Chapter 44.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-22/chapter-44-1729792·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 44.— An act supplementary to an act approved December seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled “An act to authorize the construction of bridges across the Ohio River, and to prescribe the dimensions of the same. Feb. 14, 1883. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Bridges across the Ohio River. That the act of Congress approved December seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, en- FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, Sess.
II. Ch, 44. 1883. 415 titled “An act to authorize the construction of bridges across the Ohio River, and to prescribe the dimensions of the same,” shall be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking out sections two and four of said act and substituting therefor the following: " “Sec. 2. That every bridge hereafter erected across the Ohio RiverStat., 17, 398.Amended.Construction. shall have its axis at right angles to the current at all stages, and all of its spans shall be through spans.
Every such bridge shall have at least one channel-span placed over that part of the river usually run by descending coal-fleets, said channel-span to give a clear waterway between the piers of five hundred feet, measured on the low-water line. Said channel-span shall be at least forty feet above local highest water, measured to the lowest part of the span, and shall be at least ninety feet above low water in bridges built above the mouth of the Big Sandy River, and at least one hundred feet above low water in bridges built below the mouth of the Big Sandy River, measured to the lowest part of the span: *Provided, however,* That all bridges over the Ohio River*Provisos.* below the Covington and Cincinnati suspension bridge shall have, in addition to the channel-span prescribed above, a pivot-draw giving two clear openings of one hundred and sixty feet each, measured at right angles to the current at high stages, and located in a part of the bridge that can be safely and conveniently reached at such stages; that said draw shall be provided with suitable rest-piers above and below the pivot-pier, and suitable floats or crib-work connecting said rest-piers with the pivot-pier, to enable boats to pass through said draw with safety; that in case said draw span is near either shore, the bridge company, by purchase or otherwise, shall extinguish the right of mooring boats or other water craft to the adjacent shore for a distance of at least seven hundred feet above and seven hundred feet below the bridge; and that said draw shall be opened promptly, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of boats whose construction shall not be such as to admit of their passage under the stationary spans of said bridge, except when trains are passing over the same; but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in opening said draw before or after the passage of a train: *Provided, further,* That in lieu of the high draw prescribed above, bridges over the Ohio River below the Covington and Cincinnati suspension bridge may be built as continuous bridges, with a clear height of fifty-three feet above local highest water, measured to the lowest part of the channel-span.
” “Sec. 4.— That any person, company, or corporation authorized toPlan and location to be approved by Secretary of War. construct a bridge across the Ohio River shall give notice, by publication for one week in newspapers having a wide circulation, in not less than two newspapers in the cities of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville for bridges above the mouth of the Big Sandy, and in the cities of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Saint Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans for bridges below the mouth of the Big Sandy, and shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination, a design and drawings of the bridge and piers, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of at least one mile above and one mile below the proposed location, the topography of the banks of the river and the shore lines at high and low water.
This map shall be accompanied by others, drawn on the scale of one inch to two hundred feet, giving, for a space of one half a mile above the line of the proposed bridge and a quarter of a mile below, an accurate representation of the bottom of the river, by contour lines two feet apart, determined by accurate soundings, and also showing over the whole width of this part of the river the force and direction of the currents at low water, at high water, and at, least one intermediate stage, by triangulated observations on suitable floats.
The maps shall also show the locations of other bridges in the vicinity, and shall give such other information as the Secretary of War may require fora full and satisfactory understanding of the subject. Said maps and drawings shall be referred to a board of engineers for examination and report, which board shall personally examine the site of the proposed 416 FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 44, 46. 1832. bridge, and shall hold a public session at some convenient point to hear all objections thereto, of which public session due notice and invitation to be present shall be given to all interested parties; and if said board of engineers reports that the site is unfavorable, the Secretary of War shall be authorized, on the recommendation of said board, to order such changes in the bridge or its piers or such guiding-dikes or other auxiliary works as may be necessary, at the expense of the proprietors or managers of such bridge or piers and other works for the security of navigation; and the proposed bridge shall only be a legal structure when built as approved by the Secretary of War.
” " Sec. 5.— That the right to alter, amend or repeal this act as set forth in section seven of the act hereby amended is hereby reserved. Approved, February fourteenth, 1883.