BYBEE-MALOTT : THE FLOOD OF 1913 



167 



its bank on the outside of the great meanders, because the outside 

 of these meanders is the outside of the valley itself, and is usually 

 a steep rocky wall, one to three hundred feet above the stream. 



There were no levees noticed in the stretch of river between 

 Brownstown and Shoals, but there were a few railway embank- 

 ments that need consideration. The first of these is the Balti- 

 more and Ohio Southwestern embankment near Medora in Jackson 

 County. The valley here is nearly three miles in width. It is 

 in the Knobstone region. This B. & O. grade across the valley 

 will average some fifteen feet in height. There are no trestles 

 east of the river and only three or four short stretches to the west 

 of the river. The grade comes to the bank of the river on both 

 sides. As a result of this inadequate trestle-work, as much as a 

 mile of the grade was washed out, or partially so, The short 

 stretches of trestle- w^ork on the west side of the river were washed 

 out on account of the concentration of the current at these points. 

 The second pier from the east end of the bridge was undermined and 

 the structure collapsed. (See Figure 33.) The land was badly 

 washed below this grade, and sand and gravel were deposited in 

 several places. On the west side of the river ten acres were covered 

 with sand from a few inches to three feet. 



Before the grade broke, the water was much higher on the 

 north side than it was on the lower side. This caused the village 

 of Medora to suffer considerably. This condition was due to the 

 inadequacy of the trestle-work. If the water could have passed 

 freely, much damage would have been avoided, and several thousand 

 dollars would have been saved the B. & O. Railroad. 



The B. & 0. bridge over White River south of Bedford was not 

 damaged, but about two hundred feet of the high grade on the south 

 side of the river was removed. (Fig. 3 shows the crew replacing 

 the grade instead of putting in trestle-work.) It seems that these 

 grades should be replaced with trestle-work, but it may be less 

 expensive to have traffic tied lip for short intervals, and to build 

 new bridges than to go to the expense of putting in trestle-work. 



The Monon Railroad crosses the valley at right angles, three 

 miles south of Bedford. There is no trestle-work here. The grade 

 approaches to the very river banks. As a result considerable 

 stretches of the track were washed out. Again the grade was re- 

 built and no trestle-work installed. 



The situation at Shoals is very peculiar. The special plate 

 shows the "relations. As can be seen, the part of the town east 

 of the river is built on a hill situated in the middle of an alluvial 



