Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-06-06


The collapse Of sls.ooo worth or
the handsome and modern steel
bridge across the Rio Grando at
Baraiae II the most serious disaster
shat has ovcrlaken this county az che
hands o. the srcarhcrous river for
many years. MOI only win the ex-
pense Of replacing the wrecked spans
be heavy burden on the taxpayers
At this time. but the Inconvenience.
amounting 10 real hardship. for the
farmers on the west slde Of the river
during the several months interim
before the bridge can be repaired
VIII prove most serious matter; and
tho loss % the business of the most
important farming district tributary
10 the city viii certainly be felt ny
tho merchants Of Albuquerque. Thin
district across the river. comprislns
the settlements OF Atrisoo. Ranches
DE- Alrise0, raiarito. PadIllas and
various others. with numerous fine
farms. some OF the best in the VAL
ley. q one Of the most important re-
sources 81 Aibuqrefque.
The whole proposition teaches the
lesson or ought to teach the lesson
that we have mower yet haif-way re-
ailxcd tho nature Of the problem that
confronts the people OF the RIO
Granae valley IN controlling this var
liable stream. whose shifting currents
carry the channel for miles back and
forth; whose bed In ~ bottomiesA
sand. which changes In night from
dry bed 20 torrent and which
presents. in short. conditions not %
be encountered on any other river
Of me west. The Barelas bridge was
supposedly the last word in modern
bridge enginseringi Il was built un-
der expert supervision and taking
into consideration All that Vlas known
OF che FRANKS Of tho rivltr; or at
least ali that the engineers could
think Of. Yet BY a flood which Ia an
eastern river would b. negllgible
affair. the massive steel ana concrete
structure Is wrecked like a house Of
cards
All Of this certainly ought % prove
TO the satisfaction os the mont skep-
teal that IN dealing with the RIO
0rande you are dealing with an un-
knowE quansltys ana that in building
bridge you must build Il so that you
arc certain Il win be strong enough
% resist any possible onslaught. and
then make Il ten times stronger. TN
less tho repair WORK IL done much /
more expenslyely than the initial con-
structlon IL viii probably meet tbei
same fate as che three spans which
now lie IN the yellow currents Of the
river.
The situation IN q nutshell ss that
" this. city and lie business are 10
be safe. not only thousands but mill
lions must be spent on the Rio
urnnde. The Rio Grande's channel
must be improved on biz. broad,
comprehensive scale. aa have other
great arteries OF abe country. There
are 500 70 400 miles Of this trouble
some yet vital river IN New Mexico;
IN its waters are bound up the pros
pcrity OF the whole great central
basin On the state ana until there can
be some adequate insurance or sta
billy for farms and cities along the
stream developments is bound 90 be
retarded. The task d one that calls
for an immense outlay Of money and
the best engineering skim; bat Il viii
bo the best Investment the govern
inent ana the state ever made 60
establish some series Of works which
wiz oonfino the MO Grande 70 a
fairly definite channel Il ls no, seri-
Gus exaggeTatIoa to say that close 20
slo0.o0O damnEc has heen done along
the stream by Inc present flood.
HALFWAY measures are futile. Itl
n ike pouring gold dollars into tho
Quicksanda II viii take the best
brains IN the country ana lavish
expenditure of money 20 Fix the lilo
orande; ana We cannot get about Il /
700 soon.