The Leeshaw dam, which was being constructed at that time upon the same
lines, viz., with culvert outlet under the dam, was, at the advice of Sir
Robert Rawlinson, altered to a side tunnel outlet clear of the dam.
Some years previous to the failure of the Dale Dyke reservoir there
occurred, in 1852, a failure of a similar character--though, as far as
the author is aware, unattended by such disastrous results--at the
Bilberry reservoir at Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, which had never been
filled previous to the day of its failure, and arose from the dam having
sunk, and being allowed to remain at a level actually below that of the
by-wash; so that when the storm occurred, the dam was topped and
destroyed. An after examination proved that the bank was badly
constructed and the foundation imperfect.
Besides the above instances, there have been numerous failures within
recent times of earthwork dams in Spain, the United States, Algeria, and
elsewhere, such as that which occurred at Estrecho de Rientes, near
Lorca, in Murcia, where a dam 150 ft. high, the construction of which for
irrigation purposes was commenced in 1755 and completed in 1789, was
filled for the first time in February, 1802, and two months later gave
way, destroying part of the town of Lorca and devastating a large tract
of the most fertile country, and causing the death of 600 people.
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