The cofferdam was built to protect a waterline under the Muskegon River from erosion
and to create a pool for the intake of the water treatment plant during low streamflow.
During the removal of the dam remnant the pool behind the cofferdam was used as
a sediment trap. In 2001, after the City switched its drinking-water source from
the Muskegon River to ground-water wells, the cofferdam was removed.