The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-03-26
Blasting Necessary to Prevent
Flooding Of Morton County
Seat-Paved Road at Under.
pass Still Under Water
New Bridge at Williston Il
Threatened

Flooding of Mandan streets was
verted and Bismarck business men
pst bridge when the ice gorge in
he Heart river south Of Mandan
las dynamited Sunday afternoon,
he Baker road vehicle bridge being
arried out by the released ice with
a estimated loss OF $4,000.
Dynamiting OF the gorge, which
hd formed a quarter mile west Of
he bridge, became necessary when
Alling temperatures which dropped
is above during Sunday night
threatened to freeze the gorge into
ne vast mass OF ice. Had the gorge
rozen, Mandan would have been
Hooded today, observers said.
River Is Rising
The stage OF water In the Mis-.
ouri river in Bismarck today was
O.6 feet, a rise OF IL feet since
estcrday morning. The rise was
attributed to q breakup In gorge
lear Sanish.
While the Big Muddy at Bismarck
ras practically free OF Ice Sunday,
Oday huge cakes ill the river from
bore to shore and are being car
led rapidly southwark by current
elocity estimated at IL miles per
our.
The river has fallen considerably
{ Sanish during the past - hours.
lie drop being estimated at about
e feet. This has caused q rise
I five feet at Washburn, three feet
( which occurred yesterday after
.oon and two feet last night. The
iyer at beth Sanish and WaShburn
: full OF ice.
Gorge Holds at Williston
Wiiliston's huge gorge is still
folding, according to an official
weather. bureau report received
rom there today. The flats to the
asst OF the new vehicular bridge are
,nder water, the flooded portion ex-
ending westward as fur az Tren.
on.
Fairview, Montana, reported
forge formation In the Yellowstone
liver there which was causing some
.larm along the upper stretches Of
he Missouri and at the confluence
Il the Missouri and the Yellowstone
Underpass Still Flooded
The Northern Pacific underpass
IN the Memorial highway just cas-
II Mandan is still impossible be-
.ause of inundation due to backwa
:ers of the Heart river. The detoul
around the underpass on the nortl
tide of the right-of-way is passable
aowever, and no stoppage Of traffic
has occurred so far.
Along the river road to the nortl
" Bismarck, huge cakes of strand
I'd ice and wet spots on the roa'
bare testimony to the rampagini
Missouri Of last Friday night. Dur
ing the "a hours between Frida.
and Saturday mornings, the rive
rose and fell so rapidly that man,
sheets of ice were deposited alonI
the high banks and even over tn
highway in some places.
Another channel digging freak
the Big Muddy occurred in the pas
three days. Thursday the waite
was flowing through q deep channt
on the Mandan side of the river jus
north of the Memorial bridge. To
day there is a broad sandbar Their
and the river has dug new char
mel on the Bismarck side.
Warning Issued
Warning was isruel today by {
w. Roberts, federal meteorological,
all people living adjacent to tn
river to remain out of the low spo,
until the Williston gorge has broke
and the crest of the flood water
has passed Bismarck.
The U. S. weather bureau hel
has been requested to furnish
great deal Of cooperative river dat
during the past few days and in o.
der to settle any controversy tn,
may arise, a table Of river stage
with dates has been prepared by N
Roberts.
Many old timers claim that Il
stage in 1881 was several feet higl
er than in 1910. This may ha,
been true at various points above .
below Bismarck due to local gorge
Mr.. Roberts said, but there was o
" a difference Of IL feet in Il
stages of these two years while Il
difference between the stages
1881 and 1887 was but s feet.