Bibliography of Dam Failures

USBR Office of Engineering Reference ; no.242. This bibliography presents 112 references on dam failures; 58 arranged alphabetically by author's name and 54 staff articles arranged alphabetically by title. Although most of the references deal with accounts of individual failures, several contain tabulations of numerous failures. The first well known tabulation of dam failures was prepared by M. C. Hinderlider, of which the summary was published in the ASCE Proceedings, 1932, and Transactions, 1933. Several recent dam failures, resulting in heavy loss of life and property damage, have revived interest in compiling information to permit updating the Hinderlider tabulation. Although a conscientious effort has been made to search engineering journals, it is inevitable that there are inadvertent omissions in this bibliography. It is well known, for example, that there have been many instances of dam failures of which the only mention made was given in local newspapers, and a nationwide notice of the failure was never published. In the US, for example, the offices of State Engineers for each of the 50 states undoubtedly contain much information on dam failures that is not otherwise known. If, somehow, the records could be gleaned, this bibliography could be made far more complete. Persons having information regarding dam failures not referred to herein are encouraged to write to the Bureau of Reclamation.