Johnstown, Pennsylvannia.
On Memorial Day weekend, 1889, the single most destructive dam failure in United States History occurred.
Johnstown has actually been destroyed by three major floods.
Once in 1977 when the dam on the Laurel Run Creek failed, once in 1931 when a flash flood hit the town and the catastrophic collapse of the Conenmaugh Dam on the river of the same name.
The Dam was part of the Johnstown Hunting and Fishing Lodge . Originally purchased by Benjamin Roth for 2000 dollars, the dam was part of the purchase and had been poorly maintained for years.
The club was owned by some of the most wealthy families in the world. This included, Andrew Carnegie, John Mellon, Henry Frick, the Vanderbuilt's and other important members of high society. These were families who attained their position in life, not by hard work but mostly by illegal methods.
The dam initially was well built, but 50 years of neglect left the structure on the brink of collapse.
Weeds, trees, garbage and dirt had been used to shore up the dam.
Also the work that was done on the dam had actually weaken the structure. Most of the repairs had been done as cheaply as possible and as dangerously as possible.
The release pipes had been removed so the water level could not be lowered. This is a disaster waiting to happen. If the water level cannot be lowered the structure is doomed to fail. It's not a question of when but a question of how bad.
The dam itself had also been lowered by three feet. This completely compromised the structure. A finished dam should never be tampered with or added on to, or lowered.
In addition, the spillway had been blocked to keep the valuable game fish in . Once again this was a horrible catastrophe just waiting to happen.
The energy of the water held behind a large dam is equivalent to the energy release of a Hydrogen Bomb.
Any dam constructed without a spillway is doomed to failure, it's just a matter of time. And as dam's go this was a very small dam, being only about one hundred feet in height. In comparison the Viont Dam in Italy which failed in the 1960's was almost one thousand feet in height and produced a wall of water 300 feet in height compared to the 40 foot wave at Johnstown.
The problem at Johnstown was the fact that so many families were crowded into the small valley, which was basically a large flood plain, and was prone to flooding.
All morning the dam had been filling with water from the creeks along the reservoir at a rate of about an inch every 10 minutes.
By three in the afternoon water had begun spilling over the top of the dam literally cutting through the structure.
People present at the time of the failure said the dam simply floated away.
At this point a huge wall of water was sent down the canyon headed for Johnstown.
The wave was temporarily stopped by an aqueduct. But this also gave way releasing a wave about 80 feet high filled with debris.
By the time the wave hit Johnstown it had dissipated to about 40 feet but now contained full Rail Road Engine's and box car's , houses and oil.
The main employer in Johnstown was the Cambria Iron Works. This company manufactured barbed wire. The wave slammed into the factory and tons of razor sharp wire was added to the wave.
At the end of town stood a stone bridge. The flood stopped here temporarily and the wreckage soon piled up. To make matters worse the wreckage and oil caught fire and 80 people were burned alive.
When dawn finally came the sight was beyond belief. In just ten minutes Johnstown had been completely destroyed.
The flood wave from the dam, which had been poorly maintained by the Hunting Lodge for the very wealthy had killed almost 3000 working class people.
Although the Lodge belonged
to some of the most wealthy people in the world, not one dime was ever offered for restitution from the failure.
If this had happened today several person's involved would most likely have gone to prison.
Today the remains of the dam are covered with trees and grass, a reminder that a dam's location to populated area's may have devastating results in the event of failure.
By
Kenneh Lafler
The dam initially was well built, but 50 years of neglect left the structure on the brink of collapse.
Weeds, trees, garbage and dirt had been used to shore up the dam.
Also the work that was done on the dam had actually weaken the structure. Most of the repairs had been done as cheaply as possible and as dangerously as possible.
The release pipes had been removed so the water level could not be lowered. This is a disaster waiting to happen. If the water level cannot be lowered the structure is doomed to fail. It's not a question of when but a question of how bad.
The dam itself had also been lowered by three feet. This completely compromised the structure. A finished dam should never be tampered with or added on to, or lowered.
In addition, the spillway had been blocked to keep the valuable game fish in . Once again this was a horrible catastrophe just waiting to happen.
The energy of the water held behind a large dam is equivalent to the energy release of a Hydrogen Bomb.
Any dam constructed without a spillway is doomed to failure, it's just a matter of time. And as dam's go this was a very small dam, being only about one hundred feet in height. In comparison the Viont Dam in Italy which failed in the 1960's was almost one thousand feet in height and produced a wall of water 300 feet in height compared to the 40 foot wave at Johnstown.
The problem at Johnstown was the fact that so many families were crowded into the small valley, which was basically a large flood plain, and was prone to flooding.
All morning the dam had been filling with water from the creeks along the reservoir at a rate of about an inch every 10 minutes.
By three in the afternoon water had begun spilling over the top of the dam literally cutting through the structure.
People present at the time of the failure said the dam simply floated away.
At this point a huge wall of water was sent down the canyon headed for Johnstown.
The wave was temporarily stopped by an aqueduct. But this also gave way releasing a wave about 80 feet high filled with debris.
By the time the wave hit Johnstown it had dissipated to about 40 feet but now contained full Rail Road Engine's and box car's , houses and oil.
The main employer in Johnstown was the Cambria Iron Works. This company manufactured barbed wire. The wave slammed into the factory and tons of razor sharp wire was added to the wave.
At the end of town stood a stone bridge. The flood stopped here temporarily and the wreckage soon piled up. To make matters worse the wreckage and oil caught fire and 80 people were burned alive.
When dawn finally came the sight was beyond belief. In just ten minutes Johnstown had been completely destroyed.
The flood wave from the dam, which had been poorly maintained by the Hunting Lodge for the very wealthy had killed almost 3000 working class people.
Although the Lodge belonged
to some of the most wealthy people in the world, not one dime was ever offered for restitution from the failure.
If this had happened today several person's involved would most likely have gone to prison.
Today the remains of the dam are covered with trees and grass, a reminder that a dam's location to populated area's may have devastating results in the event of failure.
By
Kenneh Lafler
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