Johnstown's Flood of 1889

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Johnstown’s Flood of 1889 Neil M. Coleman

Johnstown’s Flood of 1889 Power Over Truth and The Science Behind the Disaster Neil M. Coleman Department of Energy and Earth Resources University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA

ISBN 978-3-319-95215-4 ISBN 978-3-319-95216-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95216-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947587

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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Mara, Kaija, Erika, and Fiona Acknowledgments

I wish to express sincere appreciation to Ms. Kaytlin Sumner, Archivist of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, for helping me access the wealth of archival material they collect and preserve for the history of Johnstown. Ms. Marcia Kelly assisted me with images of the viaduct trestle and the South Fork Dam breach. JAHA also maintains the 1889 Flood Museum, a short walk from the Amtrak station in Johnstown, and the Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center on Broad Street. I also appreciate access to the microfilm records about the South Fork and Hollidaysburg dams maintained by the Pennsylvania State Archive. They have many records from the years of the Canal Commissioners, including the field note- books of the supervising engineers who built the South Fork Dam and the Eastern Dam near Hollidaysburg. I am most grateful to Musser Engineering, Inc. of Central City, Pennsylvania, and Professor Brian Houston (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown) for their GPS analyses of key elevations at the South Fork Dam. The analysis of dam remnant elevations and former lake levels would not have been possible without their contributions. Thanks to Mr. Timothy H. Horning, Public Services Archivist at the University of Pennsylvania. He provided valuable help in locating documents and images related to the John Parke family history and Parke’s classmates, as chronicled in Penn’s publications and archival files. Thanks also to Mr. Richard Gregory, author of “The Bosses Club,” for sharing some details about the Eastern Dam and for dis- cussions about the floods of Johnstown. I am grateful to Ms. Meike Gourley, Museum Assistant with the Historical Society in Beverly, Massachusetts, who helped research details about Leroy Temple. I greatly appreciate the help of Ms. Laurel Racine, Chief of Cultural Resources, who provided access to archival material about the Francis family in Lowell and for general information about the canals and tours provided by the National Park Service. Thanks also to the staff and management of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial for their educational and preservation efforts, and for their permission and assistance to do research in hydrology and geomorphology at the historic site of the South Fork Dam. Ms. Nancy Smith of the National Park Service located and

vii viii Acknowledgments provided historic photographs of the South Fork Dam from the time the NPS first acquired the property. Very special thanks to my friends and colleagues, Stephanie Wojno and Nina Kaktins, for permitting the use in this book of material from our 2016 paper in the journal Heliyon. Ms. Wojno contributed numerous figures for this book and co- authored and greatly enriched Chapter 13 about “The Forgotten Dam” near Hollidaysburg.

Recommended Reading

Carnegie A (1920) Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie (with illustrations). Houghton Mifflin Co., New York and Boston, 385 p McCullough DG (1968) The Johnstown flood. Simon & Schuster, New York, 302 p Qing D1 (1998) “The River Dragon has Come! The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China’s Yangtze River and its People.” Thibodeau JG, Williams PB (eds) [see footnote] Sharpe EM (2004) In the shadow of the dam – the aftermath of the mill river flood of 1874. Free Press, New York 284 p Website of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association and the Johnstown Flood Museum; at http:// www.jaha.org/attractions/johnstown-flood-museum/flood-history/ Website of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, National Park Service; at https://www.nps. gov/jofl/index.htm

1 Dai Qing is the daughter of a revolutionary martyr. As a journalist she was imprisoned for her writings about the Three Gorges Dam. She is now forbidden to publish in China but continues to advocate for freedom of the press, government accountability, and dam safety. I highly recommend her works. Prologue

