Chapter 315.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-25/chapter-315-3073720·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 315.— An act granting to the Astoria and South Coast Railway Company the right to construct a bridge across Young’s Bay, a navigable stream in the county of Clatsop and State of Oregon.March 1, 1889. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Astoria and South Coast Railway company may bridge Young’s Bay, Oregon. That the Astoria and South Coast Railway Company, a corporation organized under the law of Oregon, with its principal office at Astoria, in the county of Clatsop, in the State of Oregon, is hereby authorized and empowered to construct a bridge across Young’s Bay, a navigable stream in said county and State, at such point as the said Company may select, and may be approved by the Secretary of War, with such channel-spans, draws, safeguards, and auxiliary works as shall cause the bridge not to obstruct or hinder the navigation of theUnobstructed navigation. waters crossed by it; and that said channel-spans and structures shall be according to such plans and of such materials and dimensions as the Secretary of War may prescribe; and also to construct, establish and maintain a bridge across Skipanon Creek, in the countyMay bridge Skipanon Creek, Oregon. of Clatsop, in the State of Oregon, according to such plan and of such dimensions and materials, and with such embankments and safeguards as the Secretary of War may require: and the construction of said bridges shall not be commenced until the Secretary ofSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. *Proviso*.
War approves the plans and dimensions of the same: *Provided*, That if said bridges shall be constructed as draw bridges the draws shallDraw. be opened promptly upon reasonable signals for the passage of ships and boats, and in no case shall unnecessary delay occur; and said company shall maintain, at its own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signa’s on said bridges as the Light-HouseLights, etc. Board shall prescribe. Sec. 2. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under thisLawful structure and post-route. act shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized as a post-route; and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-routes 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, than the rate per mile for their transportation over any railroad or other routes leading to said bridge, or over said stream in the vicinity; and the United States shall have the right of way for a telegraph across said bridges; the said bridges to be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation on said bay and creek as theAids to navigation.
Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the said company shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawing of such bridge across Young’s Bay, and an accurate map of Young’s Bay from the mouths of itsMaps, etc. 756 navigable tributaries to the adjacent ship channel, and whose topography of the shores and hydrography shall accurately represent the banks, the bottom, and steamboat channels by contours of six feet, and which shall be accompanied by other maps, drawn to a scale of one inch to two hundred feet, giving, within areas of one-fourth of a mile from each draw-span, an accurate representation of the bottom of the bay by contour lines two feet apart, determined by accurate soundings, and also showing the force and direction of. the currents at each two feet of tidal stage, by triangulated observations on suitable floats; also showing the Skipanon Creek to the head of usual navigation.
The maps shall also show the locations of other bridges in the vicinity, and shall give such other in formation as the Secretary of War may require for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject. Sec. 3. Use by other companies. That if other railroad corporations shall desire to use the bridges herein authorized to be constructed for the passage over the same of their locomotives, cars or trains, they shall nave such privilege upon terms to be agreed upon between such corporations and the owners or lessees of said bridges, and if the parties cannot agree upon Terms.such terms then the matter shall be determined by the Secretary of War, whose decision upon the subject shall be final.
Sec. 4. Amendment, etc. That Congress shall have power, at any time, to alter or amend this act so as to prevent or remove all material and substantial obstructions to the navigation of said bay and said creek by the construction of said bridges and accessory works; and the expense of altering said bridges or removing said obstructions shall be borne by the owners of said bridges. Sec. 5. Commencement and completion. If the construction of the bridges hereby authorized shall not be commenced within two years and finished within four years from the time this act takes effect then all the privileges and powers herein granted shall cease and this act shall be null and void.
Approved, March 1, 1889.