1975 Grand Teton Dam Collapse

Dam Remnants: (Satellite)

Spillway: (Satellite)

Discover's Engineering Catastrophes, S6, EP13

The dam was 305' (93m) high.

19:22 video @ 12:34
The Wild Story of the Teton Dam Failure
The Bureau of Reclamation decided to fill the reservoir even though construction of the primary outlet works would not be done for another year. They did have a secondary outlet works available, but it was not enough to keep the fill rate under a foot (30cm) a day. (But, "after a particularly snow winter," it filled at 2 feet a day.) The dam was built on porous rock and the wind-deposited silt (loess) they used in the cutoff trench supported piping. That is, the water was able to erode a pipe through the trench.

The dam collapsed on Jue 5, 1976, during its first filling. So this year (2026) is the 50th anniversary of the collapse. That explains why I saw several videos about the collapse. The above video makes the following videos rather redundant, but I could not bring myself to delete them.

@ 12:59

Facebook Reel

Facebook Reel

This is the beginning of a sequence of stills that show how this little gurgle quickly grew into a massive breach.

12:30 video @ 2:15
The 1976 Collapse of the Teton Dam, Idaho: Investigating the Geologic Evidence

1914,2010 Airtight Bridge over Embarras River and World's Largest Statue of Abe Lincoln near Charleston, IL

Bridge: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Statue: (Satellite)

Lisa Ruble posted

Airtight Bridge over the Embarras River is one of Coles County’s best kept secrets. Located along Airtight Road, it is the only direct route between the village of Ashmore and the unincorporated towns of Bushton and Rardin. The location is isolated, and most people do not come upon it by accident.

Locals say the bridge earned the name “Airtight” because of the unnatural stillness encountered while crossing it. Designed by Claude L. James, Airtight Bridge was built in 1914 by the Decatur Bridge Company. Thanks to its remote location, it became known as a drinking spot for local teens and students from Eastern Illinois University. Otherwise, the bridge, described as “old” and “creaky,” had a pretty mundane existence. In 1981, Airtight Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

On October 19th 1980, the nude body of a woman floating near the bank of the Embarras River a few yards downstream from Airtight Bridge was discovered by two brothers from Urbana, who were deer hunting, and a local farmer. Because the body was missing its head, hands, and feet, the murder investigation became known as the “Airtight torso case.” In 1992, the body was identified through DNA as that of 26 year old Diana Marie Small of Bradley (Kankakee County Illinois). On March 1st 2017 Diana's husband, 70 year old Thomas Small, who still lived in Bradley, was arrested for her murder. After two days of talks he confessed to Diana's murder. Eight months later he pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Obviouisly, it is pin connected.

Patty Goatley, Oct 2024

The river was a lot higher in this photo.

Historic Bridges
"This is an unaltered traditional Pratt through truss bridge in a tranquil rural setting."

The world's largest statue of Abe Lincoln.

Mattox Pugh, Jul 2025

1977 Saylorville Lake Dam on Des Moines River at Johnston, IA

Outlet: (Satellite)

Spillway: (Satellite)

joey hermanstorfer, Jul 2024

In addition to flood control, the 1977 dam also provides a minimum flow for the Des Moines River. [USACE]

DamToDam
"The principal purpose of the Saylorville project is to provide additional storage to supplement the flood control capacity of Lake Red Rock downstream and help reduce flood crests on the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers." The 3-gate, 22' (6.7m) outlet conduit has a capacity of 21kcfs, and the spillway also has a capacity of 21kcfs.  

USACE, Rock Island District posted

It's #FlashbackFriday and today we take a look at the constrution of the spillway at Saylorville Lake! Authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1958, Saylorville Lake is located on the Des Moines River in central Iowa, just north of the city of Des Moines.

Fun fact: At normal pool, Saylorville holds 21.1 billion gallons of water. When Saylorville gets to flood storage pool level, the number jumps to 204.1 billion gallons!!

USACE, Rock Island District posted
This photo, dated April 7th of 1967, shows the stilling basin area of the outlet works and spillway. The equipment and vehicles in the foreground show just how big this area is!

