58                                           THE  TECHNOGRAPH.
 

NOTES ON, THE OVERFLOW OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL
R. R., IN LOUISIANA.

By E. O. Stbehlow, '94, Civil Engineering Course.
 

During the exceedingly high stage of the Mississippi river early
in the spring of 1892, a break of some two thousand feet occurred in
the Belmont levee about fifty miles above New Orleans, causing the
overflow of hundreds of square miles of the Louisana swamps
through which the I. C. R. R. passes. Immediately after the
break began a large force of men was engaged in an effort to repair
the le^ree, but without success. All available forces were then em¬
ployed in the protection of the roadbed and in the increase of exist¬
ing waterways by raising the bridges. Sacks filled with clay or
earth were placed at the ends of bridges, along the slopes of em¬
bankments, and at the ends of ties, to afford protection from the
scour.    Brush was laid on the slopes and weighted down by old rails.

To preserve the line where the track was submerged two methods
of anchoring were used; 1, stakes about three feet long^ were driven
on each side and near each end of the ties; and 2, a long iron
rods shaped like the figure 7 so as to fit the top and sides of the tie,
was driven at each end of a tie. The results obtained in the use of
these methods were very satisfactory. About fifty miles of
track was submerged, the maximum depth of water being thirty-one
inches above the top of the rail at the lowest point in the track.
Considerable damage to the rails resulted from the traffic which was
maintained during the overflow. Freight trains were run continuous¬
ly by substituting wood for coal; passenger trains were run over the
submerged track for some time but were discontinued before the
water reached its maximum elevation. The approximate cost of
raising the track was $66,000 and the renewal, repairs, and raising
of the bridges cost about $20,000 more.