Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-06
ALONG THE PLATTE
furOs Of Water Damages Missouri Pacific
Bridge Over Runway,
ALSO MANDATES ROCK ISLAND TRACK
ice Gorge Opposite Cedar Greek
BriHes ON TroubIe sor surrounS-
ina COuntry-Town Of
meadow A. AaOaL

Ice which broke loose in the Platte river
on last Saturday and has been running
down since then formed q gorge about ep-
posite Cedar Creek in sarpy county early
Tuesday and as a consequence a hood
formed which took out three bents Of q
Missouri Pacific bridge near the river.
deeply Inundated q quarter Of q mile OF the
Rock Island main line and flooded a section
of country along the fiat river bottoms
about ten miles by two.
None Of the damage TO railroad lines has
been great. nor the consequences extremely
serious. Though the water rose 20 an
alarming point at one time during the
night, the gorge gave way just IN time and
the water is now receding constantly.
though the section IL still overlooked. The
town of Meadow. on the Rock Island. has
been ahoat since Tuesday might
The Missouri Pacific bridge a being re-
built by q force of men who were brought
from Atchison- Meanwhile the Missouri Pa
cinc fs using its other line 90 Auburn, which
runs down from Omaha about twelve miles
further east along the Missouri river
through Gilmore, Plattsmouth, Union n
Nebraska City. The trafhc on the other
branch is cared fer by running over from
Union 10 Weeping Water. where sverythine
south Of the river lie run down from Louis
Vile on stub trains, and by going from GIL
more over 20 Portal north OF the river,
where all on that side can be picked up
from similar stubs.
Rock Island Submerged.
The Rock Island lie experiencing no great
trouble. Az soon as its tracks became I'm
passable Tuesday night It began running all
passenger trains and through freights be-
tween Omaha and Lincoln over the Burling-
ton and will DO 80 TIN Thursday, when It
expects TO have its track again ready for
use. Local trafhc each side Of the food,
meanwhile, is cared for by stub trains
run down from Council Bluffs to Meadow
and up from Lincoln to Louisville. At one
time the Rock Island was eight fest under
water and is now four feet submerged
A network Of three railroads weaveR
about the point where the trouble exists.
The Missouri Pacific runs almost directly
north and south, making Louisville ON the
south side Of the Platte and Springfield on
the north side. The Rock Island runs
northeast from Lincoln up toward Omaha.
II crosses the Platte near South Bend, five
miles west OF the Missouri Psci1c, crossing
at Louisville, and thea follows the river up
over the Missouri Pacific to Meadow, a
small station. The Burlington is on the
noANn Eot VI ~ AANNAs hhAAAAA Ab Uhuh1
to Plsttsmouth. and 30 is out Of harms
way, as the flooding occurred mostly to the
north.
-Four miles northeast Of the Missouri Pa
cinc bridge the gorge formed. and backed
up gradually as the ice accumulated. Mean
while the water rose rapidly and AT 4
O'Clock Tuesday afternoon II was past
high water mark. 1t rose higher and be-
gan reaching out over the fats north and
west. The town Of Meadow was quickly
surrounded by a food from twD TO four feet
deep and was stin 50 situated yesterday.
Water Takes 10 Runway.
The Missouri Pacific had left another
| channel IN the event OF Just such n block
AIDE and the water began going that way.
This was a marrow runway 500 feet north
Of the river and parallel to It, with a dump
between. The track between the main
bridge and the second channel was laid
solid on this dump. Then came the short
bridge. LIS feet, over this safety outlet,
which carried the stream along parallel to
the main river to a point where It Joined
again several miles below.
As soon as the water had risen so high
that # swept over and found this smaller
outlet there was q rapid at once. Water
rushed down the new route forty miles an
hour and fifteen feet deep, and it's force
was Irresistible. This began at Z O'Clock
Tuesday night This small bridge held for a
while and then began going piece by piece.
BY morning three bents were gone. They
were sixteen feet long each. All the pill
ings were not ripped up. however.
Absolutely nothing could be done 70 re-
pair this bridge tin the rapid ceased. The
gorge below had broken about midnight. bui
enough ice had backed up ahead OF the big
Missouri Pacific bridge to keep the water
high for some time. When IL began TO re-
oede work was commenced. The damage Il
the bridge did not exceed $500 n will b
easily repaired