Chapter 267. to authorize the Rock Island and Southwestern Railway Company to construct a bridge over the Mississippi River at New Boston, State of Illinois
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CHAP. 267.— An Act to authorize the Rock Island and Southwestern Railway Company to construct a bridge over the Mississippi River at New Boston, State of Illinois.July 3, 1882. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Rock Island and Southwestern Railway Company to construct bridge over Mississippi River at Now Boston, Ill. That it shall be lawful for the Rock Island and Southwestern Railway Company, a corporation organized under the general incorporation laws of the State of Illinois, its successors and assigns, to construct, under and subject to the conditions and limitations hereinafter provided, a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near the city of New Boston, and lay on and over said bridge a railway track or tracks, for the more perfect connection of its road to be constructed, and such other roads as may now be or hereafter may be constructed to said river from its east and west banks, and to build and lay on and over said bridge ways for wagons and vehicles of all kinds, and for the transit of passengers on foot, and also of live stock Rates of toll.for such reasonable rates of toll as may be approved from time to time by the Secretary of War, and to keep up and maintain said bridge for *Proviso.*the purposes aforesaid. *Provided,* That Congress may at any time pre- 147 FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS.
SESS. I. CH. 267. 1882. scribe such rules and regulations in regard to toll and otherwise as maybe deemed reasonable. Sec. 2. That said bridge shall be built with a draw, so as not to impedeDraw the navigation of said river; said draw shall be a pivot draw, over the channel of said river usually navigated, and with spans of not lessSpans. than two hundred feet in length in the clear on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw, and the next adjoining span or spans shall not be less than two hundred and fifty feet, and said spans shall not be less than ten feet above extreme high water mark and not less than thirty feet above low-water mark, measured to the bottom chord of the bridge, and the piers of said bridge shall, as nearly as practicable, bePiers. parallel with the current of said river: *Provided,* That said draw shall*Proviso.* always be opened promptly upon reasonable signal; and said company, or its successors and assigns, shall at all proper times keep and maintain all proper lights on said bridge during nights, so that its presenceLights. may always be noticed by vessels and craft navigating the channel of said river.
And all plans for the construction of said bridge and approachesPlan to be approved by Secretary of War. thereto must first be submitted to the Secretary of War for his approval; and when the same shall be approved by said Secretary the work thereon may be commenced and prosecuted to completion: *And provided further,* That said bridge shall, as nearly as may be, be*Provisos.* constructed at right angles with said river or the current thereof; *And provided further,* That any change in the mode of construction of said bridge shall be first submitted to the said Secretary for his approval, and when approved the said company may then proceed with the construction according to said change; *And provided further,* That if saidNot to impede free navigation. bridge when constructed shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, be a substantial obstruction to the navigation of said river, the said Secretary shall require said company to change the construction thereof so as to avoid any serious and substantial obstruction to the navigation of said river at the expense of the owners of said bridge.
Sec. 3. That the bridge hereby authorized shall be a lawful structure,Declared a lawful structure, and a post-route. and shall be a post-route, upon which no higher charge shall be made for the transportation of the mails of the United States, and the troops and munitions of war, or for passengers or freight passing over said bridge than the rate per mile paid to railroads and transportation companies leading to said bridge. Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridgeRailroad companies to have equal rights, etc.; failure to agree on compensation for us a of bridge to he decided by Secretary of War. 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 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 bet ween them shall be decided by the Secretary of War upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties; *Provided,* That the provisions*Proviso.* of section three in regard to charges for passengers and freight across said bridge shall not govern the Secretary of War in determining any question arising as to the sum or sums to be paid to the owners of said bridge by said companies for the use of said bridge.
Sec. 5. That this act shall be subject, except as above mentioned, to17 Stat., 44. the limitations and provisions of an act entitled “An act to authorize the construction of a bridge across the Mississippi River at or near the town of Clinton, in the State of Iowa, and other bridges across said river, and to establish them as post-roads”, approved April first, eighteen hundred and seventy two. Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, on satisfactorySpecial structures as aids to passage of bridge, etc. proof that a necessity exists therefor, to require the company or persons owning said bridge to cause such aids to the passage of said bridge to be constructed, placed, and maintained, at their own cost and expense, in the form of booms, dikes, piers, or other suitable and proper 148 FORTY SEVENTH CONGRESS.
SESS. I. CH. 267, 268. 1882. structures for the guiding of rafts, steamboats, and other watercraft safely through the passageway, as shall be specified in his order in that behalf; and on failure of the company or persons aforesaid to make and Penalty.establish such additional structures within a reasonable time, the said Secretary shall proceed to cause the same to be built or made at the expense of the United States, and shall refer the matter without delay to the Attorney General of the United States, whose duty it shall be (o institute, in the name of the United States, proceedings in any district court of the United States in which such bridge or any part thereof, is located, for the recovery of the cost thereof; and all moneys accruing from such proceedings shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States.
Sec. 7. Special rights of United States reserved. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved. And the right to require any changes in said structure or its entire removal at the expense of the owners thereof whenever Congress shall decide that the public interest requires it, is also expressly reserved. Approved, July 3, 1882.