Chapter 804. to grant the Astoria and Winnemucca Railroad Company the right to construct bridges over navigable watercourses
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CHAP. 804.— An Act to grant the Astoria and Winnemucca Railroad Company the right to construct bridges over navigable watercourses.July 29, 1886. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Astoria and Winnemucca Railroad Company authorized to bridge the Willamette River and other navigable watercourses Oregon. That the consent of the Government is hereby given to the Astoria and Winnemucca Railroad Company, a corporation duly organized under the laws of Oregon, to build railroad bridges across the Willamette River, south of Oregon City, at such point as it may select, and across such other navigable streams or sloughs within the State of Oregon as it may be necessary to bridge along the line of said railroad or along the line of any of its branches.
Sec. 2. That any bridge built under the provisions of this act may,Construction. at the option of said railway company, be built as a drawbridge or with unbroken and continuous spans: *Provided*, That if any such bridge shall*Provisos*.Spans. be made with unbroken and continuous spans, the main span shall be over the main channel of such navigable river or slough, and shall be of such width, and the lowest part of the superstructure shall be of such height above extreme high-water mark, as the Secretary of War 162 FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. CH. 804. 1886. may prescribe, and such bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel with the current or channel of the river or slough over which it may be constructed; and if any bridge built under this act shall be Draw.constructed as a drawbridge, the same shall be constructed with an opening over the center of the channel of the river or slough, and shall be of such width, character, and construction as the Secretary of War shall prescribe, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current, and the draws of said bridge shall be over the main or deep channel of the river or slough, as may be fixed and determined by the Secretary of War: *Provided also*, That said draws shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats, and in no ease shall unnecessary delay occur; and said company or corporation shall Lights, etc.maintain, at its own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as the Light House Board shall prescribe:
May be wagon and foot bridges.*Provided also*, That said bridge or bridges, at the option of the corporation or company by which it may be built, may be used for the passage of wagons or vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, and for Tolls.foot-passengers, for such reasonable rate of toll as may be approved from time to time by the Secretary of War. Sec. 3. To be lawful structure and post-routes. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this act shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route, and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads in the.
United States, upon which also no higher charge shall be made for 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 or bridges, than the rate per mile (or their transportation over the railroads leading to the said bridge or Postal telegraph.bridges; and the United States shall have the right of way for a postal telegraph across said bridge or bridges. Said bridge or bridges shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of navigable rivers or sloughs as the Secretary of War shall “prescribe; and to secure that object the said company or Plans, etc., to be approved by Secretary of War.corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawing of any such 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 or slough, the shoreline at high and low water, the direction and strength of the current at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed and channel 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 plans and location of the bridge or bridges are approved by the Secretary of War the bridges shall not be built; and should any change be made in the plan of any such bridge during the progress of construction thereof, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 4. Other companies to have right of way. That all railroad companies desiring the use of any bridge constructed under this act 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, Terms to be decided by Secretary of War.Changes.all matters at issue between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Sec. 5. That such alterations or changes as may be required by the Secretary of War or Congress in bridges constructed under the provisions of this act shall be made by the persons or corporations owning or controlling said bridges, at their own expense; and it is hereby Right to amend, etc., reserved.expressly provided that Congress reserves the right at any time to alter, amend, or repeal this act. Approved, July 29, 1886.