Dam Failure Case Study: Laurel Run Dam (Pennsylvania, 1977)

DamFailures.Org is an ASDSO project that provides individual dam failure case studies and lessons learned as a resource for dam safety engineers, dam operators, owners, regulators, managers, academia and students to help prevent future incidents.

Constructed between 1915 and 1918, Laurel Run Dam was an earthfill dam with a masonry spillway erected across Laurel Run near Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It was built to replace a smaller dam in order to provide water for drinking and industrial needs for the growing population in and around Johnstown. The dam was built 42 feet high, 620 feet long, and contained just over 100 million gallons of water. The upstream face of the dam was rock-lined.