The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-12-12
SINISTER RIVER
MoCKS RAILROAD
AT CHAMBERLAIN
old Muddy" and Engireera
Struggle for Supremacy---
New 900, 900 Bridge.

Chamberlain, s. D., Dec. 11.--The pile
and pontoon bridge of the Milwaukee
Railroad company across the Missouri
river at this place is just now a bone
of contention etwee he Missouri
river on the one hand and some OF the
finest engineers in the country on the
other. The company constructed the
bridge as a temporary means of for
Warding cars loaded With material to
the track builders on the west side of
the river and has since been using 1t
for passenger and freight transporta-
ton. The bridge is the only one of It's
kind on the Missouri.
When it was constructed, the old
timers made the prediction that 1T
would not last long hen the Big
Muddy got on OF its annual ram
pages. But the railroad engineers were
not discouraged and used all their in
genuity to construct a bridge which
would not. at least. be carried away
in times of high water.
In a measure the engineers have thus
far been successful, for the bridge has
not yet been totally destroyed by the
river, although sections of it more than
once have been carried away. Except
for u space of about $50 feet, the bridge
is formed of piles driven into the bot
tom of the river. The gap of $50 feet
is filed with a huge pontoon boar,
which is said to be the longest of its
kind III use on inland water of the
United States. The pontoon BOAT is at
taclled TO the bridge at one end of the
space occupied by it. while the other
end can be released n dropped down,
thus forming a draw which enables
boats to pass through the bridge. In
times of drifting ice the draw is OPP
ened to permit the ice TO boat through
instead of lodging against the bridge,
and thus endangering 1t.
Protective Piers.
For the protection Of the bridge.
what are termed bulldog piers We're
constructed on each side Of the river,
from Il point some distance above the
bridge and running diagonally toward
1t, in the form of a huge funnel, with
the draw in the bridge forming the
small part of the funnel. These piers
consist Of very heavy piling. driven as
far into the bottom Of the river as a
huge ~niledriVer can force them. The
piles are chained together with extra
heavy chains. The piling has Their been
inclosed with heavy oak ~planking,
which, on the upper sid of the piers,
slopes outwardly toward the north. the
direction from which the river flows.
The %planking Is bolted together and to
the plling with heavy iron and steel
bolts. The interior of the piers are
heavily braced and 1t would be impos-
sible to make them any stronger than
they are.
H.. Nv PlSIS VII ~ oPPoSilG SlSS VI LIE
river were designed, when the ice
breaks up in the spring, SO to defect
the floating masses that they will shoot
d~iagonally acros the river and strike
the giant pier neal the east end of the
draw, which, in its turn, Is intended to
Withstand the great pressure of the ice
and cause 1t to sWerve and pass
through the draw.
To strengthen further the smaller
piers they are connected with huge oak
timbers, which lie in the water n ex-
tend from one to another along the
entire face of the line of piers. I'm
mediately outside the line of oak tim
bers is a boom, formed of several logs
tightly chained together, and which,
like the oak timbers, extend along the
entire line of smaller piers, to which
the protecting timbers and boom of
logs are tightly and securely fastened
with heavy chains.
During the high water this year sec
tons of the piling forming the bridge
were carried out three or four times in
a few weeks. greatly interfering with
traffic.
The expense of maintaining the
bridge under these conditions .las
been something enormous, and it is be-
lieved the railroad company will soon
the construction of II new
overhead 81 ono 0O0 steel brjdpc