Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-12
ICE JAM MGNACES
AQUEDUcT BRIDGE
Army Engineers Declare 1t
Facas Greatest Peril in
Its History.
RIvERMEN, HOWEVER,
BELIEVE 1T IS SAFE
Immense Masses Of Ice Block Up
River and It Is Feared They Will
Come Down in Floes.

Come Down in F7oes.
While old river men, steamship and tug.
boat captains and othsrs who have made
a study Of conditions en- the Potomac for
years asserted todar that Aqueduc,
bridge is in no particular danger from
the ice that fills the river above George
town, United States Amy engineers this
afternoon declared tho bridge Is perhaps
in the greatest peril in.!its history. should
a sudden thaw occur THE river men say
that nothing short of n prolonged warm
rain and the resultant :quick breaking UT
Of the heavy ice wohld cause the bridge
to be endangered TIE army engineers.
however. say that these is serious doubt
as to the ability Of ,..the piers of the
bridge to Withstand thr ST. ain that would
be thrown on them Should the immense
masses of ice now taocking the upper
river come down in heavy foes.
"Cnless a warm rait within the next
few days causes the rapid breaking. up OF
the ice between the Csain and Aqueduct
bridges, with Il curren strong enough to
bring the ice down With a rush, there
seems to be little daEger of trouble at
Georgetown on account of the ice II
the weather remains warm and the light
current now running 6oss not grow con.
stronger. tho ice on the river
Will gradually thin oSt and soften. sc
that when 1t does start 20 drift it will be
in no condition to do; harm.
This is the ice situntion at Georgetown
as summed up for ThetStar by Capt Jo-
seph g. Lee. for many years a promi-
nent shipchandler and tugboat manager.
on Water street, iA Georgetown, and
this seems to be the spinion of most OF
the boathouse keepers on the District
side of the river ie:4r the Aqueduct
bridge.
From the Aqueduct bridge to the forks
of the Washington land Georgetown
channels and on DOWN. the river there Is
no ice of any consequence Above the
bridge to the headwaters of the river. 1t
space about 200 feet wide on the George
town side from the s,sidge to above the
Three Sisters. !:
This ice broke away last night. drifted
down and is hung a. she bridge.
There are also indications that the ice
ginia shore, where there Is shoal water
The water on the Georgetown side of the
river is deep, and the surrent flows that
way and brings the diff ice down thai
side of the river. About the Three Sis
tiers there is someth il Of a gorge. bu,
when thick ice forms
Faces It's Greatest Danger.
United States Arm engineers this aft
ernoon declared AqeedIct bridge to be
threatened with probably the greatest
danger 1t has ever known from Ice
The United States engineer Office, which
has supervision of THO fiers Of the bridge,
the District Commissioners exercising
control Of the supersfrlscture. is watching
the situation closely in: order that every
effort may be made 20 Combat any ener-
gency that may arise {
For the present lirtke or nothing can
be done. 1t is stated 5that ice forms a
natural dam across tfs river above tne
bridge. and that in some places it Is
eight or ten feet eborg the wate: line.
The question Of whether a sudden
thaw would bring the.water DOVE: over
this dam or the cIjrrnnt would be So
strong as to break the barrier of ice is
the one that army engineers are giving
most thought to.
In the latter event sne abiIty Of the
piers to withstand the: force Of the ice
is seriously doubted.
Most Of Piers Are Old.
1t was pointed our lilis afternoon by
an official Of the engineer office that only
three of the piers havt been rebuilt re-
Gently and that the: OTHERS are old and
probably in none too good condition to
hold up under such a nfessurc.
He stated that after the spring freshets
each year divers are rent down to ex-
anime the piers, and that 1t Is always
necessary to do considerable amount OF
work in repairing the damage cause by
ice.
- 40
that Immediately threatens the bridge. the
engineer Office considered the plan OF
using dynamite to blast; out the ice. but
the scheme was abaad,,ned for fear the
explosions would injure the piers.
District Of Columbia officials are keep
real work will be supervised by the
United States government representa-
tives.
Immense quantities of snow cover the
territory which is drained by the Potomac
river, and this fact INCREASES the anxiety
of the army engineers 5ver the safety OF
the bridge in the event warmer weather
should bring a sudden t;aaw. 1t is feared
that the breaking up OF the ice would be
accompanied by rise lsi the river which
might push with it ant; obstacle getting
in the way.
Feared Slush Would Freeze.
some IGaT WAS GAsfGtSoeN yS0SSl NAs
afternoon by vessel fsasters that the
opening of the river TO navigation D!
sailing craft might be: delayed by the
cold weather which they expected to
follow yesterdays SHOW. as 1t was
the slush ice on the surface OF
the river might freeze solidly. This
danger now seems to nave passed. the
warmer weather of todly having caused
most of the snow to: disappear, ana
rivermen are confdegt that sailing
craft will be in serNite again within
the next ten days.
All the steamboat lines employed in
handling freight on thu river now have
their boats in SERVICE Several OF the
oyster runboats, which: we're held here
by the freeze. have sailed away from
the nth street wharf in the past forty.
eight hours. and uIless another freeze
comes. and this is tttsught rather inn
probable, all the oyster runboats will
have left before the END of this week.
Capt. Henry Davis. master of the tug
James Q. Carter, who :a-rived yesterday
with an oyster boat ~ tow. reported
seeing no ice on his was down the river
but coming back drift: Ice. brought out
by the shift in wind. WIS drifting about.