1913 11th and 15th Street Bridges over Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma, WA

1913 11th: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; HAER; Satellite)

1914 NP 15th: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite, bridge has been removed.)

1914 UP 15th: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite, bridge has been removed.)

1913 11th Street (Murray Morgan) Bridge

"Opened Feb. 15, 1913; rehabilitated 1957; closed 2007; rehabilitated 2012-3" [BridgeHunter_11th]

LC-DIG-highsm-50780, Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, cropped

"Significance: The City Waterway Bridge is an early example of a vertical lift bridge, designed by the renowned firm of Waddell and Harrington. Three features made it remarkable, if not unique among vertical lift bridges of the day: the unusually great height of the deck above the water; the employment of an overhead span designed for carrying a water pipe, and the fact it was built on a grade." [HAER_data]

HAER WASH,27-TACO,9-

HAER WASH,27-TACO,9-
7. MACHINERY ROOM LOOKING NORTH WEST BY 270 DEGREES - City Waterway Bridge, Spanning City Waterway at State Route 509, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA Photos from Survey HAER WA-100

PAN US GEOG - Washington no. 51, c1919
Tacoma tide flats from Tacoma Bldg. digital file from intermediary roll film copy

15th Street Bridges

There were two bridges named 15th Street, and some of the sources confuse the two. The bridge in the foreground carried just the NP. The bridge behind it carried the UP and 15th Street Bridge.

Digitally Zoomed from above panoramic photo

This topo map also provides an overview of the two bridges.

1961/62 Tacoma North and South Quads @ 24,000

Note that each lane of 15th Street was cantilevered on the outside of the railroad span.

May 18, 1957 @ 20,000; ARA550460010152

.

1914-1973 NP 15th Street Bridge

NP's first bridge here was built in 1892. [BridgeHunterIndex] It was replaced by this 1914 bridge.

The 1914 bridge was abandoned in 1973 "due to damage from an erroneously routed Boeing load, likely removed shortly thereafter."

 HABS WASH,27-TACO,6--50
50. 15th Street Swing Bridge (1914). Built by the American Bridge Company. - Union Depot Area Study, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

A colorized version of the above photo.

Western Washington History - Now in Color posted
Built in 1914, Swing Bridge, 15th St, Tacoma

Mike Stella: Grew up in Tacoma. That is NOT the 15th St. swing bridge. That is not even Tacoma. Pretty lousy post!

Dennis DeBruler commented on Mike's comment
The post is correct, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/wa0170.photos.168826p/. It was the NP Bridge. The UP+Road bridge was just south of this one.

.

1914-1983 UP+road 15th Street Bridge

BridgeHunter_191_ UP_15th

Rock Mill Covered Bridge over Hocking River and Rock Grist Mill

(Satellite)

The building on the left is a grist mill.

Street View, Aug 2024

The mill was built at a waterfall on the river. The covered bridge is in the center background of this view.

Charles Downs, Jul 2023

Alisa Woznuk, May 2023

Bruce Babcock posted

The story of the history of Ohio’s historic Rock Mill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFICOlCW1Bo

1:03:36 video @ 8:56

@ 58:30

Ferry Service across the Mississippii River between Grafton, IL, & St. Charles, MO, and Lighthouse

Grafton: (Satellite)

St. Charles: (Satellite)

Lighhouse: (Satellite)

On the Illinois side: the lighthouse is on the left and the ferry is leaving on the right.

Street View, Apr 2025

Max Wawrzyniak posted
Grafton ferry today [Jun 20, 2025]

Eric Rice: Does anyone know when Grafton got a Ferry ? I don't ever remember one there when I was working on the river 29yrs ago .

Max Wawrzyniak: Eric Rice Grafton had a ferry way back in the '50s and '60s, and then did not have a ferry for a few decades, and then got a ferry again about 20 years or so ago, atlhough it is privately run, has been through at least a couple of ownership groups, has had periods of time when it did not run, and has always been kinda on the ragged edge of not making a financial go of it. Currently only runs weekends and only during the summer.

Eric Rice: Max Wawrzyniak Ok thank you for the info. that explains why I never saw one there we use to go by there gosh a gazillion times LOL. I worked mostly the Upper Mississippi river and Illinois river but also worked on the Ohio , The Lower , The Tenn. Missouri , Arkansas, nd Yahzoo. I just never remembered a ferry there now at Kampsville I remember that one up river a little ways. I probably worked my 20yrs. out there that they didn't have it . I remember Grafton before the flood of 1993 and it was a rip roaring little river town had the pleasure of tying up over on the Upper side of that Island waiting lock turn at old Lock & dam 26 there were like 160 some tows to come N/b. and about the same S/b. so we had 3 company boats and their tows tied together . We all loaded up in the yawl and went to the Rubles St. Bar and went down into the basement we kept hearing music and asked the bartender upstairs and she told us they had a live band downstairs down we went what a night that was LMAO... I also enjoyed when I got off the boats usually my homeport was Wood River , Illinois so I'd get off at Economy Boat Store and park my car there stop at the many fish stands before the flood of 1993 and have fish and beer or a coke . I miss that a lot !

