Chapter 136.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-22/chapter-136-2341354·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 136.— An act to authorize the construction of bridges over the Ogeechee, Oconee, Ocomulgee, Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers, in the State of Georgia Mar. 3, 1883. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That the Savannah and PacificSavannah and Pacific Short Line Railway Company authorized to construct bridges over Ogeechee, Oconee, Ocmulgee, Flint, a n d Chattahoochee Rivers, in State of Georgia. Short Line Railway Company be, and it is hereby, authorized to construct bridges over the Ogeechee River, in the county of Chatham; over the Oconee, in the county of Montgomery; over the Ocmnlgee, in the county of Pulaski; over the Flint River, in the county of Dooly, and over the Chattahoochee River, in Stewart or Muscogee Counties, or such other county as said railroad company may desire or find most practicable in the final location of said road.
Sec. 2— That said bridges shall be so constructed, either by draw,Free navigation. span, or otherwise, so that a free and unobstructed passage may be secured to all vessels and other watercraft navigating said rivers Sec. 3— That any bridge built under this act and subject to its limitationsDeclared a lawful structure and post-route. shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route, upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, the troops, and the munitions of war of the United States, or passengers or freight passing over said bridges, than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroad or public highways leading to the said bridges; and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads in the United States.
Sec. 4— That if any of the said bridges authorized to be constructed by this act shall be constructedSignals. as a drawbridge, the draw shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signals for the passage of boats; and said company or corporation shall maintain, at its own expense, from sunset till sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge or bridges as the Light-House Board shall prescribe. No bridge shall be erected or maintained under the authority of this act which shall at any time 568 FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
SESS. II. Ch. 136, 137. 1883. substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said river, and if any bridge erected under such authority shall in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridge to be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and all such obstructions shall be removed and alterations made at the expense of the owner or owners *Proviso*.of said bridge: *Provided,* That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing in reference to the protection of the navigation of rivers, or to exempt this bridge erected under this act, from the operations of the same.
Sec 5—Equal rights and privileges to other railroads. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridge shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains or cars over the same, and over the approaches thereto, upon the payment of a reasonable compensation for such use: and in case the owner or owners of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any one of them, desiring such use, shall fail to agree upon the sum or sums, to be paid, and upon rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said bridge, all matters at issue between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War, upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Sec. 6—Designs, drawings, maps, etc., to be submitted to Secretary of War for approval. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this act shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of said rivers as the Secretary of War shall prescribe ; and to secure that object said company or corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War a design and drawings of said bridges to be erected, for his examination and approval, and a map of its location, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject, and in all things shall be subject to such rules and regulation as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War; and until said plan and location of said bridge or bridges are approved by the Secretary of War, said bridge or bridges shall not be built; and should any change be made in the plan of any bridge authorized to be constructed by this act, during the progress of the work of construction, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 7—Repeal. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved; and the right to require any changes in said structures, or their entire removal, at the expense of the owners thereof, whenever Congress shall decide that the public interest requires it is also expressly reserved. Approved, March 3, 1883.