Just downstream from the foot of the dam is the visitor centre, designed to "resemble a generator rotor". The centre does an excellent job of providing all the information one would ever want on the dam, the river and the surrounding area. Exhibits inside include many which impart technical information on the construction and operation of the dam, presidential visits to the dam, the dam's role in the arts and many other aspects of the structure. Most important are memorials to the thousands of men who toiled to build the dam and the 81 who died during the construction of the dam and the powerhouses.
One of the displays is comprised of a pair of rock drills. These drills, along with thousands of pounds of explosives, were what made it possible to move the thousands of tons of bedrock which it was necessary to move or reshape in order to build the dam. The drills were used to drill deep holes in the rock, in which were placed explosives to break the rock into manageable pieces which could be then be moved with relative ease.
Only one of the drills has a readable nameplate, telling us that it was manufactured by the American Pneumatic Tool Company, of Gardena, CA.
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