Hayden Bland, Nov 2017

This shows that it can hold three lanes of traffic. I'm surprised that they let people out of their cars while they are still loading the ferry.

Laura Reagan, Jun 2024

It is a big enough ferry that it can handle heavy vehicles.

Gabriel Pope, Jul 2020

And of course, it can handle a bunch of small things.

Michael Shattuck, Jul 2020

L Grabb, Sep 2023

1940 Crooked Creek Dam and Lake near Ford City, PA

Outflow: (Satellite)

Emergency Spillway: (Satellite)

The dam was completed in 1940. [LivingNewDeal]

USACE, Pittsburgh District posted
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District reservoirs are functioning as designed during these periods of intermittent rainfall. This reel from Crooked Creek Lake shows the outflow.

James Burford: You put my lock out of service. LOL.

Joe Bali: James Burford you'll be ok. 😁

James Burford: Joe Bali yeah if it wasn't for the flood controls the lock would have been under water yesterday.

A more normal flow.

Karen Robare, Jul 2021

The intake structure is on the right, and the outlet works is near the left.

Street View, Nov 2008

PDF via USACE
[I wish every USACE dam webpage had a handy-dandy fact sheet.]

Looking at a satellite map, the USACE controlled the shoreline development so that the dam can be used for its primary purpose of flood control. I saw just a beach, boat launch and trails; all of which can easily be closed if the lake level needs to rise. I fired up Google Earth, but all of the images look like a normal pool. I could not find an example of the lake holding flood waters.

Milk River Project (St. Mary Canal) and St. Mary Siphon Blowout

Diversion Dam: (Satellite, this is the headwaters of the canal.

Kennedy Siphon: (Satellite)

St. Mary Siphon: (Satellite)

Halls Coulee Siphon: (Satellite)

Spillway into Milk River: (Satellite)

The St. Mary Canal takes water from the St. Mary River before it enters Canada and moves the water east to dump into the Milk River. This supplies water for towns and agriculture in north-central Montana.

ktvq
This canal is evidently also called Montana's Hi-Line and 18,000 residents depend on it for water in the 200-mile Milk River Irrigation Project.
Congress appropriated money in 1905 to build the system. But, after it was built, Congress changed their mind and quit funding maintenance.

On Jun 17, 2024 the St. Mary Siphon blew out.

ktvq, Credit: Milk River Joint Board of Control

The blowout not only stopped the source of water to the irrigation project, it caused flooding in the St. Mary river.

MontanaFreePress, Credit: Bureau of Reclamation
"The failure involves the St. Mary River Siphon, which is composed of a pair of 90-inch [2.3m] riveted steel barrels that traverse a 3,200-foot [975m] section of the St. Mary Valley to divert water to the North Fork of the Milk River." The failure occurred "while U.S. Bureau of Reclamation personnel were monitoring a crack in the siphon."
The downstream pipes were built in 1915. Five hours after one barrel broke, the other one also broke. And the concrete structures holding the pipes were washed away.

krtv_repair, Credit: MTN News

krtv_repair

same video

krtv_repair, Credit: MTN News

usbr
[I wonder where the second pipe broke.]
"The siphon has a maximum head of 165 feet and was constructed in two phases, with the downstream barrel completed between 1912-15 and the upstream barrel after 1925. The siphon has undergone extensive repairs due to seepage, corrosion, and buckling. A cathodic protection system was installed in the 1950s to address these problems. However, unstable valley sidewalls have caused further movement of the steel barrels and concrete supports, leading to additional damage."

Sun 25, 2025:

krtv_restored
"A $70 million project has successfully restored water flow to the Milk River along Montana's Hi-Line"

The Milk River Project posted 1:05 video

🛠️ One Year Ago Today [Jun 17, 2025]: The St. Mary Siphon Failure 🛠️

June 17 marks one year since the unexpected failure of the St. Mary Siphon—an event that cut off irrigation deliveries, disrupted communities, and triggered an all-hands-on-deck emergency response across Montana’s Hi-Line and beyond.

What followed was nothing short of extraordinary. Contractors, crews, engineers, tribal partners, agencies, and local leaders came together with urgency, grit, and determination.

In less than a year, we’ve secured emergency funding—thanks to the State of Montana, NRCS, and the federal government—redesigned major infrastructure, and made incredible construction progress to restore and strengthen this critical system.

The failure was a stark reminder of how fragile our aging infrastructure really is—and just how essential the St. Mary system is to north central Montana. But it also showed the resilience, collaboration, and resourcefulness of this region when it matters most.

We’re not across the finish line yet—but we’re close. And we didn’t get here alone.

