Nichols - St. Francis Dam Disaster

THE MORNING OF THE DAM BREAK . Pictured are William Mulholland, Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply; Harvey Van Norman, Assistant Chief Engineer; and dam keeper Tony Harnischfeger walking across the crest of the recently filled dam around noon on March 12, 1928. That same morning Harnischfeger had telephoned Mulholland to tell him that a new, larger leak had developed on the west abutment of Sespe formation, and that the discharge was dirty. This was cause for concern as this would be an alarm to the possibility of hydraulic piping. Mulholland chose to personally inspect the dam and arrived at 10:30 a.m. for a two-hour inspection. Mulholland and Van Norman left around 12:30 p.m. after assuring Harnischfeger of the dams soundness.

Twelve hours later Tony Harnischfeger and his six-year-old son would become the first victims of the disaster. Their bodies were never found.

THE DOWNSTREAM FACE AROUND NOON ON MARCH 12 . In Man-Made Disaster, Charles Outland wrote: Muddy water appearing in any leaks below the dam could mean only one thingfoundation material was being washed away from beneath the great structure. With the high pressure of a full reservoir it could only be a matter of time until a blowout occurred or the dam collapsed of its own immense weight.

AFTER THE COLLAPSE . The St. Francis Dam was a massive concave-faced concrete structure 185 feet high that backed up an artificial lake 2.8 miles long. About 38,000 acre-feet of water was impounded behind the dam. The water weighed almost 52 million tons.

TONY HARNISCHFEGER WORRIED . The dam keeper openly expressed his concern a number of times on the dams safety. He was so worried, his daughter later reported, that he had constructed a series of stairs to a high mountain behind his home to provide for the escape of his son and himself in the event of disaster. He was separated from his wife.

THE EAST ABUTMENT WAS BEGINNING TO COLLAPSE . Two Bureau of Power and Light employees told Charles Outland that they had driven along the dirt road alongside the dam a few hours before the collapse. They noticed that the road had dropped at least 12 inches, just upstream of the east abutment.

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS . The lights of Los Angeles flickered momentarily at 11:57:30 p.m. on March 12 as the dam collapsed. The wall of water began its 54-mile trek to the sea at 18 miles per hour and by the time it reached Montalvo it was traveling at 6 miles per hour. In less than 70 minutes the reservoir was emptied of 12.4 billion gallons of water.

AN ENORMOUS STRESS ON THE DAM . The dam was built on a giant ancient landslide, which reactivated, with no evidence of seismic activity. The mass of land that moved weighed 877,500 tons, more than three times the weight of the dam itself, which weighed 250,000 tons.

A ONE-YEAR SUPPLY OF WATER FOR L . A . The dam was built on a site chosen by William Mulholland, who presided over the creation of a water system that changed the course of southern Californias history. His career began in 1886 and he retired in 1929. Mulholland was well accepted for his hydraulic engineering accomplishments but had little training in geology.

A GREAT MAN WAS CRUSHED . At the time of the disaster William Mulholland disconsolately accepted responsibility of the dam break with his statement, Dont blame anybody else, you just fasten it on me. If there was an error of human judgment, I was that human. History has become much kinder to him than he was to himself. He died on July 22, 1935.

SCIENCE IS A CRUEL TEACHER . No one doubted the engineering capabilities of William Mulholland. His approval of a design and selection of a site were accepted without question by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Many difficult lessons in geology and engineering were learned from this tragedy.

EVIDENCE WAS GATHERED . E.O. Goodenough, president of the Fillmore Chamber of Commerce, drove to the dam site two weeks after the collapse to examine the remains. He brought back two different kinds of rocks that formed the foundation. The rocks were so soft and crumbly that he would caution those who handled them to be careful lest they crumble them to pieces so he could no longer exhibit them.