Helms Gravel Pit, just north of Interstate 80 and the Truckee River in Sparks, Nevada. The Robert L. Helms Construction Company used the pit in the 1960s to excavate sand and gravel. Helms ultimately turned the pit over to the city of Sparks, which developed the Helms Pit into a lake, marina and recreation area. [Taken from the book, A Doubtful River, by Robert Dawson, Peter Goin, Mary Webb.(Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2000).]