Chapter 463.
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CHAP. 463.— An act to authorize the purchase of the Aqueduct Bridge or the construction of a bridge across the Potomac River at or near Georgetown, District of Columbia.June 21, 1886. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Aqueduct Bridge, Potomac River. Purchase of. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed to acquire by purchase a title in fee-simple, free from all liens or claims of lessees or others, the bridge known as the Aqueduct Bridge, including the piers thereof, across the Potomac River, and the approaches thereto, and all the rights and franchises connected with said bridge, for a sum not to exceed one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, the title to be approved by the Attorney-General of To be a free bridge.the United States; and said bridge, when so acquired, shall be used as a free bridge, under such regulations as the Secretary of War may pre- 85 scribe; and the Secretary of War is further authorized, in case the UnitedRepairs.
States shall acquire title to the said bridge, to repair or reconstruct the same; and for the purpose of acquiring such title and repairing andAppropriation. reconstructing said bridge the sum of two hundred and forty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary for such purpose, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and one-half of the expense of such purchase and reconstruction or repair of said bridge shall be charged to and paid by the District of Columbia, and the balance, one-half of the sum so expended,District of Columbia to pay one-half.
Bridge to be built at Three Sisters if Aqueduct Bridge not purchased in six mouths. shall be paid out of the Treasury of the United States. Sec. 2. That if the provisions of the first section of this act authorizing the purchase of the Aqueduct Bridge shall not be fully executed within six months from the passage of this act, and the title therefor approved as therein required, then the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to cause to be constructed across the Potomac River at the Three Sisters, above Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, a substantial iron and masonry bridge, with approaches; and the sum of two hundred and twenty thousand dollars be, and theAppropriation. same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the construction of said bridge and approaches, the same to be maintained as a free bridge for travel: *Provided*,*Provisos*.
Cost. That the said Secretary of War shall construct a bridge upon such plan as shall cost no more than the amount herein appropriated, and which cost shall include the construction of a substantial ironBridge over Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. bridge over the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and highway, and any and all approaches to the said iron bridge, which said bridge shall not be less than fourteen feet in the clear above the waterline of said canal; and not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars of this appropriation shall be paid out of the Treasury until contracts shall have been entered into with responsible parties, and with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the Secretary of War, for the construction and completion of said bridges across the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, including the masonry, ironwork, and approaches, at a cost not to exceed in the aggregate two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, less such sum as may be expended for advertising and making necessary survey: *And provided also*, That one-half of the expense of theDistrict of Columbia to pay one-half. construction of said bridge shall be charged to and paid by the District of Columbia, and the balance (one-half) of the sum hereby appropriated shall be paid out of the Treasury of the United States: *Provided further*, That the Secretary of War shall, as soon as possible, cause aSurveys, etc. survey of the river to be made at the Three Sisters, determine the length, width, and height of said bridge, and thereupon advertise forAdvertisement. plans and price for the construction of said bridge, such advertisement to be inserted in one or more daily newspapers published in Washington, District of Columbia;
New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Richmond, Virginia; Saint Louis, Missouri, for the space of one week: *And provided further*,Part of appropriation immediately available. That the sum of fifteen thousand dollars shall be available at once for such investigation and surveys and such contingencies as the Secretary of War shall deem necessary. Sec. 3. That if in the purchase of the Aqueduct Bridge under theCondemnation to secure title. first section, at any time, it shall be deemed necessary to obtain from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, or its grantees, any release or conveyance of any portion of the ground upon which the northern abutment of the Aqueduct Bridge rests, or right to cross the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal from the abutment to Bridge street, or if a good title cannot be procured by contract to any property required in the construction of a bridge under the second section, the same shall be acquired by the Secretary of War by condemnation in the manner provided by the act approved May eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two,Vol. 17, p. 84. entitled “An act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the year ending June thirtieth, 86 eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and for other purposes:” *Provided*,*Proviso*.
That the condemnation proceedings, if any such proceedings are necessary, Condemnation proceedings not to prevent taking possession.shall not prevent the taking possession, on payment of the purchase money, of the Aqueduct Bridge by the United States, and opening the same to the public as a free bridge, if the same shall be acquired under Condemnation expenses immediately available.the first section: *Provided further*, That the sum of ten thousand dollars of the sum hereby appropriated shall be available to meet the payments under condemnation proceedings, if any shall be had.
Sec. 4. The act approved February twenty-third, eighteen hundredVol. 21, chap. 69, p. 328, repealed. and eighty-one, entitled “An act to authorize the construction of a bridge across the Potomac River at or near Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,” is hereby repealed. Approved, June 21, 1886.