Chapter 753. to authorize the Macon, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Railroad Company to build bridges across the Black Warrior River and the Tombigbee River, in Alabama
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CHAP. 753.— An Act to authorize the Macon, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Railroad Company to build bridges across the Black Warrior River and the Tombigbee River, in Alabama.August 6, 1888. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Macon, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Railroad Company may bridge Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers. That the Macon. Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Railroad Company, a corporation created and existing under the laws of Alabama, be, and is hereby, authorized to erect and maintain bridges across the Black Warrior River at or near Foster’s Ferry, or at such point near said ferry as shall be selected by said railroad company for crossing said river with their railroad line, and across the Tombigbee River in or near township twelve, at such point as shall be selected by said railroad company for crossing said river with their railroad line, the said bridges to have each a draw-span, so as not to interfere with the navigation of said river: *Provided*, That any bridge constructed under this act*Proviso*.lawful structures and post-routes. and according to its limitations shall be a lawful structure, and shall be known and recognized 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, the troops, and munitions of war of the United States, or for through passengers or freight passing over said bridge, than the rate per mile paid for their transportation over the railroads leading to the said bridges, and equal privileges in the use of said bridges shall be granted to all telegraph and telephone companies: and the United States shall have the right of way across said bridges and their approaches for postal-telegraph purposes.Postal telegraph.Secretary of War to approve plans, etc.
Sec. 2. That the plan and location of said bridges, with a detailed map of the rivers at the proposed sites of the bridges and near thereto, exhibiting the depths and currents, shall be submitted to the Secretary of War for his approval, and until he approves the plans and location of said bridges they shall not be built; but upon the approval of said-plans by the Secretary of War the said company or corporation may proceed to the erection of said bridges in conformity with said approved plan, and should any change be made in the plans of said bridges during the progress of the work thereon, such change shall be subject likewise to the approval of the Secretary of War.
And there shall be displayed on said bridges from sunset to sunrise such lights or other signals as may be prescribed byLights. the Light-House Board. Sec. 3. That Congress reserves the right to alter, amend, or repealAmendment. this act at any time; and that if at any time navigation of said rivers shall in any manner be obstructed or impaired by the said bridges, the Secretary of War shall have authority, and it shall be his duty, to require the said railroad company to alter and change the said bridges, at its own expense, in such manner as may be proper to secure free and complete navigation without impediment;Unobstructed navigation. and if upon reasonable notice to said railroad company to make such changes or improvements the said company fails to do so, the Secretary of War shall have authority to make the same at the expense of said company, and all the rights conferred by this act shall be forfeited; and Congress shall have power to do any and all things necessary to secure the free navigation of the said rivers 378 Sec. 4.
That this act shall be null and void if actual constructionCommencement and completion. of the bridges herein authorized be not commenced within two years, and completed within four years, from the date thereof. Approved, August 6, 1888.