Los Angeles herald., 1891-02-26
THE RIVER AND BRIDGES.
ATTENTION NEEDED TO THESE
MATTERS AT ONCE.
Strong Levees and Proper Bridges Must
Be Built to Resist the Boiling
Floods of the Future,

which we ARE now passing through,
there have been four disastrous floods in
the Los Angeles river, augmented by
those from the Arroyo Seco. These floods
have done great deal Of damage to rail
roads, public and private property inside
the corporation limits, not to speak OF
what has been done outside. The pre-
cipitation in this section is increasing,
and at noticeable rate, too. Any one
acquainted with the appearance of
the river bed and the Arroyo
Seco in the first years of the
past decade knows how small the water
way was, and now overgrown with
brush. The great freshets OF the years
referred to above and the liberal volume
OF water flowing in years not producing
an absolute food, have made much
wider, deeper and clearer bed for the
water courses than used to be. The
change is really remarkable. And the
floods are not at all particular as to
where they make way for themselves.
Some ones back yard or parlor door are
as good place for them as any other.
Willows will turn the course of the cur
rent in its widest career; but a bluff
fifty feet high melts like snow bank
before theIimpact of thousands of tons OF
water. running at the rate of fifteen or
twenty miles an hour. One result of
all this is to threaten property along
large stretches OF the river. For in
stance, the stretch from the Hines
Vickery slaughterhouse, above the
u rnn- IL, IL L II
cific bridge, on the line to Burbank and
San Fernando. is such a place. The
line OF the river there is perhaps two
miles, and all along it the stream is 300
to perhaps 1000 feet nearer the railroad
than it used to be. All along that reach
OF the river, the bank will have to be
protected at once. The last food has
washed away 500 feet of the land
in places. Last Monday, when half the
flood had abated, just beyond the bridge
before referred to, at O'Clock there was
at least 300 feet of solid land between
the stream and the railroad track.
Four hours later, three tracks of the
road and nine cars standing empty on
the track were out in mid-stream, a
wreck. Had not half these cars fallen
right in the course of the stream 80 as
to make an excellent improvised break
water, the whole of the track and the
public road would have been
taken out by the food. The next
flood that comes down, if things are left
as they are, the Los Angeles river will
cut across that neck of land and run
into the Arroyo Seco some thousand
feet above where the streams now join.
Then the Southern Pacific will have to
build bridge 1000 feet long instead of
200 feet. But for two miles, all along
that stretch OF the Los Angeles river,
the situation is but little better. The
railroad and the public road are both
Immediately menaced. For mile the
Arroyo Seco is quite as dangerous, meas
uring from where it runs into the Los
Angeles.
Below the Southern Pacific bridge the
river is leveed on both sides almost
through the city. But these levees will
not do. There is only abous one thing
that will resist the force of this stream
in flood time. That is rock. The Ter
minal bulkhead is as good as it's kind
can be made. If there were a heavy
mass of rock behind it no food could
disturb it. As it is a food like that of
1884, or OF 1889, would have wrecked it.
There was not more than half the vol
ume OF water in the river Monday morn
ing that was there in the foods of the
years last named.
Then the bridges need some attention,
and at once. The Southern Pacific
can put in an excellent bridge at the
upper crossing, as span of 200 feet will
be the full length. 1t ought to be of
single span, as the 200 feet all told is
scant room for the volume OF water to
get through. AS it is now, the piles
make dam by holding the drift until
everything gives way at once. The
Santa Fe bridge is as good wooden
structure as can be built. But the
flood of 1889 took out big slice of it;
and that of Monday tried it almost to
the point of succumbing. Two of
the abutments are badly shaken,
and if another flood should come on it
as it is, nearly the whole porderous
structure would be swept away, and if
that should happen the probability is
great that every bridge on the river
would be taken out. Too early attention
cannot be given this matter. The city
has number of costly and proper
bridges. They ought not to be longer
imperiled by these great wooden struc-
lures OF the railroads. Such a river as
the Los Angeles must have liberal water
way, and strong bulkheads and piers to
resist its current.
We recommend the use Of Angostura Bitters
friends w yio h,,t