THE CASCADE HYDRO DAM ON the Merced river in the Yosemite National Park, California, US, has been demolished.
The dam, located near the intersection of El Portal and New Big Oak Flat roads, was built in 1916–1917 to provide electricity for the Yosemite Valley's tourism business. It served the valley for nearly 70 years, until age rendered it useless in the 1980s. A massive flood damaged it further in 1997. The dam originally cost US$200,000 to build, but cost US$2.8M to demolish.
The demolition aims to restore parts of Yosemite Valley and the Merced river to a natural state.
