Shutter Mike Photography

The Tempe Town Lake was created by damming two ends of a dry river bed and filling it with water.  The point was to create a public space near Tempe’s downtown district.  There are often complaints, some valid, of wasting water on something like this in the Arizona desert.  But based on the number of people who use the lake and the surrounding parks the complaints aren’t too loud.  That is until the rubber dam that holds the water in the lake burst after baking in the Arizona sun for several years.  Millions of gallons of water rushed down the dry Salt River emptying the lake.  The dam was fixed, the water filled back up and the fish restocked.  And then a bridge was built over the dam to shade it from the brutal sun.  Whatever your position is on building a lake like this in the middle of the desert, the bridge is a very cool design (and functional) element crossing over the west end of the lake.

The 4th and final part of the Crossings series has the details, detail shots of the bridges.  In case you missed them be sure to check out part one, part two and part three of the series.