Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1917-05-18


Tuesday morning when the big county
bridge at this point was almost swept
away by the flood waters of the Clear
water, which reached dangerous
stage during the forenoon. About
seven O'Clock in the morning, while
County Commissioners Choate and
Snyder and others were on the bridge
trying to release jam, the middle
pier began to settle on the upper end.
The Steel commenced to groan and
crack, bolts that were sunk in the
concrete piers and held the steel
spans, tore out>in places, and during
the next hour the two middle spans
buckled and strained, threatening to
collapse. By Wednesday the upper
end of the pier had settled aoout three
and one half feet. TIE lower end of
the pier also settled enough to partly
right the spans.
Fortunately the river began to drop
Tuesday noon, receding rapidly till
yesterday it had fallen about four
feet, and it will be possible to save
the structure, provided the river does
not reach another dangerous stage,
which it is almost certain to do with
the next hot spell.
If the pier topples or settles further
and the two spans go down, it will be
well into fall at best before they can
be replaced. If they fortunately
escape it is thot the bridge may be
made temporarily safe for traffic, and
new piers constructed when the waters
drop next fall or late in the summer.
Much of the steel is buckled, and
the entire bridge is now out of plumb.
Even the two spans on the opposite
sides of the stream are out of align
ment foot or more, showing how
severe was the strain to which they
were subjected when the middle pier
settled and toppled up stream.
HISTORY OF BRIDGE.
Clearwater county was created by
Legislative enactment in January,
1911. Governor Hawely appointed P.
H. Blake, A. L. Harper and Harry
Woods commissioners. In the fall of
1912 this board let the contract to the
Security Bridge Company for the Oro-
fino bridge at SIS, $50. This was for
the bridge only, and the piers were
extra. The board had imported an
alleged engineer, one E. R. LaPointe
of Boise, at 10 per cent. of the total
cost of the bridge, to draw up plans
and etc., which consisted mostly of
ETC., which eventually cost another
Sl97l.40. Like Nease, LaPointe was
previously investigated from "A to
T. by P. H. Blake and passed in
spection. Robt. Swadener was county
surveyor, was amply qualified to have
done all the work, but was not per-
mitted to do so-for the same reason
that one German, another friend of
P. H. Blake, was imported to check
up Nease and protect(?) the interests
of the blessed people whose bridge
now stands (wreckedD as a monument
to these monumental imposters.
The county records, examined this
week by Auditor Kaufman, show the
total cost of this bridge to have been
s23,7O The record also shows that
after the board had let the contract,
based on set of plans prepared by
this allie. ell engineer LaPointe, i'm
ported to protect the dear taxpayers,
it was discovered tn; the piers were
short at both ends, and the county
records say the "error" cost another
$1,000. To the original plans of this
imported bridge expert(?) was added
two feet of contract-to the top of
each pier. That was to keep the
bridge from getting wet when the
! i,er raised above it's normal size.
You see Mr.. LaPoint evidently didn I
think of this. and sold US a set of
summer bridge plans. After Mr..
Blake had bought them somebody
happened to remember that the Clear
wat occasionally gets on tear, but
forget that wien this river does tear
il tears at both ends, and that pier,
ever one constructed according to i'm
ported peiigreed plans, must stand on
some b ng mo substantial than shift.
ing sand and political bunk.
Messrs. Blake, Harper and Woods,
true an tried went out as commits
sioners II January, 1913, and Frank
zelenka, democrat. Frank Harrison,
republican, and Elmer Torgerson,
democrat, went in. Whatever mis-.
ia es had beer made they had only tc
q rept the lob. bridge plans and all.