Again, the dam’s chief engineer – William Mulholland – declared it was normal. On the morning of its collapse, Mulholland and his colleagues had conducted a thorough inspection of the dam ...

A colossal engineering failure, the dam was built by William Mulholland, who had ensured the growth of Los Angeles by bringing water to the city via aqueduct.

In 1922, William Mulholland began building the St. Francis Dam to create a reservoir for the Los Angeles–Owens River aqueduct. To meet the growing water needs of Los Angeles, he decided to ...