DaleS Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Took a ride across Parker Dam today. Mentioned in a thread here earlier there are few dams that you can drive across since 9/11. I know that you can't drive across Folsom Dam in Northern California since 9/11. Parker Dam on the Arizona & California border, about 30 miles south of Lake Havasu City is the deepest damn in the world. Only 1/4 of the 320' are above the Colorado River Bed. 235' of the damn is below the river bed. http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam4.jpg Parker Dam was built between 1934 and 1938. It filled up in 1941 and made Lake Havasu. It is a pretty dam, taken from the Arizona (east) side: http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam1.jpg Trucks and RV's are not allowed to cross the dam and it is closed from 11pm to 5am each day. http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam2.jpg Driving across the dam: http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam3.jpg A view from the California (west) side: http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam5.jpg A view of of the road from west side: http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam6.jpg And, yes the drive from the dam to "Wyatt" Earp, CA is a Back Country Byway. http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam7.jpg Hope you enjoy, Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keep the Show on the Road! Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Dale, Great shots! I enjoyed each one. But the water level on both sides of the dam looked about the same. How's that work? Thanks for sharing the photos! Dave Keep the Show on the Road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleS Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hey Dave, 75% of the dam is below the river bed. Guess there was a fault there??? Or they were afraid it would tip over, who knows?? If you look at the first picture, there a diagram of it: http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr153/c...Parker_Dam4.jpg It would be the second highest dam in the world if it started at the bottom of the river. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rowland Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 But the water level on both sides of the dam looked about the same. How's that work? From what I can tell, it looks like the road makes kind of a U-turn at the dam. So the picture from the Arizona side and the picture from the California side are both of the same side of the dam. That's why the water looks the same level from both sides of the river. The low water would be on the back side of the dam, which is not pictured. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mga707 Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 From what I can tell, it looks like the road makes kind of a U-turn at the dam. So the picture from the Arizona side and the picture from the California side are both of the same side of the dam. That's why the water looks the same level from both sides of the river. The low water would be on the back side of the dam, which is not pictured. Chris You are partially correct. Like most concrete dams, Parker Dam is horseshoe shaped if looking down from above. The pictures from both the AZ and CA sides are indeed of the same (downstream) side of the dam. But this is the low water side of the dam. The upstream, unseen side would be the higher water lever side, as Lake Havasu backs up to the dam. Coming across the dam from the California side, the road does make sort of a U turn. There is no road upstream from the dam on the CA side. On the AZ side, upon crossing the dam there is almost immediately the 'T' intersection with AZ State Route 95, which one can take either to Parker (right turn, or downstream) or to Lake Havasu City (left turn, upstream). Hope this clarifies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleS Posted March 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 mga707 is right, picture #Dam1 is from the downstream of the dam on Arizona side and picture #Dam5 is from the downstream of the dam on the California and the dam is a horseshoe U-turn. I didn't take any pictures of the upstream side of the dam. The dam is almost full and would be close to the top of the dam. Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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