The literature of the Johnstown flood consists of several films and hundreds of arti- cles and books, most of which focus on the human tragedy, the horrors of the flood wave descending on Johnstown and its neighboring boroughs, scenes of mass destruction, and the heroism and suffering in the aftermath. The public will always be fascinated by the morbid and the macabre. Yet strangely, almost no quantitative science has been done on the 1889 flood, to search for the true cause of the dam breach that spawned the disaster. Perhaps there is a psychology of tragedy that causes professionals to turn away from analyzing terrible events in detail. But such analysis can save lives in the future, such as the engineering studies of the speed of collapse of the World Trade Center towers after exposure to impact and intense fire. The study of dam safety is crucial to our society. There are tens of thousands of dams in this country, some of which have been labeled high-risk dams. If they were to fail, the lives of hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands would be at risk. Sadly, the lessons of the Johnstown flood and other dam breach disasters have yet to be learned. In 1975 in China, runoff from torrential rains breached the Banqiao and Shimantan dams, causing the domino collapse of scores of smaller dams and levees below them. Hundreds of thousands perished in the flooding and its aftermath. Such tragedies have only one redeeming value – they serve as examples of events to antic- ipate and avoid – what to do and what not to do. They teach important safety lessons to individuals and society as a whole. The American Society of Civil Engineers (hereafter the ASCE) launched an investigation immediately after the 1889 flood. Three members of the appointed committee were among the finest hydraulic engineers in the USA. The breached dam was owned by the elite South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club of Pittsburgh. Some of its members were among the wealthiest industrialists in the nation. They had the power to influence the investigation and even the inner workings of the ASCE. It is unfortunate that even when public safety is at risk, power can overrule science and engineering. The fate of the ASCE investigation report is a tale of power over science.

ix Contents

1 Introduction �� 1 1.1 The U.S. and the World in 1889 �� 3 1.2 Carnegie and Pitcairn �� 4 References �� 6 2 The Gathering Storm – “A Shower of Fishes” �� 7 2.1 The Coming Storm �� 8 2.2 Cloud Seeding!? �� 11 2.3 Regional Storm Damage �� 12 References �� 14 3 Early History of the South Fork Dam �� 15 3.1 The “Age of Canals” �� 15 3.2 Not Enough Water – A Need for Dams! �� 17 3.3 Design of the South Fork Dam �� 19 3.4 Building the Dam �� 20 3.4.1 Excavations for Dam Material �� 22 3.5 Decommissioning the South Fork Dam �� 26 3.6 Partial Breach of the Dam in 1862 �� 26 3.6.1 Possible Role of Hydrodynamic Damage or Other Processes �� 28 References �� 30 4 The South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club �� 33 4.1 How the Property Was Acquired by the Club �� 34 4.2 So Who Pulled the Pipes? �� 35 4.3 Influence of Robert Pitcairn, PRR Superintendent, Western Division �� 38 4.4 Changes Made to the South Fork Dam �� 39 4.5 Opening of the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club �� 44 References �� 47

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5 Day of the Dam Breach �� 49 5.1 The Rail Journeys of Michael Trump and Robert Pitcairn �� 49 5.2 Eyewitness Accounts from the South Fork Dam �� 55 5.2.1 John Parke’s Letter to ASCE’s Investigation Committee �� 56 5.2.2 Other Eyewitnesses of the Dam Breach �� 60 5.3 John Parke’s Ride to South Fork �� 62 5.4 Witnesses along the Flood Path �� 63 5.5 Telegram from the President �� 69 5.6 Stories of Other Survivors �� 70 5.7 Flood Heights of the “Great Wave” �� 71 References �� 73 6 The Viaduct �� 75 6.1 River Flow from Collapse of the Viaduct �� 79 6.2 The Viaduct Today �� 81 References �� 83 7 Investigation by the ASCE Committee (Francis et al. 1891) and the Fate of their Report �� 85 7.1 ASCE’s Investigation and Sealing of the Report �� 85 7.2 Annual Convention in Cresson, PA, June 1890 �� 89 7.3 Annual Convention in Chattanooga, TN, May 1891 �� 95 7.4 Findings of the South Fork Dam Investigation �� 96 References �� 97 8 Biographical Sketches of John G. Parke, Jr. and the Engineers Behind the ASCE Investigation �� 99 8.1 John G. Parke, Jr., Engineer �� 101 8.2 James B. Francis, Jr., Lowell’s Hydraulic Engineer �� 106 8.2.1 The Francis Family �� 110 8.2.2 Francis’ Retirement �� 111 8.2.3 Illness and Death of James B. Francis �� 113 8.2.4 The Legacy of James Francis �� 113 8.2.5 James B. Francis as Remembered by Colleagues �� 115 8.2.6 Visiting Lowell Today �� 117 8.3 William Worthen �� 119 8.4 Alphonse Fteley �� 123 8.5 Max Becker – Railroad Man �� 128 8.5.1 ASCE Election Controversy �� 130 References �� 134 9 Analysis of the South Fork Dam and the Former Lake Conemaugh �� 137 9.1 Research Approach �� 137 9.2 Profiles of the Dam Remnants �� 139 Contents xiii

