“The Dam is Becoming Dangerous and May Possibly Go!” The South Fork Dam Failure

The South Fork Dam (Lake Conemaugh) was an earthen embankment dam located in South Fork, PA, which is about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. The dam catastrophically failed in 1889 and flooded Johnstown, PA, in an event referred to as the Johnstown Flood. This presentation will focus physical and human factors leading to the 1889 disaster that killed 2209 people; the reconstruction of the dam following the 1862 breach; the lowering of the dam crest; the installation of fish screens in the spillway; the undersized spillway; the removal of the outlet conduit; and the perception of the dam on the upstream and the perception of the dam on the downstream. The history of the South Fork Dam covers many significant events that contribute to its failure.