Chapter 386. to authorize the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company to construct bridges across the Sunflower, Yazoo, and Tombigbee Rivers, in Mississippi
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CHAP. 386.— An Act to authorize the Georgia Pacific Railroad Company to construct bridges across the Sunflower, Yazoo, and Tombigbee Rivers, in Mississippi.Mar. 3, 1887. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Georgia Pacific Railroad Company authorized to bridge Sunflower, Yazoo, and Tombigbee Rivers, Mississippi. That the Georgia Pacific railroad Company, a corporation created and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the States of Alabama and Mississippi, be, and is hereby, authorized to build bridges across the Sunflower River, the Yazoo River, and the Tombigbee River, in the State of Mississippi, at such points as may hereafter be selected by said railway company for crossing 568 said rivers with its railroad line, the said bridges to Ire so constructed *Provisos*.Yazoo River.as not to interfere with the navigation of said rivers: *Provided*, That such crossing of the Yazoo River shall be between the month of the Yallabusba, on the north, and the upper mouth of Roebuck Lake, at Glen Mary Plantation, on the south: *And provided further*, That any To be lawful structures and post-routes.bridge constructed under this act and according to its limitations shall be a lawful structure, and shall be known and recognized as a post-route, and the same is hereby declared to be 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 for through passengers or freight passing over said bridge, than the rate per mile paid for their transportation over the railroads leading to Postal telegraph.the said bridge; and the United States shall have the right of way for a postal telegraph across said bridge.
Sec. 2. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this actSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of said river as the Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the said persons or corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawings of the bridge, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of one mile above and one mile below the proposed location, the topography of the banks of the river, the shore lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the currents at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the stream, the location of any other bridge or bridges, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until the said plan and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be built; and should any change be made in the plan of said bridge during the progress of construction, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 3. That Congress reserves the right to alter, amend, or repealRight to amend, etc., reserved.Not to obstruct navigation. this act at any time; and that if at any time navigation of the said river shall in any manner be obstructed or impaired by the bridge authorized by this act to be constructed, the Secretary of War, shall have authority, and it shall be his duty, to require the said railway company to alter and change the said bridge, at its own expense, in such manner as may be proper to secure free and complete navigation without impediment; and if, upon such reasonable notice to said railway company to make such change or improvements, the said company fails to do so, the Secretary of War shall have authority to make the same, and all the rights conferred by this act shall be forfeited; and Congress shall have power to do any and all things necessary to secure the free navigation of the river; and if said bridge shall not be finished within two years from the passage of this act, the rights and privileges hereby granted shall be null and void.
Approved, March 3, 1887.