9.3 Water Levels for Lake and Main Spillway at Time of Dam Failure �� 142 9.4 Storage Capacity of Lake Conemaugh at the Time of Dam Failure �� 144 9.5 Storage–Elevation Curve for Lake Conemaugh �� 144 9.6 Inflows to Lake Conemaugh – Time of Concentration and Time to Peak Discharge �� 145 9.7 Stream Level Observations �� 146 References �� 150 10 Hydraulic Calculations �� 151 10.1 Pipe Flows �� 151 10.2 Auxiliary Spillway �� 153 10.3 Main Spillway and Combined Discharge �� 156 10.4 Inflow to Lake Conemaugh �� 157 10.5 Inflow Calculations by the Investigation Committee (Francis et al., 1891) �� 160 10.6 Dam Breach Calculations �� 163 10.6.1 Peak Discharge Rate �� 164 10.6.2 Hydrographs of the 1889 Dam Breach �� 166 References �� 171 11 Discussion �� 173 11.1 Suppression of the Investigation Report �� 173 11.2 Review of the ASCE Report (Francis et al. 1891) �� 175 11.3 Whitewash and Distortion of the ASCE Report �� 179 11.4 Who should be Blamed for the Johnstown Flood? �� 182 References �� 186 12 Conclusions �� 187 12.1 Scientific Conclusions �� 189 13 The Forgotten Dam: The Eastern Reservoir at Hollidaysburg and Its Role in Canal History �� 191 Neil M. Coleman and Stephanie Wojno 13.1 Introduction �� 191 13.2 History of the Eastern Reservoir �� 192 13.2.1 Site Surveys �� 193 13.3 Building the Dam �� 195 13.3.1 Damage During Construction �� 198 13.3.2 Spillway and Other Excavations �� 198 13.3.3 Feeder Canals �� 200 13.3.4 Aqueduct �� 202 13.4 Operating the Eastern Dam �� 203 13.5 Decommissioning the Eastern Reservoir �� 205 xiv Contents

13.6 Lake Volume During Operational Period �� 206 13.7 Hydraulic Analysis of the Spillway and Discharge Pipes �� 207 13.8 Hypothetical Dam Breach �� 210 13.9 Conclusions �� 211 References �� 212 14 End Notes �� 215 14.1 The Tale of Leroy Temple �� 215 14.2 Clara Barton and Nathaniel Deane �� 217 14.3 A Walk among the Tombstones �� 220 14.4 Uldis Kaktins, in Memorium �� 222 14.5 Dam Safety – A Terrible Lesson from the Past �� 224 References �� 225

Epilogue �� 227

Appendices �� 229

Index �� 249 About the Author

Neil M. Coleman served as a Senior Staff Scientist for two federal advisory com- mittees, the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste and the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. He retired in 2010 from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland. A Navy veteran, he served on the carrier USS Constellation, later earning the M.S. degree in Geology from the University of South Florida. Mr. Coleman is a Professional Geologist in Pennsylvania and currently teaches geophysics at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He has numerous peer-reviewed publications, including lead authorship (with Victor Baker) of a chapter in the 2009 book “Megaflooding on Earth and Mars.” His continuing interests include the safety of the nation’s dams, geophysics, the geology and paleo-hydrology of Mars, and research with colleagues on the watershed of the Little Conemaugh River.

xv List of Abbreviations

ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers Club South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club DCNR PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources DEM digital elevation model ENARJ Engineering News and American Railway Journal Eng. News Engineering News ESWP Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania EXPO Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889 GSA Geological Society of America JAHA Johnstown Area Heritage Association LiDAR portmanteau word combining “light” and “radar” NAVD North American Vertical Datum NPS National Park Service PA Pennsylvania PASDA Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access PRR Pennsylvania Railroad Company AO former PRR telegraph tower about 1.5 miles east of East Conemaugh Tribune Johnstown Daily Tribune USDA US Department of Agriculture USGS US Geological Survey

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