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.
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