Chapter 48.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-24/chapter-48-43597·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 48.— An act authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Mississippi River at or near Alton, Illinois, and for other purposes.April 15, 1886. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Bridge over Mississippi River, at Alton, Ill. Central Missouri Railway Company may construct. Passage of trains, rolls, &c. That it shall be lawful for the Central Missouri Railway Company, a corporation duly and legally incorporated under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Missouri, its assigns or successors, to construct and maintain a bridge, and approaches thereto, over the Mississippi River at or near Alton, in the State of Illinois.
Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railway trains, and, at the option of the persons by whom it may be built, may be used for the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, and for foot-passengers, for such reasonable rates of toll as may be approved from time to time by the Secretary of War. Sec. 2. Declared a lawful structure and post-route. That any bridge built under this act and subject to its limitations 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 bridge, than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroad or public highways leading to the said bridge; and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads in the United States.
Sec. 3. Spans. That if said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuous spans, the spans thereof shall not be less than three hundred feet in length in the clear, and the main span shall be over the main channel of the river. The lowest part of the superstructure of said bridge shall be at least fifty feet above high-water mark, as understood at the 11 point of location, and the bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel with the current of the river: *Provided*, That if the same*Proviso*. shall be constructed as a drawbridge, the draw or pivot pier shall be at or near that shore nearest the channel of the river where, in theDraws. opinion of the Secretary of War, the passage through the draw at that point can be consistently maintained; if not so constructed, then the draw-pier to be in the main channel, and the opening or passageway to be so protected that watercraft can be worked through it by lines when not safe to pass otherwise; and the spans shall not be less than two hundred feet in length in the clear, with two side spans of three hundred feet each, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with and the bridge itself at right angles to the current of the river, and the spans shall not be less than ten feet above high-water mark, as understood at the point of location, to the lowest part of the superstructure of said bridge: *Provided also*, That said draw shall be opened promptly*Proviso*. upon reasonable signal for the passing of boats; and said company orLights, etc. corporation shall maintain, at its own expense, from sunset till sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as the Light-House Board shall prescribe.
No bridge shall be erected or maintained underFree navigation to be maintained. the authority of this act which shall at any time 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 alterations shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owner or owners of said bridge; and in case of any litigation arising from any obstructionLitigation. or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said river caused or alleged to be caused by said bridge, the case may be brought in the district court of the United States of the State of Missouri in which any portion of said obstruction or bridge may be located: *Provided, further*, 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 from the operation of the same.
Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridgeAll railroad companies to have use of bridge; compensation; Secretary of War to decide disagreements. shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains 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 between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War, upon a bearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Sec. 5. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this actPlans, etc., for security of Navigation, etc., to be submitted to Secretary of War. 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 company 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 shorelines 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. 12 Sec. 6.
Assignment of rights of Hannibal and Southwestern Railway Company ratified. Vol. 22, p. 38. That all the rights, privileges, and immunities granted and included in an act entitled “An act authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Missouri River at or near Arrow Rock, Missouri,” approved April first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, having been transferred and assigned by the Hannibal and Southwestern Railway Company to its successor, the Central Missouri Railway Company said transfer and assignment is hereby ratified and confirmed to said Central Missouri Railway Company.
Sec. 7. Right, to amend, etc., reserved. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, April 15, 1886.