Chapter 526.
1,004 words·~5 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-26/chapter-526-3513667·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 526.— An act to authorize the building of a bridge at Van Buren, Arkansas, across the Arkansas River.March 3, 1891. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Van Buren Pontoon Bridge Company may bridge Arkansas River at Van Buren. Ark. That the Van Buren Pontoon Bridge Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Arkansas, its successors and assigns, be, and are hereby, authorized to construct and maintain a pontoon bridge and approaches thereto across the Arkansas River in front of Van Buren, at a point at least one mile from any other similar bridge, and which FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Ch. 526. 1891.837 shall not be detrimental to the interest of navigation or of any river improvement. Said bridge shall be constructed so as to provide forWagon and foot bridge. the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, animals, and foot passengers, and for all road travel, for such reasonable rates of toll,Toll, etc. and under such reasonable rules and regulations as may be prescribed by said corporation, its successors or assigns, and approved from time to time by the Secretary of War.
Sec. 2. That any bridge built, under this act and subject to its limitationsLawful structure and post route. shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post route, upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, the troops, and the munitions of war of the United States than is charged other parties for like privileges; and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post roads in the United States, and the United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches forPostal telegraph. postal telegraph purposes; and equal rights as to constructing andUse by telegraph and telephone companies. maintaining their lines over said bridge shall be granted to ail telegraph and telephone companies desiring to use the same.
Sec. 3. That said bridge shall be constructed as a pontoon drawDraw. span bridge, and shall contain a pontoon draw span of not less than three hundred feet in length, which said draw span shall be maintained on the main channel of the river at an accessible and navigable point; and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with, and the bridge itself at right angles to, the current of the river: *Provided, also*,*Provisos*. That said draw shall be opened promptly by the said company,Opening draw. upon a reasonable signal, for the passage of boats and rafts; and said company or corporation shall maintain at their own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as theLights, etc.
Light-House Board shall prescribe. No bridge shall be constructed or maintained under the authority of this act which shall at any time substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said river;Unobstructed navigation. and if any bridge erected under said authority shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridge to be made as Changes.will effectually obviate such obstruction; and all such alterations shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owner or owners of said bridge; and in case of any litigation arisingLitigation. from any obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said river, caused or alleged to be caused by said bridge, suit may be brought in the district court of the United States for the western district of the State of Arkansas to remove or remedy the same: *Provided further*, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as toExisting laws for protecting navigation. repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing in reference to the protection of the navigation of rivers, or to exempt this bridge from the operation of the same.
Sec. 4. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under thisSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. act shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of 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 said bridge, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of one mile above and one mile below the proposed location, the high and low water lines upon the banks of the river, the direction and strength of the current, at all stages, with the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the stream, and the location of any other bridge or bridges; such map to be sufficiently in detail to enable the Secretary of War to judge of the proper location of said bridge, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject: and until such plan and location of said bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be commenced 838FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. II. Chs. 526, 527. 1891. or built; and should any change be made in the plan of said bridge during the progress of construction, or after completion, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. Sec. 5. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is herebyAmendment, etc. expressly reserved, and the right to require any changes in the said structure, or its entire removal, at the expense of the owners thereof, whenever the Secretary of War shall decide that the public interest so requires, is also expressly reserved.
Sec. 6. 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, March 3, 1891.