Bridge Over Trouble Water

Normally when a bridge is build, it is used by people and cars and thing that walk or roll or move around on sold led ground. This bridge was build for a completely different use. Lets start at the beginning of the story.

The Dam was constructed by private moneys starting in the 1920's and was dedicated on November 5, 1921 as Savage Rapids Diversion Dam.
And rebuild and repair by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1949-1955.
The purpose of the dam was for irrigation of 10,000 acres of farm lands in and around Grants Pass and Rogue River area.

My Dad worked 1975 to 80's for the irrigation company that kelp the ditch clean and one of his jobs was to look after the dam's fish screens and check pump oil leaves. He would come in every day and clean the trash that floated down stream into the fish screens. The fish screens purpose is the keep the fish from going into the pumps and getting cut up.
This is how the pump system works, the water coming into the screens is not all pumped into the ditches. They use the falling water to turn the pumps so it takes about 16 to 20 gal. to pump 1 gal. into the ditch.
The water from the pumps goes back into the river.
No electric, or other power is needed to pump the water.
The old farts were pretty smart, cheep cheep water supplies.

Side story, one day dad comes home and say a boat went over the dam and was down in front of the dam. One injury, a broken arm.
Dad said there is a hole or tunnel in the bottom of the dam that you can comes out by the boat.
So this very dark and wet, lots of water noise and thousand of leach hanging off the walls and forming and boiling water.
So I walk out there, trying to keep the camera dry, and took some pictures of the boat.
Cool story.

Back to the Dam story.
The Dam is killing thousands of fish every year because of the fish ladder, much safer then jump up water falls ?


The Dam is being removed, and the water will be pump by electrify.
You know, this is not going to cost anything now.
The water went under the Dam in old days, now the new bridge is so the water can be pumped over the river.
The pit at the end of the bridge is the place for the new pumps.

All this because fish are having and easer time swimming up the fish ladder, then up savage rapids, rapid.