The Ash Fork / Bainbridge Steel Dam constructed in 1989 was the first of three large steel dams built in the world. It was constructed in 1898 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to supply water for railway operations near Ash Fork, Arizona. The Redridge Steel Dam was built in 1901 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is still in use today. The third one in Montana failed in 1908 after just one year of use.
The dam is 46 feet high and 184 feet long and creates a reservoir with a capacity of 36 million gallons. The dam has no spillway since it was designed with an apron along the downstream edge of the crest to allow overflow water to fall clear of the dam. It consists of 24 curved 3/8 inch steel plates that give the dam a scalloped look. The steel plates alternate between loose and ridged panels to compensate for temperature expansion and contraction. A pipe ran from the bottom of the dam for three miles down the canyon to the Santa Fe station in Ash Fork.
It is open for recreational use but the access road to it is not maintained and it requires a high clearance four wheel drive vehicle to reach it, or you can just walk.
The dam lies about 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east of Ash Fork, in Johnson Canyon, and about 15 miles (24 km) west of Williams, Arizona. Take the County Line Road Exit (148) off of I-40 about 1.5 miles east of Ash Fork. Turn north and cross the cattle guard. Immediately past it is a dirt road to the right which is the utility line maintenance road 1601.
