Three geologists and civil engineers (probably) in an elevated area of St. Francisquito Canyon, investigating the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. Three men (onlookers) in hats watch in the distance from atop the Dam.
Four civil engineers and/or geologists (probably), in the area of the failed Saint Francis Dam examine an engineering drawing shortly after the dam failed. A steep canyon wall is visible behind the group.
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.
The collapse of the Saint Francis Dam prompted the creation of over a dozen separate investigations into the cause of failure. Almost all of these comprised investigative panels of prominent engineers and geologists.
The collapse of the Saint Francis Dam prompted the creation of over a dozen separate investigations into the cause of failure. Almost all of these comprised investigative panels of prominent engineers and geologists.