No, this isn’t a scene from an upcoming movie, but pictures of the Niagara Falls almost completely drained of water. Why? Well, in 1969, the “Army Corps of Engineers conducted a geological survey of the falls’ rock face, concerned that it was becoming destabilized by erosion.” Continue reading for a video, more pictures, and additional information.
Video
To achieve this the army had to build a 600ft dam across the Niagara River, which meant that 60,000 gallons of water that flowed ever second was diverted over the larger Horseshoe Falls which flow entirely on the Canadian side of the border. The dam itself consisted of 27,800 tons of rock, and on June 12, 1969, after flowing continuously for over 12,000 years, the American Falls stopped.
Pictures
Over the course of the next six months thousands of visitors flocked to the falls to witness the historic occasion. Once the engineers had removed the collected rocks from the falls base and made geological testing to make safe the rest, the falls were re-watered on November 25 in front of 2,650 onlookers.
