AZ: The History of Arizona podcast · David Rookhuyzen

Episode 231: Everyone And Their Dog

·30 min·2 clips

Two generations, two deaths, exactly 14 years to the day—the Tierney family's tragic connection to the Hoover Dam.

Host David Rickhausen narrates the construction of Hoover Dam through the lens of human tragedy, opening with the connected deaths of father-son Tierneys (1921, 1935) on the same December date. Episode covers construction phases: Colorado diversion, high scaler canyon work, foundation excavation, and innovative concrete cooling systems using 590 miles of embedded pipes. Concludes by debunking the urban legend that workers' bodies were trapped in concrete.

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