30 THE KANSAS CITY BRIDGE.

on each side of the draw, as required by the Act of Congress, without neglect-
ing the more important provisions of that Act, which requires the draw to be
placed over the centre of the navigable channel. The requirement of two
spans of that length was made, as has already been stated, with special reference
to the Mississippi, where raft navigation forms an important part of the river
commerce ; on the Missouri, raft navigation, except on the most diminutive
scale, is impossible, owing to the sharp curves, strong current, and multitude of
snags, while no sufficient supply of good timber is found along the river to
make rafting profitable, even if it were possible. Hndeavoring to conform as
nearly as possible to the Act, a span of 250 feet was placed immediately north
of the draw, but the unexpected destruction of the foundation works of Pier
No. 4, in the spring of 1868, made a further change necessary ; the site of the
pier was moved 50 feet farther south, and the long span finally built between
Piers 4 and 5.

The month of April, 1867, was distinguished by a very extraordinary
spring flood, caused by the united freshets of the Platte and Kaw; on the 29th
of the month the river had risen to 119.3, three feet and three inches higher than
the June flood of that year, and four feet above the highest water of either of
the two succeeding years. During the war the Government had established a
supply station in the bottom west of the town, and a small portion of the bank
had been protected by a covering of riprap, to serve as a steamboat landing,
The river had washed the bank away both above and below this protection,
leaving a projecting point, the end of which alone was covered with stone ;
though the whole discharge of the river passed outside of this point, strong
eddies were formed on each side of the neck of land connecting it with the
shore, which gradually reduced it to a long and narrow isthmus. On the 10th
of April the width had been reduced in places to only 18 inches ; on the follow-
ing day the two eddies met, entirely destroying the neck of land, and allowing
the channel of the river to shift at once from the north to the south side of the
rocky point, changing its position nearly 500 feet in a single day. The
pile of rocks still remains in its old place, having been left almost dry on the
north side of the river during the low water of December, 1867. As the chan-
nel shifted suddenly from the north to the south side of it, it has never been