THE Trip, Roosevelt Lake, The Dam

Copyright 2011, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

The Theodore Roosevelt Dam, per a Wikipedia article, "is 357 feet (109 m) high and was built between 1905 and 1911, and renovated 1989 - 1996. The Dam is named after Theodore Roosevelt. The dam has a hydroelectric generating capacity of 36,000 kW. The dam forms the Theodore Roosevelt Lake as it impounds the Salt River."

(All the quotes below come from the same Wikipedia article.)

The dam was finished in 1911.  "At the time of completion in 1911, it was the largest masonry dam in the world with a height of 280 feet (84 m) and a length of 723 feet (216 m)..."

"The dam was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1963."

"In 1989, an ambitious expansion and renovation project was begun at Roosevelt Dam. The dam was resurfaced with concrete...  and its height was raised 77 feet (23 m) to 357 feet (107 m)..."

"As a result of the reconstruction, the dam has a completely altered appearance from when it was originally listed as a National Historic Landmark. The original rubble-masonry dam was completely encased in concrete, and the structural height was extended from 280 feet (85 m) to 357 feet (109 m). Since the dam no longer had the integrity of the design, materials, workmanship, feeling, or association that it had when it was originally listed, the National Historic Landmark designation was withdrawn on March 10, 1999."

The dam from the Roosevelt Lake side, standing between the dam and the 188 bridge:

The face of the dam:

And, of course, there just has to be a Saguaro nearby (cannot be seen from the angle of the photo above):

One can continue on the road to Tortilla Flat from this point, 22 or so miles of dirt road, mmm, bumpy dirt road, with some of the most spectacular scenery in Arizona.  We did not drive that stretch of road during our visit to the area with friends Bob and Mina.  We did get to see a part of it during our visit with Man's cousin a few weeks later, they took us for a short ride, part of the way.  WOW!!   Photos in a future post.