Chapter CLXXVI. *to authorize the Construction and Maintenance of a Bridge across the Niagara River*
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CHAP. CLXXVI.— An Act *to authorize the Construction and Maintenance of a Bridge across the Niagara River*. June 30, 1870. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That any bridge and its appurtenancesAny bridge built across Niagara river from, &c. under, &c. declared a lawful structure and established as a post-road. which shall be constructed across the Niagara river, from the city of Buffalo. New York, to Canada, in pursuance of the provisions of an act of the legislature of the Slate of New York, entitled “An act to incorporate the International Bridge Company,” passed April the seventeenth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, or of any act or acts of said legislature now in force, amending the same, shall be lawful structures, and shall be so held and taken, and are hereby authorized to be constructed and maintained as provided by said act and such amendments thereto, anything in any law or laws of the United States to the contrary notwithstanding; and such bridge shall be, and is hereby, declared to be an established post-road for the mails of the United States; but this act shall not be construed to authorize the construction of any bridge which shall not permit the free navigation of said river to substantially the same extent as would be enjoyed under the provisions of said act and the amendments thereto, heretofore enacted and now in force: *Provided,Location of bridge to be subject to approval of Secretary of War. nevertheless*, That the location of any bridge, the construction of which is hereby authorized, shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, but not to be located south of Squaw island: *And provided further*, That such bridge shall have at least two draws of not less than one hundredDraws.Piers. and sixty feet in width, in the clear between the piers, which shall be located at the points best calculated to accommodate the commerce of said river; and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel to the current of said river.
Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted*, That the bridge herein named shallConstruction of bridge subject to the supervision of the Secretary of War.All railway companies entitled to equal rights in the use of the bridge, &c. be subject, in its construction, to the supervision of the Secretary of War of the United States, to whom the plans and specifications, relative to its construction, shall be submitted for approval. And all railway companies desiring to use the said bridge shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges in the passage of the same and in the use of the machinery and fixtures thereof and of all the approaches thereto, under and upon such terms and conditions as shall be prescribed by the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, upon hearing the allegations and proofs of the parties, in case they shall not agree.
Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted*, That the right to alter or amend thisAct may be altered, &c. so as, &c. act so as to prevent or remove all material obstructions to the navigation of the said river, by the construction of the said bridge, is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, June 30, 1870.