Chapter CLXVII. to establish certain Post-Roads
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Chap. CLXVII.— An Act to establish certain Post-Roads. July 14, 1862. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * That the bridge partly constructedBridge across the river at Steubenville, Ohio, declared a lawful structure.How to be completed. across the Ohio River at Steubenville, in the State of Ohio, abutting on the Virginia shore of said river, is hereby declared to be a lawful structure: *Provided,* That when completed, if constructed without a draw, it shall leave an unobstructed headway in the channel of the river of not less than ninety feet above low-water mark, and such channel or waterway shall have an unobstructed width of not less than three hundred feet between the piers next to said channel or water-way; and one of the spans next adjoining thereto shall not be less than two hundred and 570 THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 167. 1862. twenty feet in length; or said bridge, if constructed with a draw, the same to be constructed under the limitations and conditions provided in the fourth section of this act. Sec. 2. Such bridge and Holliday’s Cove railroad declared a public highway and post-road, &c.Who may operate, &c., road and bridge. *And be it further enacted, *That the said bridge and Holliday’s Cove railroad are hereby declared a public highway, and established a post-road for the purpose of transmission of mails of the United States, and that the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad Company, chartered by the legislature of the State of Ohio, and the Holliday’s Cove Railroad Company, chartered by the State of Virginia, or either of them, are authorized to complete, maintain, and operate said road and bridge when completed, as set forth in the preceding section, anything in any law or laws of the above-named States to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 3. Other railroad companies may bridge the Ohio River. *And be it further enacted, *That it shall be lawful for any other railroad company or companies, whose line or lines of road may now or shall hereafter be built to the Ohio River, above the mouth of the Big Sandy River, in accordance with the terms of the charter or charters of such company or companies, to build a bridge across said river for the more perfect connection of any such roads and for the passage of trains thereof, under the limitations and conditions hereafter provided.
Sec. 4. How such bridge may be built. *And be it further enacted, *That any bridge erected under the privileges of this act may, at the option of the company or companies building the same, be built either as a drawbridge, with a pivot or other form of draw, or with unbroken and continuous spans: *Provided,* That Height of span-bridge.if the said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuous spans, it shall not be of less elevation than ninety feet above low-water mark over the channel of the said river; nor in any case less than forty feet above extreme high water, as understood at the point of location, measuring for such elevation to the bottom chord of the bridge; nor shall the span of such bridge, covering the main channel of the river, be less than three hundred feet in length, with also one of the next adjoining spans of not less than two hundred and twenty feet in length, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river as near as practicable:Drawbridge. *And provided, also,* That if any bridge built under this act shall be constructed as a drawbridge, the same shall be constructed with a span over the main channel of the river, as understood at the time of the erection of the bridge, of not less than three hundred feet in length, and said span shall not be less than seventy feet above low-water mark, measuring to the bottom chord of the bridge, and one of the next adjoining spans shall not be less than two hundred and twenty feet in length; and also that there shall be a pivot-draw constructed in every such bridge, at an accessible and navigable point, with spans of not less than one hundred feet in length, on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw: *And provided, also,*Draw to De opened promptly.
That said draw shall always be opened promptly, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of boats whose construction may not, at the time, admit of their passing under the permanent spans of said bridge, except that said draw shall not be required to be opened when engines or trains are passing over said bridge, or when passenger trains are due, but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in the opening of said draw after the passage of such engines or trains. Sec. 5. Such bridges to be lawful structures and post-routes.Charges for transportation, &c.Vessels on the Ohio, to regulate the use of pipes and chimneys so as not to interfere with such bridges. *And be it further enacted, *That any bridge or bridges erected under the provisions of this act shall be lawful structures, and shall be recognized and known as post-routes, upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, the troops, and munitions of war of the United States, than the rate per mile which the company or companies erecting such bridge may from time to time receive on the balance of their line or lines for such services, and the officers and crews of all vessels, boats, or rafts navigating the said Ohio River are required to regulate the use of the said vessels and of any pipes or chimneys belonging thereto, so as not to interfere with the elevation, THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 167, 168, 169. 1862. 571 construction, or use of any of the bridges erected or legalized under the provisions of this act. Approved, July 14, 1862.