Thank you to everyone who showed up, rolled up their sleeves, and stayed committed every step of the way. The Milk River Project isn’t just infrastructure—it’s a lifeline.

#StMarySiphon #MilkRiverProject

Project Completion: July 2025

Fun Video Editing: Colynn Kerr

A video on the krtv_restored webpage
[I quit watching when they started talking about every agency stepped up.]

same video
[I took this screenshot because of the view of the diversion dam release structure.]

And this is the other end of the canal. This structure had a catastrophic failure on May 17, 2020. They replaced Drop 2 as well as Drop 5. [MilkRiverProject_emergency]

The Milk River Project posted

3:06 video
Water was restored on Oct 10, 2020

The Milk River Project posted

🎥 As Promised — Last Night’s Flyover! 🎥

Just after 10:00 p.m. last night, the St. Mary Siphon outlet finally came to life as water completely filled the pipe and began its journey down the historic St. Mary Canal. This drone footage flies from the outlet structure to the inlet structure of the St. Mary Siphon — a perspective only possible thanks to the skill, dedication, and long hours put in by these amazing crew.

💧 We’re officially flowing — and it’s beautiful.

Quick update: the water is now about 1 miles from the Halls Coulee Siphon inlet and we expect it to arrive at appx 5:30 p.m.

Fun fact: it's currently moving at about 0.43 mph overall — slow and steady wins the race, right?

save video, the inlet structure.

I guess this is also the intake structure.

MontanaFreePress_expected, Credit: Milk river Project

The old inlet structure had no provision for stop logs or control gates. It looks like they learned their lesson and the new inlet structure can stop the flow of water into the pipes.

Satellite

Another view of the inlet structure as the water first approached it.

Facebook Reel

And another view of the diversion dam after they do the first release into the repaired canal.

Facebook Reel

The Milk River Project posted four photos and two videos with the comment:

💧 Halls Coulee Update: Why We’re Starting Early

Let’s talk about Halls Coulee and the difficult—but necessary—decision to stop diversions to the Milk River around August 15th so crews can finally address this aging structure.

Over the off-season, teams worked hard to temporarily stabilize the siphon by installing Hydratite seals in the worst trouble spots. These are holding for now, but this siphon is over 100 years old, and every patch just shifts the problem elsewhere as the pipe expands and contracts.

✅ A bypass channel is now in place, allowing NW Construction and Sletten Construction to begin dirtwork and start building the outlet structure while water continues to flow.

The inlet sits on an extremely steep slope with wide wing walls, and safely setting the new structure alongside the failing one within our right-of-way would require extensive shoring designs that come with serious safety and engineering challenges.

With the diversion running until August 15th, we estimate approximately 37,000 acre-feet of storage by Sept 30 will be in Fresno Reservoir to help meet municipal demands throughout the winter.

We are also working through one final permit for a land use agreement outside of our right-of-way (for parking, staging, road access, material sales, etc.) with the Blackfeet Tribe, and once that’s in place, all permits will be secured.

Starting early not only reduces risk to future water deliveries and worker safety but also helps us avoid heavy winter construction—think heated tents, blankets, and costly delays in extreme cold.

We understand this timeline isn’t ideal for everyone, and it’s not a decision we made lightly. But as a team, we believe moving forward now is the safest and most responsible choice to protect the Milk River Basin’s water supply for decades to come.

[The two videos were of active leaks.]

Matt Bolland: With the old system being above ground, leaks were easy to spot, like these videos. With the new pipes underground, how difficult will it be to detect minor to major leaks before they become catastrophic?

The Milk River Project: Matt Bolland each of the St. Mary and Halls Coulee pipes had sections that were buried. From previous experience, water is incredibly powerful—when there’s an issue, you’ll either see it leaking or notice the vegetation above starting to change.

Jody Mann: How much water does Canada take that is diverted by the St. Mary project? How is this monitored?

The Milk River Project: Jody Mann Right now, Canada will not take any irrigation water from the St. Mary Project—but our water volumes will help their municipalities tremendously. Under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and subsequent agreements, Canada is entitled to receive up to half of the natural flow of the Milk River, but none of the water diverted through the St. Mary Canal is allocated for Canadian irrigation. There is also deficit accounting but we haven’t run one this year either with the failure. Little complicated.

The volume delivered is measured using USGS gaging stations at the International Boundary, which record and report real-time flows. The International Joint Commission through Accredited Officers oversees compliance and reviews these records to ensure both countries are meeting treaty obligations and accurately accounting for any deliveries.

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Tcrowe For MT commented on the above post
Got to see the historic Hall’s Coulee siphon last week during the tour.

The Milk River Project has posted weekly updates with lots of nice photos. One update indicated that the diversion dam was also rebuilt during the St. Mary Siphon caused outage.

Facebook Reel

Thomas Ahkaapoii Gervais posted
Water at the Milk River