Chapter 499. authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Red River of the North by the Duluth Rainy Lake River and Southwestern Railway Company
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CHAP. 499.— An Act authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Red River of the North by the Duluth Rainy Lake River and Southwestern Railway Company.June 29, 1888. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Duluth, Rainy Lake River and Southwestern Railway Company may bridge Red River of the North. Minnesota and Dakota. That the assent of Congress is hereby given to the Duluth, Rainy Lake River and Southwestern Railroad Company, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Minnesota, and to its successors and assigns, to construct and maintain a pivot drawbridge, and approaches thereto, across the Red River of the North, between the State of Minnesota and the Territory of Dakota, at such point on said river, on the boundary-line between Marshal County or Kittson County, in the State of Minnesota, and the Territory of Dakota, as may accommodate the lines of Railway, wagon, and foot bridge.railroad which said corporation may build to said point.
Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railway trains, and, at the option of the said corporation, may be used for the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, and for foot-passengers, for reasonable tolls to be fixed by the Secretary of War; and the Secretary of War shall have the right, from time to time to revise such tolls. Sec. 2. That the bridge authorized by this act shall be constructedDraw. as a pivot-drawbridge, with a draw over the main channel at an accessible and the best navigable point, and with spans giving a clear width of waterway measured at the lowest stage of water known at the locality, of not less than eighty feet in the clear on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw, and the bottom chord of said bridge shall not be of less elevation than one foot above the plane of the highest known flood at the locality; and provision shall also be made in the location and construction of abutments and approaches to allow the free passage of flood water; and the piers of said bridge FIFTIETH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 499. 1888.213 shall be parallel to and the bridge itself at right angles to the direction of the current of said river. And said corporation shall provide, at its own expense, such sheer-booms, guide-piers, and other devices as may be necessary to facilitate the safe passage of boats or other watercraft through the spans of said bridge: *Provided*, That*Proviso*.Opening draw. the draw of said bridge 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 lightsLights, etc. or other signals on said bridge as the Light House Board shall prescribe.
The said bridge shall be located and built 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 shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examinationSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. and approval, a design and drawings of said bridge, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of one mile below and one mile above the proposed location the topography of the banks of the river, the shorelines 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, and shall furnish such other information as shall be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until the said location and plan of the bridge hereby authorized to be constructed are approved by the Secretary of War the said bridge shall not be built; and should any change be made in the plan of such bridge during the progress of construction thereof, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War; and no such change shall be made until so approved.
Sec. 3. That all railroad companies desiring the use of the bridgeOther companies may use. constructed under this act shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains, cars, and locomotives over the same, and over the approaches thereto, upon the payment of a reasonable compensation for such use, to be fixed by the Secretary of War, in case the owner or owners of the said bridge and the several railway companies, or any of them desiring such use, shall fail to agree upon the sum or sums to be paid; andSecretary of War to decide rates. the Secretary of War shall prescribe the rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said bridge, and all matters of difference between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Sec. 4. That the bridge authorized to be constructed under thisLawful structure and post-route. act shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route, and the same is hereby declared to be a post-route upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, troops, and munitions of war of the United States, or for through railway passengers or freight passing over said bridge, than the rate per mile for the transmission over the railroads leading to said bridge; 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.Postal telegraph.Amendment, etc.
Sec. 5. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved: and any alterations or changes that may be required by Congress in the bridge constructed under this act so as to prevent or remove all material and substantial obstruction to the navigation of said river by the construction of said bridge, shall be made by the corporation owning or controlling the same at its own expense. Sec. 6. That in case of any litigation arising from any obstruction Litigationor alleged obstruction caused by this bridge to the free navigation of said river, the cause may be tried before the circuit court of the United States in whose territorial jurisdiction said bridge or any part thereof is located. 214FIFTIETH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Chs. 499, 500. 1888. Sec. 7. That this act shall be null and void if actual constructionCommencement and completion. of the bridge herein authorized be not commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date thereof. Approved, June 29, 1888.