15. St. Francis Dam Collapse: Design Oversight
On March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam, designed by William Mulholland, collapsed catastrophically, releasing approximately 12.4 billion gallons of water. The flood devastated downstream communities, resulting in at least 431 fatalities. Investigations revealed that Mulholland’s oversight of the local geology, particularly the dam’s foundation on San Francisquito rock, contributed significantly to the disaster. This event remains one of the most tragic civil engineering failures in American history. (britannica.com)
