The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-14
ENG NEERS FACE
 WE|GHTY PROBLEM
Water Rushing Over Plains a
 Menace to Traffic
WAVES OF LIQUID SAND
Such Waves Frequently Reach Height of Ten Feet and Cause of Re- cent Wreck on Rock Island
 In Oklahoma.

Guthrie Ol T., Saturuay.-lne loss Ol life by the wreoking of a bridge and train
 at Dover in a headwater flood of the | Cmarron river recently was another tri-
 bute paid by the Providence that controls
 violent deaths and the Rock Island rall-
 road to the unsolved engineering problem
 of controlling the sudden rushes of wate-
 from the broad plains of the Texas Pan l handle and it's neghboring country There 1 Is hope now that when the irrigation
 scheme reaches this country the problem will be solved When these rushes of
 water como down the rivers like tho tidal
 waves that follow the breaking of a
 great dam they are known locally as l "heads." Many equal and some exceed the wall of water that wrought such ruin l in Johnstewn, Pa, but here the towns l and farmhouses are located with view Of escaping such floods which are not an unusual occurrence. The fatal Cimar- ron flood, however Is described by those l who saw 1t as of greater magnitude than | any that have come down that river in many years.
 | Head" rises are more frequent in the l South Canadian. At noon for instance, the South Canadian may be mere rivG- | let, meandering over Its floorllke bed of sand Fifteen minutes later the river has changed to a roaring flood ten feet deep, 1 the water coming down In Dolid wall. 1 In the big flood of the South Canadian three years ago three head rises followed each other in succession, their combined depth being more than twenty feet. It was estimated that the first wall of water was about eleven feet high.
 | A head rise Is caused by n heavy rain- fall over a large scope of country in 1 the plains country of the Texas panhandle and the region further west. Cloudbursts l sometimes add to the natural downpour l of water which reaches the headwaters of South Canadian from every direction of it's plains watershed at about tho same hour Once massed in the river thls mln- iature ocean moves downward with great swiftness and crushing power
 Water Becomes Liquid Sand. l Sand in the river bed mixes with the agitated water until the latter is from twenty to thirty per cent sand, and acts as a battering ram whenever 1t strikes an obstruction. It tears away poorly | built foundations with great rapidity. It
 Is asserted that as the big waves broke in l the river at the Dover bridge, sand, being heavier than water and having a greater impetus would shoot upward like shot l in a handful of dust tossed upward. The sand laden water was so heavy that the rough between the waves was shorter than in water of less gravity.
 The problem of controlling floods In the | Salt Fork the Cimarron and the North and South Canadian rivers, all of them | rising in the plains country and having | flat and sandy beds, has cost railroad companies In Oklahoma and Indian terri
 tory millions of dollars In bridges and | dykes. The estimated cost of the Rock
 Island bridge now being built across the
 South Canadian is $1.Ooo,OOO. The cost and maintenance of the Santa Fe bridge at
 Purcell has gone far in excess of a million
 dollars. The Katy" bridge at Canadian.
 l. T., has eaten up large sums of money.
 These big steel bridges are as solid as l granite hills resting upon foundations
 of cement and stone sunk far-below the
 danger line of floods, but the bridge ap- 1 breaches are constantly menaced The
 rivers team them out frequently and re- 1 pairs and Improvements are almost con-
 stantly under way. The railroad com
 panies employ watchmen at these bridges
 to insure the safety of their trains
 In earlier years when there was lack 1 Of telegraph communication with the plains country where these ''head" rises l have their origin these floods would ap-
 pear without warning. About two days 1 is required for head" to reach cen l tral Oklahoma, and the moment high water appears in the panhandle country warnings are telegraphed and the bridge employees are on guard.
 Hearj Five Miles.
 The roar of these approaching walls of water can be heard mile or two Farm | CTS living in the South Canadian valley l declare that when the monster 'head' | rise came three years ago it's growl and roar could be heard five miles. For many 1 feet ahead of these walls of water the mare river bed spouts up slender columns of water because of the sudden impact 1 and pressure of the flood upon the sand ! through which the river when low finds | it's subterranean way
 ! To be caught in one of these floods is d situation of great peril. The rising water loosens the sand. and the entire river bed becomes a vast qucksand. Once | firmly caught a wagon and team will
 disappear from sight in short time
 When tho water begins falling the sand loses it's velocity sinks to the bottom and regains its firmness.
 The recovery Of objects lost in this ] ouieksand is practically impossible, as it's only location cannot be ascertained and only a costly dredging machine could surnnount the difficulties of excavation countless caravan of wagons and their contents lies buried in these rivers from ther source to their confluence with the Arkansas. In the seventy or eighty years the United States army has been in this portion of the southwest DOT tions of many wagon trains have gone down in these quicksands.
 Romantic stories are told by old iron tiersmen of rich treasures lost in these streams fv army paymasters and by miners returning to the settlements from New Mexico and Arizona.