the Great Depression struck only a year after the project’s approval,
该项目获批仅一年后 大萧条来袭
thousands of families looking for work began flocking to the site.
成千上万的家庭蜂拥而至 寻找工作机会
The earliest arrivals lived in a makeshift encampment called Ragtown.
最早一批移民住在一个叫做拉格镇的临时营地里
With no infrastructure, scarce supplies, and little protection from the elements,
由于基础物资缺失 物资匮乏 防护措施几乎不存在
several residents died of heatstroke.
一些居民死于中暑
So to better house workers,
为了给工人提供更好的住房
the government designed and built the still thriving Boulder City,
政府设计建造了至今仍在繁荣的博尔德城
complete with numerous amenities, including a state-of-the-art hospital.
城里设施齐全 包括一家最先进的医院
Before construction on the dam could begin,
在大坝开工之前
the entire river had to be rerouted.
整条河流都必须改道
Building these diversion tunnels required blasting into each side of the canyon
修建这些引水隧道 需要在峡谷两侧进行爆破
to create 17 meter tall tubes.
以形成17米高的管道
With a combined length of almost 5 kilometers,
这些隧道的总长接近5千米
these tunnels could divert roughly 5,600 cubic meters of water per second.
每秒可转移约5600千立方米的水
However, workers faced grueling conditions to finish these on time,
然而 为按时完工 工人们面临着严酷的挑战
and dozens succumbed to the scorching heat.
数十人死于酷暑
By the fall of 1932, the river had been successfully redirected.
到1932年秋天 这条河成功改道了
But the most dangerous work was still ahead.
但最危险的任务还在后头
Over 1 million cubic meters of loose rock needed to be cleared from the canyon walls.
峡谷壁上100多万立方米的松散岩石需要清理
So foremen brought in high scalers who descended the cliffs on ropes,
所以工头请来了能用绳子沿悬崖作业的高手
removing rubble with jackhammers and dynamite.
用手提钻和炸药清除碎石
From circus acrobats and former sailors,
这些不畏死亡的勇士里 有马戏团杂技演员
to local Apache,these death-defying individuals
有前水手 还有本地阿帕奇人
performed some of the most dangerous—and glamorous— work on site.
在工地上完成了一些史上最危险也是最辉煌的工作
After the walls were cleared, it was finally time to build the dam.
峡谷壁清理完毕 终于是时候建造大坝了
This required pouring over 6.6 million tons of concrete—
超过660万吨混凝土的浇筑需求
enough to pave a road across the entire US.
足以铺设一条横跨全美的大道
But so much concrete poured at once would take far too long to cool and harden.
但是 一次浇注这么多混凝土 冷却和硬化的时间太长了
So to speed this process up,
为加速进程
concrete was poured in interlocking blocks of varying sizes,
混凝土被浇注在不同大小的联锁块中
each containing steel pipes flowing with cold water.
每个块都装有流动着冷水的钢管
By 1935, most of the structure had been completed two years ahead of schedule.
到1935年 大部分建筑提前两年完工了
On February 1st, the diversion tunnels opened to fill the dam’s reservoir,
2月1日 引水隧洞开闸蓄水 填满了大坝水库
capable of holding twice the Colorado River’s annual flow.
水库足以容纳两倍科罗拉多河的年流量
Upon completion, the dam was the tallest manmade structure in the world.
建成时 这座大坝是世界上最高的人造建筑
However, the speed of its construction came at the cost of worker safety.
然而 高速建设的背后是工人安全的沉重代价
While this project employed roughly 21,000 Americans during a major economic crisis,
该项目在重大经济危机中雇佣了约2.1万名美国人
over 100 people died during construction.
而超过100人在施工过程中丧生
Creating the reservoir also destroyed communities like St. Thomas
修建水库摧毁了像圣托马斯这样的社区
and devastated the Colorado River ecosystem.
破坏了科罗拉多河的生态系统
Today, the Hoover Dam generates over 4 billion kilowatt-hours annually,
如今 胡佛大坝每年发电量为40多亿千瓦时
providing electricity for over 1.3 million people.
为超过130万人供电
But the consequences of its construction continue to cast a shadow
而建设带来的惨重后果 仍在持续
over this monumental structure.
给这座不朽的建筑上蒙上了一层阴影
If you think the Hoover Dam produces an impressive amount of power
如果你觉得胡佛大坝的发电量已经足够惊人
wait until you hear about what the world’s largest hydropower plant can do
了解一下世界上最大的水电站再说吧
Dig into the construction and controversy of China’s Three Gorges Dam with this video
请关注本视频 深入了解关于中国“三峡”大坝的建设与争议