The Austin Dam Disaster of 1900 recreates the era of Gay Nineties Austin, then--as now--a city on the rise and on the make. In 1891, at the behest of ambitious city fathers, the little city of just 15,000 people gambled its future on a project of breathtaking size--a massive hydroelectric dam across the Colorado River. This book follows the epic construction project and the brief golden era of the pleasure resort at Lake McDonald. Though troubled and controversial from the get-go, the dam embodied all of Austin's dreams. Then, on Friday, April 6, 1900, it began to rain . . .

Investigates theoretically the structural integrity of the original Austin Dam in Austin, Pennsylvania and determine the likely cause of its failure in 1911. Using standard engineering practices of the early 1900's, the dam's stability against sliding, overturning, and crushing was calculated. After creating a solid computer model of the dam, a stress analysis was performed using modern finite element analysis methods which were not available at the time of the failure. Construction and analysis of a model incorporating suggested reinforcements to the structure determined if these reinforcements would have been sufficient to prevent the failure.

Social/Historical study of the Austin Dam Disaster of 1911 through the extensive use of news accounts and photographs. In addition, the social dynamics, ethical issues, and variant explainations surrounding the disaster are explored.

Minutes before midnight on the evening of March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed. The dam's 200-foot concrete wall crumpled, sending billions of gallons of raging flood waters down San Francisquito Canyon, sweeping 54 miles down the Santa Clara River to the sea, and claiming over 450 lives in the disaster. Captured here in over 200 images is a photographic record of the devastation caused by the flood, and the heroic efforts of residents and rescue workers. Built by the City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Water Works and Supply, the failure of the St. Francis Dam on its first filling was the greatest American civil engineering failure of the 20th century. Beginning at dawn on the morning after the disaster, stunned local residents picked up their cameras to record the path of destruction, and professional photographers moved in to take images of the washed-out bridges, destroyed homes and buildings, Red Cross workers giving aid, and the massive clean-up that followed. The event was one of the worst disasters in California's history, second only to the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.