The Daily Missoulian., 1909-05-23
TEMPORARY BRIDGE
is SAVED |
LOG JAM NEAR NORTH END OF
STRUCTURE is BROKEN AND
CROSSING IS SEIZURE.

The warm weather of the first part
of the past week resulted In raising
the water in the Missoula river for
above it's usual heighth yesterday and
for several hours it looked like the
temporary bridge, which tr-is now the
main crossing of the river, would not
last through the night, or, indeed, for
even couple of hours. Through the
hard work Of City Engineer Mayo, as
sisted by Superintendent Sweet Of the.
Burrell Bridge & Construction COM
pany; Chief Engineer White of the
same company, Chief of Police Smith
and a large force of men,. the danger
was averted, but not until a pile in
the center bend of the north channel
had been torn out by one of the:
huge logs that was brought down by
the swollen stream.
zoe Jam Is Formed. Il
1t was about the noon hour yester#
day when numerous logs, stumps of
trees, and even a portion of an old
row. boat, caught in the bents of the
north channel and piled UP to a height
of several feet, causing an exceeding
the life Of the structure City En-
gineer Mayo and Mayor Logan were
soon on the job and, with the aid of a
large force of laborers, undertook to
clear the bridge Of the jam. At first
the plan of tying ropes to the logs
and stumps and hoisting them to the
bridge was tried, but did not prove
very successful, owing to the strength
of the current, which had jammed the
debris against the piling in such a
manner that mere man power was in
sufficient to pull out the blocking logs
Early in the afternoon the services
of Superintendent Sweet and Engineer,
White. with their force Of men, was
offered, and 1t was decided to make
use Of one of the hoisting engines
belonging to the bridge company. The.
engine happened to be on the island
just below the bridge and 1t was sew.
eral hours, in fact after dark, before
1T had been moved across the bridge,
into position to be made Of use I
News Of the trouble soon spread
over the city and a great crowd Of
spectators gathered on the bridge,
and river banks to witness the pro-.
ceedings. As one 1of them said, We
don't want to see the bridge go out,
but il it should we want to be On the
job" That about expressed the senti-5
mentS Of the crowd.
The spectators, OF course, wanted to
see all that was going on and pressed
forward to such an extent that their
presence impeded the progress Of the
work It required all the Chester
fleldian politeness OFT Chief Of Police
William smith to keep the surging
hundreds in safe place. e +
Difficulty Ended. w
However, after the engine was
placed in position, it Was not long
until there were things doing. With
the aid Of long ropes and graphing
hooks the logs apd tree trunks We're
snaked out, one by one, and at a few
minutes after 9 o'clock last night the
danger was over and the bridge re-
stored to traffic. In order, to keep
tab on the high waters and watch for
the safety Of the crossing, a number
of men were put to work to act as
watchmen throughout the night.
But even should the temporary
bridge, by bare possibility, go out,
the public would not be inconven-
fenced to any great extent, as was the
case a year ago, as there still remains
the new Van Burean street bridge.
Contractor O. r. Peppard last night
finished the breakWater at this bridge
and the structure viii stand any
amount Of high water, 1t is ready
for as much traffic as can find room
and will stand for years.