An inflatable dam in downtown Tempe, Ariz., burst on July 20, emptying most of the contents of the 1-billion-gal Tempe Town Lake. No one was injured and no property was damaged in the resulting flood, which traveled down the normally dry Salt River through Phoenix. Peak flows were measured at 15,000 cu ft per second, equivalent to an average release during the area�s winter rainy season.

这座两英里的湖泊于1999年使用八个柔性，橡胶涂层的织物管由东京的普利司通工业产品组制造。在四个下游膀胱之一的顶部附近的接缝处撕裂导致故障。每个细分市场长240英尺，重高达40吨。

The bladders had outlived their original 10-year warranty, although city officials say they were led to believe the dam segments would last more than 30 years. The intense desert heat and ultraviolet radiation prematurely weakened the structures, which should have been maintained with a watering system, as Bridgestone specified.

�When the dams were originally installed, they were designed to have a watering system that would allow [for a] continuous flow of water over the dams,� says Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman. �That did not occur.�

此外，当时，普利司通的制造过程包括陶瓷芯片以增加强度，但沙漠的热循环加剧了恶化。

Bridgestone has manufactured and installed approximately 200 such dams in North America, with no other failures reported, says Don Darden, the company�s executive director of communications. However, none of the other dams are in such harsh environments.

2008年，普利司通宣布将不再生产充气大坝，并与坦佩市达成了一项协议，以以普利司通的成本取代下游大坝细分市场。

Ironically, work was scheduled to begin to replace the bladders the morning after the dam burst.

PCL民用建筑商的TEMPE办公室是该地区300万美元替代项目的总承包商，该项目已被该地区异常潮湿的天气推迟了几个月。

The dam failure may work to the city�s advantage. With the lake already empty, crews will not need to build cofferdams around each segment in order to replace them, says Charlie Meyer, city manager. With the expectation that three of the bladders can be replaced while the lake is empty and one bladder can be replaced as the lake refills, work is expected to take just 90 days instead of one year.

达登说，替换段旨在作为五年的停车措施，直到纽约市选择永久解决方案为止。由于水库位于现有的河床内部，因此必须倾斜大坝，以使季节性洪水通过系统。