Side view of a section of the St. Francis Dam, nicknamed "The Tombstone", after the dam collapsed on March 12, 1928. The resulting flood killed over 400 people, and was considered one of the worst civil engineering failures in American history. The dam collapse caused the second greatest loss of life in California history, second only to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The St. Francis dam was built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon, near present-day Santa Clarita. William Mulholland was the engineer behind the dam's construction, and the dam failed just hours after he had personally given it a safety inspection, effectively ending his career.
Photo taken after the March 12, 1928 collapse of the Saint Francis Dam; this disastrous civil engineering failure cost over 600 lives in the resulting flood and brought the end of William Mulholland's career as the chief engineer of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply.
Image of the St. Francis Dam after its March 12, 1928 collapse. The resulting flood killed over 400 people, and was considered one of the worst civil engineering failures in American history. The dam collapse caused the second greatest loss of life in California history, second only to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The St. Francis dam was built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon, near present-day Santa Clarita. William Mulholland was the engineer behind the dam's construction. The dam failed just hours after he had personally given it a safety inspection, effectively ending his career.
The St. Francis Dam was a 200-foot high concrete gravity-arch dam built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon (near present-day Castaic and Santa Clarita). The dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 at two and a half minutes before midnight. The resulting flood killed more than 600 residents plus an unknown number of itinerant farm workers camped in San Francisquito Canyon, making it the 2nd greatest loss of life in California after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is considered the worst American civil engineering failure in the 20th century.
View across San Francisquito Canyon at the location of the failed Saint Francis Dam has stood. The remaining wing wall of the dam dike is in on the ridge above. Five men wearing suits stand on the canyon floor below and more men are climbing up to the ridge. They the group of geologists and civil engineers who inspected the dam site in the days following the failure of the dam.
The St. Francis Dam was a 200-foot high concrete gravity-arch dam built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon (near present-day Castaic and Santa Clarita). The dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 at two and a half minutes before midnight. The resulting flood killed more than 600 residents plus an unknown number of itinerant farm workers camped in San Francisquito Canyon, making it the 2nd greatest loss of life in California after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is considered the worst American civil engineering failure in the 20th century.
View of concrete ruins of the Saint Francis Dam after its failure. The ruins are at the base of the central portion of the dam, which remained standing. A man wearing a suit is standing of the ruins in the upper right portion of the photograph.
The St. Francis Dam was a 200-foot high concrete gravity-arch dam built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon (near present-day Castaic and Santa Clarita). The dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 at two and a half minutes before midnight. The resulting flood killed more than 600 residents plus an unknown number of itinerant farm workers camped in San Francisquito Canyon, making it the 2nd greatest loss of life in California after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is considered the worst American civil engineering failure in the 20th century.