 On January 10 , 1931 , the Bureau made the bid documents available to interested parties , at five dollars a copy . The government was to provide the materials ; but the contractor was to prepare the site and build the dam . The dam was described in minute detail , covering 100 pages of text and 76 drawings . A $ 2 million bid bond was to accompany each bid ; the winner would have to post a $ 5 million performance bond . The contractor had seven years to build the dam , or penalties would ensue . 
