Historic Hood River
Bridge Down
3-29-2012
Notes
High waters on the Hood River in March of 1916 wreaked havoc with Hood River’s infrastructure. The old wooden bridge across the Hood River was damaged, as we see here, and the bridge carrying the pipeline from the dam down to the power station was washed out. By 1920 this bridge was replaced by a more modern one which could withstand higher flood water.
The notes to this photo make no mention of how long the bridge or the power were out.
I’m not sure if this image shows the same event we saw in an earlier post. The bridge washed out more than once, so this could be a different flood.
Charlott
I think it might be the same as the one before, maybe this one taken earlier. Later the flood took out more on both sides, especially the left hand side. Note: there is that dangling power pole like in the prior photo, also the railroad bridge is right there.
l.e.
A gray and dreary March.
This had to be a huge inconvenience to the community.
Is there a possibility that the river is covering the concrete support in the previous photo?
So, did the river rise after today’s photo and take out more of the bridge?
Jim
My two cents on whether this photo and photo 215 are from the same flooding event:
I assume we’re looking north in both photos, with the west bank of the Hood River on the left and the east on the right of each photo.
Looking at the west bank – in this photo the bridge infrastructure substantially remains, in photo 215 it looks to be washed away a ways up the bank.
Looking at the east bank – in this photo the bridge infrastructure is washed away even with the footing, in photo 215 what’s left of the bridge extends beyond the footing.
Could these photos be of the same event at different stages of destruction? Not likely, but not impossible. In order for these two photos to be of the same flooding event, a partial reconstruction of the east side must have occurred with additional destruction to the west side occurring after that.
Based on that, I would conclude that this photo and photo 215 are of different flooding events.
Arthur
Good work, CSI Jim. I reached a similar conclusion. We also have an album which mentions this bridge washing out frequently before it was finally replaced– an event which I suspect would wind up in quite a few photographs every time it happened.
l.e.
I would agree with you Jim, except for the power poles.
The leaning pole in this photo, appears to have moved farther downstream in 215.
The uprights on the top of the bridge are the same, although 215 does not have a sign hanging from the cross wire.
The way people are standing on the bridge and observing in this one, I would assume the washout just occurred.
And could the dark lines on the left side of 215 be the thicker pilings we see on the left of this photo?
Oh well, I guess we will never know for sure.
l.e.
Arlene Winchell Moore, in her memoirs, says that in the winter of 1915-16 the bridge washed out in the middle of December after heavy November rains. In January it was a cold east wind month. At the end of the month it warmed up enough to snow and when it was done there was five feet of snow on the level.