DECKERS, Colo.—Divers will live below water for a month in a compression chamber as the 105-year-old Cheesman Dam undergoes a plumbing overhaul.
The overhaul of rusty, leaking cast-iron fixtures is scheduled to begin Monday at dawn. It marks Denver’s first major effort to upgrade the dam, a 221-foot-high granite-brick structure that was the tallest in the world when it opened in 1905.
Divers will live in a six-bunk main chamber about 200 feet beneath the surface of the reservoir, which is a major source of Denver’s water. They will use jackhammers, blowtorches, drills, and blasting during 12-hour construction shifts. The depth and the mixture of helium-oxygen the divers will be breathing requires an extended underwater stay.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
