Rock Bottom Dam - Binghamton, NY
Posted by: 
ripraff
N 42° 05.585 W 075° 54.358
18T E 425079 N 4660507
This dam is on the Susquehanna River and is visible from the Park Diner
Waymark Code: WMN4BF
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2014
Views: 4
It can also be seen from the South Side Veterans Park.
From (
visit link)
"A gravity dam on the Susquehanna River in Binghamton in Broome County, New York.
Owned by the city of Binghamton. Used for drinking water purposes
In existence since 1936--normally surface area 260 acres
Its height is 9 feet with a length of 460 feet
Drains 2300 square miles."
(
visit link)
"In late September 1975, a tragic chain of events in Binghamton, New York, taught river users and rescue teams valuable lessons in dam safety. By the time the episode ended a day later, three people were dead and four had been injured.
An early fall storm had made the Susquehanna River unusually high. One evening, two rafters were swept over the Rock-bottom Dam and trapped in the current below the structure. Witnesses to the accident summoned help, and a rescue boat was launched with three firefighters on board. In the turbulent water, the craft capsized. All three were thrown into the river. One firefighter drowned; the other two, along with the two rafters, were pulled from the water.The next day, on a body recovery operation for the lost firefighter, the fire chief and two firefighters approached the dam from downstream. As their outboard powered boat reached the base of the dam, the current caught it and the boat turned over in the roiling water. Desperate attempts to rescue the trio failed, including a try with the fire department’s extension ladder.
Twenty minutes later, a rescue boat carrying two sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene. By this time, two of the firefighters had disappeared, the third was bobbing in the maelstrom.
As if to add horror to horror, this attempt once again ended in tragedy as the third rescue craft overturned in the turbulent water. Luckily, the two deputies and the remaining firefighter were swept clear of the dam and eventually rescued."