This Month in History: Constructing Anderson Ranch Dam

Looking down stream, construction at Anderson Ranch Dam. Year unknown. (photo courtesy of Lyle Powell).

In 1941 the estimated cost for completion for the Anderson Ranch Dam was $13,100,000. This estimate included 12 million cubic yards of excavation, half million cubic yards of earth fill, 1.9 million yards of cobble and rock fill and the installation of 100 tons of steel tunnel supports and liner plates. This included 2350 tons of reinforced bars or 4.9 millions pounds of steel alone that needed to be hauled to the dam construction site. The dam was set to be 456 feet high and be the highest embankment dam in the world at the time. Bids for the new construction came in June of 1941 with the lowest bid coming from Morrison-Knudsen out of Boise. Their bid of $9,986,203 was almost two million dollars under the next lowest bid. For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper's online edition.