Santa Fe 1898 Steel and 1911 Stone Dams near Williams, AZ

Steel Dam: (Satellite)  I've also seen a build date of 1895 for the steel dam.

Stone Dam: (Satellite)

Both of these dams were built to supply water for Santa Fe steam locomotives.

I first found the stone dam because its reservoir is easy to see on a satellite image. Once again I'm reminded that they build the dams in the desert so that they don't leak because there is no water on the downstream side of the dam. When I learned that the steel dam was 0.5 miles downstream [usda], I was able to find the reservoir, and then the steel dam. If it was not for the treeline, I would not have been able to follow the drainage.

AshForkWaterService-steel
"The Dam was fabricated by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company and shipped to the site in pieces for erection.  Construction began in 1897 and was completed March 5,1898.   It has a scalloped appearance from 24 curved 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) steel plates that slope downstream.  Loose and rigid plates are alternated to compensate for a temperature range for 104 F to - 4 F. The central steel section is 184 feet long and 46 feet high and weighs 460,000 pounds. There is no spillway. instead the dam was designed to withstand overtopping of six feet of water pouring directly over its crest.  When the dam is full it holds about 36,000,000 gallons of water."

The steel dam was once the world's largest dam. [TripAdviser]

safe_image for Ashfork-Bainbridge Steel Dam

The stone dam

usda

AshForkWaterService-stone
"Stone Dam was built in 1911 just less than a mile upream from Steel Dam by Sante Fe Pacific Railroad.  Stone Dam, made of huge blocks of pink sandstone cut from quarries near Winslow, 100 miles from Ash Fork.  It is constructed of Ashlar Masonry walls on a curve 596 feet long, radius 590.72 feet, averaging 40 feet high and 6 feet wide on top.  The dam was built in 1911 with addititions in 1913.  It was raised 17 feet 7 inches with Ashlar facing and backed with concrete at a cost of $175,977.   A railroad spur from the main line down in Johnson Creek was needed to offload the blocks and cut to shape by skilled stonecuttlers.  You can see a huge pile of reddish sandstone chips which line the northern side of the lake today. On April 4, 2003  John F. Long donated the property to Ash Fork Development Association to develop a recreation/interpretation trail between the historic Stone and Steel Dams."