William Mulholland

September 11, 1855 (age 79)

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Removing to California, Mulholland began, in 1877, a long engineering career, chiefly in connection with water-supply projects. His first work was that of boring artesian wells with a hand drill. In 1878, however, he secured a position as zanjero, or ditch tender, for the Los Angeles City Water Company. While serving in this humble capacity he studied books on mathematics, civil engineering, and hydraulics. He was quick to learn and had much native ability, including a gift for leadership. As a result Mulholland became, in 1886, superintendent of the company, and when in 1902 the city purchased the company's works, he was retained as superintendent and chief engineer. Under his dynamic leadership the primitive distribution system with its one reservoir was developed into one that comprised more than 3, 800 miles of pipe and sixty-five reservoirs and tanks. In order to investigate the advisability of obtaining water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to meet the growing city's need, he made a five-hundred-mile tour to Owens Valley in a buckboard drawn by a team of mules. His survey of the possibilities convinced him that an aqueduct from a point near Owens Lake was feasible. Mulholland estimated that it could be built for $24, 500, 000, and could be completed in five years. He made a vigorous speaking campaign in its behalf and the citizens of Los Angeles voted a bond issue to insure its construction. Begun in 1909, it was finished in 1913 at less than the estimated cost. This aqueduct, then the largest of its kind in the world, was remarkable, not only because of its great length, but also for the engineering difficulties overcome in constructing it through mountains, over valleys, and across desert stretches. One of Mulholland's great achievements in connection with the project was the building of twenty-seven earth dams for the creation of required storage, all of which he conceived and the construction of which he supervised. When, within ten years, it became apparent that more water was needed, he considered the practicability of the Colorado River as a source, and under his supervision 60, 000 square miles of territory were surveyed in search of suitable routes for an aqueduct having a capacity of 1, 500 second-feet. The data acquired by Mulholland and his associates were turned over to the Metropolitan Water District, created in 1928 by thirteen California cities, including Los Angeles. The great tragedy of his career was the collapse of the St. Francis Dam, located on San Francisquito Creek, California, which occurred March 12, 1928, with much loss of life and property. It had been built by engineers under Mulholland's supervision. Official investigations attributed the collapse to defective foundation material. In December 1928, after fifty years of active service, he retired, but continued to serve Los Angeles in an advisory capacity. In December 1934 William Mulholland suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and he died in his sleep on the twenty-second of the following July. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

William Mulholland

Edit Profile

engineer

Background

William Mulholland was born on September 11, 1855, in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, the son of Hugh Mulholland and Ellen Deakers.

Education

Mulholland received his early education in the schools of Dublin and attended the Christian Brothers College.

After four years before the mast, he arrived in New York City in the early seventies and thereafter served as a sailor on the Great Lakes, worked in lumber camps in Michigan, and helped an uncle conduct a dry-goods business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Career

Removing to California, Mulholland began, in 1877, a long engineering career, chiefly in connection with water-supply projects. His first work was that of boring artesian wells with a hand drill.

In 1878, however, he secured a position as zanjero, or ditch tender, for the Los Angeles City Water Company. While serving in this humble capacity he studied books on mathematics, civil engineering, and hydraulics. He was quick to learn and had much native ability, including a gift for leadership.

As a result Mulholland became, in 1886, superintendent of the company, and when in 1902 the city purchased the company's works, he was retained as superintendent and chief engineer. Under his dynamic leadership the primitive distribution system with its one reservoir was developed into one that comprised more than 3, 800 miles of pipe and sixty-five reservoirs and tanks. In order to investigate the advisability of obtaining water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to meet the growing city's need, he made a five-hundred-mile tour to Owens Valley in a buckboard drawn by a team of mules. His survey of the possibilities convinced him that an aqueduct from a point near Owens Lake was feasible.

Mulholland estimated that it could be built for $24, 500, 000, and could be completed in five years. He made a vigorous speaking campaign in its behalf and the citizens of Los Angeles voted a bond issue to insure its construction. Begun in 1909, it was finished in 1913 at less than the estimated cost. This aqueduct, then the largest of its kind in the world, was remarkable, not only because of its great length, but also for the engineering difficulties overcome in constructing it through mountains, over valleys, and across desert stretches. One of Mulholland's great achievements in connection with the project was the building of twenty-seven earth dams for the creation of required storage, all of which he conceived and the construction of which he supervised.

When, within ten years, it became apparent that more water was needed, he considered the practicability of the Colorado River as a source, and under his supervision 60, 000 square miles of territory were surveyed in search of suitable routes for an aqueduct having a capacity of 1, 500 second-feet. The data acquired by Mulholland and his associates were turned over to the Metropolitan Water District, created in 1928 by thirteen California cities, including Los Angeles.

The great tragedy of his career was the collapse of the St. Francis Dam, located on San Francisquito Creek, California, which occurred March 12, 1928, with much loss of life and property. It had been built by engineers under Mulholland's supervision. Official investigations attributed the collapse to defective foundation material.

In December 1928, after fifty years of active service, he retired, but continued to serve Los Angeles in an advisory capacity. In December 1934 William Mulholland suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and he died in his sleep on the twenty-second of the following July. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

Achievements

William Mulholland was a prominent civil engineer, who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city in California. Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles is named after him.

Views

Quotations: "If there is an error of human judgment, I am the human. "

"I envy the dead. "

Membership

William Mulholland served as a member of the Engineering Board on Water Resources and Development of the State of California.

Connections

On July 3, 1890, William Mulholland married Lillie Ferguson, by whom he had five children.

Father:: Hugh Mulholland
Mother:: Ellen Mulholland (Deakers)
Sister:: Sarah Mulholland
Wife:: Lillie Mulholland (Ferguson)
Daughter:: Ruth Mulholland
Daughter:: Lucile Mack (Mulholland)
Daughter:: Rose Ellen Mulholland
Son:: Perry Mulholland
Son:: Thomas Ferguson Mulholland
Brother:: Thomas Mulholland
Brother:: Hugh Patrick Mulholland

Main Photo