(Photos) Soon-to-be-demolished Demspter Avenue Dam in Des Plaines

In downtown Des Plaines is another doomed dam, the Dempster Avenue Dam, which is actually off of Miner Street.

Here's the low-head dam as seen from Des Plaines River Road.

The upstream side of the dam is a popular fishing spot, which is one of the reasons the dam was built.

Yes, that's a rail bridge over the Des Plaines.

The pilings on the bridge as a suitable goose rookery.

The view from the bridge. The street on the left is Campground Road.

Parallel to the dam. Low-head dams pose serious drowning hazards. People who fall in the river or who are foolish to swim near these dams can get captured in a hydraulic boil, which is why low-head dams are dubbed drowning machines.

Low-head dams also pose hazards to canoeists and kayakers.

One last view of the river. A free-flowing, dam-free Des Plaines will improve the health of the river.

Related posts:

• (Photos) Soon-to-be removed Dam Number 4 on the Des Plaines River
• (Photo) Dam Number 2 Woods and the Des Plaines River in Winter
• (Photos) Dam on the North Branch of the Chicago River in Niles
• (Photos) Soon-to-be-removed Touhy Dam in Park Ridge

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