Lin Aung, Nov 2018

The conservation pool is 836 mean sea level (msl), the spillway is at 884msl, and the full flood pool is 54' (16.5m) higher than conservation at 890msl. The spillway was used during the floods of 1984, 1991 and 1993. [DamToDam]

Street View, May 2021

CityOfJhonston, this webpage has more construction photos

NotesOnIowa
"The floodwaters of 1984 poured in at an astonishing rate of 38,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), testing every aspect of the dam’s design. As water flowed safely through the spillway, erosion carved deep into the Pennsylvanian bedrock below, creating what is now known as the Saylorville Gorge....Improvements followed, including the installation of pneumatic crest gates after the historic floods of 1993. These gates enabled even greater floodwater storage capacity, further solidifying the dam’s role as a guardian of Des Moines and the surrounding areas."

This project included the Big Creek Remeidal Works. [USACE_project]

USACE, Rock Island District posted
This photo, dated 10 April of 1972, shows the construction of the Big Creek Spillway. This spillway allows water to flow into Saylorville Lake from Big Creek. The basin at the bottom is now a popular fishing area.
[Several comments talk about kids using it as a water slide until someone drowned and it was outlawed.]

The Big Creek Remeidal Works diverts the entire Big Creek flow into Saylorville Lake.

Satellite

1924-1942 Water Reclamation Plant in Glenview, IL

(Satellite, the land is now a parking lot for the Kraft Heinz R&D Center.)

MWRD posted
 Construction of an early wastewater treatment plant in Glenview near Henley Street and the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River on May 1, 1924. The facility was in operation from 1924 until 1942 when the intercepting sewer from the O'Brien Water Reclamation Plant (WRP) was extended to the area.

It is the plant between the road and the river. I wonder why this doesn't have the round circles that most WRPs have.

1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Lock #34 on Trent-Severn Waterway at Fenelon Falls and April 2026 Flood

Lock: (Satellite)

Dam: (Satellite)

Falls: (Satellite)

April 2026 Flood

Apr 17:

Andy McNeilly posted, cropped
A boat going over Fenelon Falls. April 17, 2026. Be safe everyone. Fenelon Falls, Ontario.

I put a yellow box around the boat.

Reel plus Paint

Same reel just a little later

This is the dam that the boat went through.

Street View, Sep 2021

And it gets worse! This falls is just downstream from the dam. We can see a couple of the danger signs on the dam peaking out from under the bridge.

Street View, Jun 2015

This is the lock that the boat was supposed to go through.

Street View, Sep 2021

Navigational data

Lock length: 36.6 m (120 ft)

Lock width: 9.7 m (32 ft)

Average lift: 7.2 m (24 ft)

Max. mooring period: 2 nights

[parks]

At one time, this must have been a double lock.

Street View, Sep 2024

The boat was supposed to stay to the port side of the markers.

Why didn't it get caught by the safety chain?

Satellite

This is what those markers look like.

David Triggerson, Oct 2021

Facebook Reel
[Some comments indicated that the box caught in the hydraulic jump was part of the boat that went through the dam.]

Charles Gamble commented on the above reel.
Burnt river beach park today

Lock #42 on Trent-Severn Waterway near Couchiching and April 2026 Flood

Lock: (Satellite)

Bobtail Bridge: (Satellite? I could not find it. It is not this "Historic Railway Bridge.")

Part of the Trent-Severn Waterway

parks, cropped
47.2m (155') x 9.7m (32') x 6.2m (20')

Mark Culp, Jun 2023

Mark Culp, Jun 2023

April 2026 Flood

Facebook Reel

He mentions these picnic table tops.

Same Reel

Here is a normal view of those picnic tables. 

Boats are allowed to moor there for up to two nights. [parks]

Peter P., Jun 2022

Facebook Reel

Bobtail Bridge

I can't tell for sure because this photo is just part of the bridge, but it looks like it may be a bobtail (asymmetric) bridge rather than a swing bridge.

Jason Edgar, Jun 2022

Lost Bridge #20 over Welland Canal in Port Colborne, ON.

Lift: (Satellite)

Swing: (Satellite)

These bridges are (swing) and was (lift) on the Welland Canal.

John Greggio posted nine photos with the comment: "The Canadian National Railway Bridge (Bridge 20) Being Decommissioned 1997."

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

The swing bridge:

Street View, May 2025

Barry Westhouse commented on John's post
An approach span consisting of a CN swing bridge on the west side of the canal remains in place, Bridge 21 (Clarence St) in the background. - I believe CSL Whitefish Bay is also in my photo - July 2018.