No it wasn't. The Hoover Dam was poured in multi ton block increments. Faster heat dissipation and quicker curing time.
I don't believe this current pour will set up in two weeks. Two months...maybe.
How do they keep it from getting too hot?
I’ve heard that the Hoover Dam will continue to cure for another 45 years.
Additives can be mixed into the concrete to give a fast-high cure. This greatly increases to initial cure rate although it does take the same amount of time to achieve final cure. In addition, you can use a higher strength concrete so that you can more rapidly get to a required strength needed for ongoing construction tasks.
I don't believe this current pour will set up in two weeks. Two months...maybe.
Right about the interlocking blocks but I rather doubt that breaking up the pour into increments had much effect on heat dissipation or curing time. The design of the dam included miles of iron pipe which was placed in the cubical forms. The pipes are connected together and to an extremely large refrigeration plant which supplies the pipe network with water at near freezing temperatures. There is also a network of thermocouples (heat sensors) throughout the mass of concrete. The current temperature is about half of what it was when the pouring was finished. It is estimated that the structure will reach thermal equilibrium about 300 years after the concrete work was complete.
I had the chance to take the ten dollar tour about 12 years ago. They took us into places the public seldom sees on the three dollar tour. We were allowed to walk out to the canyon rock face and see the seepage creeping along the rock face and concrete boundary. We also went below the generator gallery floor to see the operating turbines. I would think that the security people no longer allow public entry into those places.
Regards,
GtG
PS I'll never forget the time I spent on that tour, quite the thrill for an old mechanical engineer. That was a unique Federal project in that it came in under budget, ahead of schedule, and it has sold enough power to pay for itself many times over.