New dam for Tempe Town Lake set for construction in 2014
Nov 8, 2013, 10:43 AM | Updated: 10:43 am
PHOENIX — The Tempe City Council has voted to pump another $24 million into a dam project at Town Lake that is expected to be completed in 2015.
The move was approved during Thursday night’s meeting. In September, the council OK’d $12 million to get the dam to the lake.
Nikki Ripley, a spokeswoman for the City of Tempe, said the steel dam should be completed by late 2015.
“It’s steel and concrete. These steel panels will make up what we believe will be the largest steel dam of its type in the world,” Ripley said.
The steel dam will replace the rubber bladder system that holds the water in the lake. The rubber dam burst three years ago, sending almost a billion gallons of water into the usually dry Salt River.
