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A historic Death Valley tower toppled as a driver used it to free their
stuck vehicle, rangers say.
Sometime between April 1 and April 23, the tower, part of the Saline
Valley Salt Tram, “was pulled over while a person used a winch to
extract their vehicle out of deep mud,” the National Park Service said
in a May 13 news release.
“I hope the person responsible for this damage will contact us so we can discuss restitution,” Superintendent Mike Reynolds said in the release.
Tracks showed that a vehicle drove off the legal roadway shortly before
getting stuck, rangers said.
“Park rangers believe that someone used the nearby tower as an anchor to
pull their vehicle out of the mud,” rangers said.
In doing so, rangers said the tower toppled, “pulling its concrete
footings out of the ground.”
“I have hiked along sections of this tramway, and am amazed by the
tenacity it took to build,” Reynolds said.
The 13-mile long aerial tram was constructed in 1911 “to transport salt
from Saline Valley to Owens Valley,” rangers said.
“The tramway climbed over 7,000 vertical feet at steep vertical grades
up to 40 degrees,” rangers said.
The tram’s construction required “1 million board feet of lumber and 600 tons of iron,” according to NPS.
“Considered nationally significant because of its age, length,
steepness, preservation, and scenic setting,” the tram is listed among
the National Register of Historic Places, according to rangers.
Only four of the tram’s towers sit within the national park, rangers
said, while the majority of the tramway sits on Bureau of Land
Management territory.
The damaged tower is the closest of the four to the Saline Valley
lakebed, rangers said.
Prior to this incident, a salt tram stabilization project was planned
using funding from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, rangers said.
However, rangers said they are unsure if the funds can be used to
re-anchor the tower.
Rangers asked for anyone with information to contact them at
888-653-0009 or go.nps.gov/SubmitATip.
Saline Valley is about 110 miles east of Fresno.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/historic-death-valley-tower-topples-212518158.html
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