Chapter 137. authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tennessee
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CHAP. 137.— An Act authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tennessee.April 20, 1888. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Chattanooga Bridge Company may bridge Tennessee River at Chattanooga, Tenn. That the consent of Congress is hereby given to the Chattanooga Bridge Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Tennessee, having its principal office at Chattanooga, in said State, and to its successors or assigns, to build, construct, and maintain a bridge, as hereinafter described, across the Tennessee River at Chattanooga, in the State of Tennessee, the southern terminus of said bridge to be at some point between the west line of Market street and the east line of Georgia avenue of said city, and the bridge to be constructed at right angles to said stream to a point on the north side thereof.
Said Street car, wagon, and foot bridge.bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of street cars, wagons, and vehicles, and the transit of animals and foot-passengers, and equal facilities for passage across said bridge shall be afforded to all wagons and vehicles and the cars of all street car companies. Sec. 2. That any bridge built under this act and subject to its limitationsTo be lawful structure and post-route. shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route, upon which no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, troops, and munitions of war of the United States than the rate per mile paid for the transporta- FIFTIETH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 137. 1888.89tion over the highways leading to said bridge: and it shall enjoy the lights and privileges of other post-routes in the United States, and equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall be granted to all telegraph companies, and the United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches for postal-telegraph purposes. Sec. 3. That if said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuousSpans. spans, the two main spans thereof shall be over the main channels of the river, and not less than three hundred feet each in length in the clear, and the remaining spans shall not be less than two hundred feet each in length in the clear.
The lowest part of the superstructure of the south span of said bridge shall not be less than one hundred feet and the remaining spans not less than ninety feet above low-water mark, as understood at the point of location, and the bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel to the current of the river: *Provided*, That if any bridge built under*Provisos*.Draw. this act shall be constructed as a pivot drawbridge, its draw shall be over the main channel at an accessible and the best navigable point, and with spans giving a clear waterway, measured at the lowest stage of water known at the locality, of not less than one hundred and sixty feet in the clear on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw; the main unbroken span of the bridge shall not be less than three hundred feet in the clear, and the remaining spans not less than two hundred feet each in the clear, and the lowest part of the superstructure of all the principal spans shall not be less than seventy-five feet above low-water mark, as understood at the point of location, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel to, and the bridge itself at right angles to the current of the river: *Provided*, That said draw shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signals for the passage of boats or vessels; and said corporation shall maintain at its own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such light or other signals as the Light-House Board shall prescribe.Lights.Secretary of War to approve plans, etc.
Sec. 4. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this act shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of the 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 shore lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the current 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 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 plans of said bridge during the progress of construction, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Said company shall be allowed to charge reasonable tolls for transitTolls. over said bridge, but the Secretary of War shall have the right from time to time to revise, prescribe, and determine such rates or tolls. Sec. 5. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this act so as to prevent Amendment, etc.or remove all material and substantial obstructions to the navigation of said river by the construction of said bridge is hereby expressly reserved; and any alteration or change that may be required by the Secretary of War in the bridge constructed under this act, or the entire removal thereof, shall be made by the corporation or party owning or controlling the same at its own expense.
If any litigation shall be necessary for the purpose of enforcing the requirementsLitigation. of the War Department as to altering said bridge or removing the whole structure, the same shall be had in the circuit court of 90FIFTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 137, 155, 191, 192. 1888. the United States within whose jurisdiction the bridge or any part Commencement and completion.thereof is located. If the construction of said bridge shall not be commenced within two and completed within four years after the passage of this act. all privileges conferred hereby and this act shall become null and void.
Approved, April 20, 1888.