Wednesday Doorway - Damn Dam

"The Gillespie Dam was constructed in 1921 by a local rancher to replace an existing structure. As the dam was located at an important river crossing that would later become US Route 80, the Arizona Highway Department - the predecessor to the Arizona Department of Transportation - constructed a concrete apron at the foot of the dam to allow for vehicular crossings. As the dam was a simple spillover construction, during times of heavy runoff cars would have to be pulled through the flow by trucks, and during floods could not cross at all.

In anticipation of the formation of the United States Highway System in 1926, the Highway Department commissioned the construction of a steel truss bridge just downstream from the dam." (See our post Bridges and Politicians) All this information comes courtesy of Wikipedia.

Now here's where the "doorway" part comes in.

"The winter months of 1993 saw unusually high rainfall amounts that resulted in record flows through central Arizona rivers and streams, including the Salt River, a major tributary to the Gila upstream from the Gillespie Dam. At approximately 10:30 on the morning of January 9, the dam failed when a segment approximately 120 feet (37 m) in length collapsed into the river. While the precise cause of the failure is unknown, the extreme flooding was almost certainly a contributing factor."

Now I'm not one to spread rumors, but here I go anyway.

Rumor has it that some local ranchers/farmers may have had a hand in "helping" the bridge to "fail".  Thus creating a doorway where none should rightfully be.