- Not to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.
The
Great Sheffield Flood was a
flood that devastated parts of
Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the
Dale Dyke Dam broke as
its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed by the flood. The immediate cause was a crack in the
embankment, but the source of the crack was never determined. The dam's failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures. The dam was rebuilt in 1875.