These photos are from Los Vaqueros dam, California, during construction in 1998. This large earthwork project involved numerous pieces of equipment and required a high degree of engineering quality control.
![View of the embankment from the upstream side, with almost 2/3 of the embankment completed. Notice the haul roads on the left abutment.](https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2015/02/Big-Job-P1-Labeled-300x197.jpg)
View of the embankment from the upstream side, with almost 2/3 of the embankment completed. Notice the haul roads on the left abutment.
![Backhoes carefully place large rocks (rip-rap) on the upstream face. The rocks are carefully packed together to protect the dam face from erosion.](https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2015/02/Big-Job-P2-Labeled-300x197.jpg)
Backhoes carefully place large rocks (rip-rap) on the upstream face. The rocks are carefully packed together to protect the dam face from erosion.
![The different colored soils correspond to the upstream shell (left side), core (darkest), filter, and drain zone (lightest), and downstream shell.](https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2015/02/Big-Job-P3-Labeled-300x198.jpg)
The different colored soils correspond to the upstream shell (left side), core (darkest), filter, and drain zone (lightest), and downstream shell.
![A closer view of the disk that breaks the imported soil down into smaller clods for effective moisture conditioning and compaction.](https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/gpa/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2015/02/Big-Job-P5-Labeled-300x196.jpg)
A closer view of the disk that breaks the imported soil down into smaller clods for effective moisture conditioning and compaction.