﻿434 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  New 
  York 
  State 
  exceeded, 
  in 
  1902, 
  13,000,000. 
  If 
  damages 
  of 
  

   every 
  kind 
  could 
  be 
  reckoned 
  they 
  would 
  amount 
  to 
  at 
  least 
  

   $1,000,000 
  in 
  any 
  year. 
  

  

  Irrigating 
  streams. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  class 
  of 
  streams 
  which, 
  through 
  

   the 
  tendency 
  to 
  elevate 
  their 
  beds 
  and 
  widen 
  their 
  channels, 
  noted 
  

   in 
  a 
  previous 
  section, 
  have 
  actually 
  raised 
  themselves 
  several 
  feet, 
  

   and 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  twenty 
  to 
  thirty 
  feet, 
  above 
  the 
  surrounding- 
  

   country, 
  so 
  that 
  whenever 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  overflow 
  from 
  the 
  main 
  chan- 
  

   nel, 
  the 
  water 
  runs 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  streams, 
  considerably 
  compli- 
  

   cating 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  permanent 
  regulation 
  works. 
  But 
  there 
  

   are, 
  fortunately, 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  such 
  streams 
  in 
  this 
  State 
  and 
  none 
  

   of 
  those 
  very 
  important. 
  The 
  Missouri, 
  Mississippi, 
  Ked 
  and 
  

   other 
  rivers 
  may 
  be 
  cited 
  as 
  streams 
  of 
  this 
  character. 
  The 
  writer 
  

   also 
  remembers 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Clear 
  fork 
  of 
  the 
  Brazos 
  river, 
  

   in 
  Texas, 
  where 
  a 
  railway 
  bridge 
  crossing 
  the 
  stream 
  was 
  set 
  

   level, 
  with 
  a 
  down 
  grade 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  for 
  one 
  half 
  mile 
  of 
  20 
  feet, 
  or 
  

   the 
  country 
  one-half 
  mile 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  was 
  about 
  20 
  feet 
  

   lower 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  stream. 
  There 
  was 
  also 
  a 
  down 
  grade 
  to 
  the 
  

   west 
  of 
  from 
  20 
  to 
  30 
  feet 
  per 
  mile, 
  for 
  one 
  and 
  one 
  half 
  miles. 
  

   The 
  writer's 
  recollection 
  is 
  that 
  two 
  miles 
  west 
  the 
  country 
  was 
  

   about 
  30 
  feet 
  lower 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  stream. 
  

  

  Insufficient 
  waterway 
  of 
  bridges. 
  One 
  main 
  reason 
  why 
  bridges 
  

   are 
  so 
  frequently 
  carried 
  away 
  in 
  floods 
  is 
  because 
  of 
  insufficiency 
  

   of 
  the 
  waterways. 
  Every 
  student 
  of 
  hydrology 
  understands 
  that 
  

   the 
  catchment 
  above 
  a 
  bridge 
  should 
  be 
  ascertained, 
  and 
  a 
  water- 
  

   way, 
  large 
  enough 
  to 
  allow 
  for 
  all 
  contingencies, 
  provided. 
  Never- 
  

   theless, 
  under 
  the 
  system 
  of 
  building 
  bridges 
  by 
  road 
  commission- 
  

   ers, 
  this 
  is 
  hardly 
  ever 
  done. 
  Economy 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  sole 
  

   consideration. 
  The 
  result 
  is 
  that 
  bridges 
  are 
  carried 
  away, 
  and 
  

   the 
  writer 
  ventures 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  enough 
  money 
  has 
  been 
  spent 
  

   in 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  on 
  renewal 
  of 
  highway 
  bridges 
  alone 
  in 
  

   the 
  last 
  ten 
  to 
  twenty 
  years 
  to 
  make 
  permanent 
  bridges 
  over 
  every 
  

   stream 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  So 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  fact 
  remains 
  as 
  it 
  is, 
  the 
  

   writer 
  can 
  not 
  but 
  think 
  that 
  the 
  carrying 
  away 
  of 
  such 
  bridges 
  

   is 
  due 
  rather 
  to 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  definite 
  knowledge 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   road 
  commissioners 
  than 
  to 
  severity 
  of 
  floods. 
  

  

  Before 
  designing 
  a 
  permanent 
  bridge, 
  the 
  catchment 
  area 
  above 
  

   the 
  proposed 
  location 
  should 
  be 
  ascertained, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  

  

  