The St. Francis Dam, or the San Francisquito Dam, was a concrete gravity-arch dam located in San Francisquito Canyon in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States, that was built between 1
View of the dam looking north, with water in its reservoir, in February 1927
St. Francis Dam in early 1928
The approximate extent of the reservoir created by the dam
The same view of the "Tombstone" post-collapse. The west (left) abutment was entirely swept away. The inactive San Francisquito Fault is clearly visible, being located along the contact zone of schist and conglomerate.
William Mulholland was an Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city
St. Francis Dam
…However, a defective soil foundation and design flaws led to the dam's collapse just two years after its completion. Its failure ended the career of William Mulholland, the general manager and chief engineer of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply (now the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power). In the early years…
The second Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades near Sylmar, Los Angeles
Portrait of William Mulholland with a surveyor's level, c. 1908-1913
William Mulholland Memorial Fountain in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, on the site where Mulholland once lived