Tire stuck in a low head dam

This is a video of a tire stuck in the low head dam on the Lehigh River south of the Cementon bridge between Lehigh and Northampton Counties. This video shows that low head dams can be dangerous. At one point you can see the tire get about 10 ft away and get sucked back in.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• low
• head
• dam
• dangerous
• lehigh
• river
• cementon

[phirefighter515]

If you were that tire, you would be the one being knocked around the rocks and whatever else is under the water. These types of dams have killed people because they cause this swirling effect that traps people in them.

[ivanvladmom11]

if you wanna see it when its snowing at my house search"snow ivan part 1"maybe later ill upload part 2 okay bye

[ivanvladmom11]

because it has a current that pulls stuff under then floats back up and pulls it to the face of the dam then you go under and you keep doing that over and over and over.

[90210steve]

@0ceanpearl The water doesn't just "swirl", it recirculates back upstream. The water pouring over the dam creates a trough, and when it comes back to the surface some of it flows back upstream, into that trough. In some cases that backwash can pull large boats in from 30 feet downstream. You can see a good example of how it works in the video at  v=IPaCXSwjLA4

[0ceanpearl]

@jmr1068204 thank you for telling me i'll be careful next time, cuz i like to swim in river or dam...:)

[jmr1068204]

@0ceanpearl It's dangerous because it causes the swirling effect that phirefighter515 mentioned. It's like being in a washing machine. If you went over that dam, you'd hit the water and it would toss you around and around so that you'd come up for air for a second and be pulled right back under...who knows how many thousands of times. It could be days that you'd be stuck in there. It can also "pull" people/boats into it, even if they are on the bottom.

[0ceanpearl]

can you tell me why it can be dangerous ??