Repair Work On Tin Cup Dam To Start Today

The Tin Cup County Water and Sewer District plans to begin repair work on the century-old Tin Cup Dam in southwest Montana starting Monday.

Manager Tex Marsolek says that workers will improve the face and modify the spillway of the dam that's 10 miles inside the Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness.

He says a helicopter will carry 3,200-pound sections of excavators and other equipment to the construction site, and that some workman will also be flown up because a trail isn't open due to fallen trees.

Marsolek says helicopters will also be used to bring in cement to pour the spillway footing.

Work had been planned for last summer until environmental groups challenged using helicopters in the wilderness area. But the U.S. Forest Service gave the OK in September.

Associated Press