History of Dam's
Earlier Adventures of Dam Constructions
How the Dam's were Constructed between the 1850- 1900
- In the second half of the 19th Century, there was a increase in population in California due to the gold rush
- Since water was used for mining, the residence wanted to market on the water usage, and they built dams to help them
- The dams were small, and their purpose was to direct the water to the mining areas. They were mainly constructed with earth and rocks
- Soon after that, the technology improved, and it allowed for California to build a bigger concrete dam
- The Lower Crystal Springs Dam provided a significant example of a concrete gravity dam that set a precedence for future dam design. It was built in the 1888 near the San Andreas Fault. This dam was able to withstand the 1906 San Francisco earthquake with little to no damage.
- The constant Arch design also came about in the 19th Century once again to reduce the material that needed to be used. It was possible due to new engineering and technology advancement
- It used its shape to withstand the water pressures unlike the gravity dam that resistance it by its weight
- However, even though new advances were discovered, the stresses that occur on the arch dam were not fully understood, so most of the arch dam’s resembled gravity dams with broad cross sections
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Lower Crystal Springs Dam |
Dam Failures
In the United states alone there has been over a hundred dam failures. Below are some examples that have occurred over the years. These dam failures are the ones that have contributed greatly to the legislation of dam construction.
St. Francis Dam Collapse, 1928
- The collapse of this dam was the second-greatest disaster in California history at that time.
- It was estimated that 400 to 600 people died due to this collapse.
- This collapse was inevitable since from day one there were leaks within the structure
- The wall span 396 meters of concrete in the San Francisquito Canyon
- It held 12 billion gallons of water; it was a year’s supply for the entire city about 80 km to the south
- There were even inspectors who inspected it and vouched for its safety when it was leaking the morning of the collapse
- This failure had encouraged the state of California to create safety legislation according to the construction of dam, something that was not present before this incident
- However, some states still did not include legislation in relation to dam construction until the 1970’s
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The Dam after it Collapsed |
1970’s Dam Collapses
In the 70’s alone, there were 5 dam collapses in the United States. It was not until the collapse of the Toccoa Falls, Georgia in 1977 did the President Jimmy Carter direct the US Army to inspect the nation’s non-federal high-hazard dams. This phase 1 program lasted form 1978-1981 and the finding of this program was responsible for establishing a dam safety programs that the most states would have to obeyed by. This program was called National Dam Safety Program.
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This is the Aftermath of the Buffalo Creek Valley Dam Failure in 1972 |
All information about previous collapses in the United States along with dam regulation can be found at:
https://damfailures.org/
References
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