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Personnel

The entire personnel of the Department of Water

Works and Supply and the Department of Water and Power

Commissioners, who were responsible for the building of the

dam, appears to have had an unusual degree of confidence in

the Chief Engineer and relied entirely upon his ability,

experience and infallibility in matters of engineering

judgment.
With a background of many years of very dis-

tinguished achievement in the building of a great water

works system, including seventeen earth fill and rock fill

dams, there was ample reason for a very high degree of
confidence.

However, the Chief Engineer and his principal
I
assistants had had limited experience in the building of

large masonry or concrete dams prior to the building of the
St. Francis Dam. Earth fill and rock fill dams are built

wholly or in part on unconsolidated or yielding foundations,
while masonry or concrete dams must have hard, impervious,

unyielding foundations. This organization apparently did not

appreciate the necessity of doing the many things that must

be done in order to be certain that the foundation of a dam

of the concrete gravity type is and will remain hard,

impervious and unyielding.

As a consequence of these conditions, serious

errors were made, while the entire responsible organization

seemed confident that they were maintaining their previous
,
high standard of accomplishment.

There appears to have been no disposition to

neglect anything because of expense, as funds were available

to moot any requirement deemed necessary. The only reasonable

explanation is that those in charge were completely deceived

as to the true conditions and acted through ignorance and not

from intent to omit any precaution from any motive.

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