Chapter 923.
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CHAP. 923.— An act to authorize the construction of bridges over the Savannah, Ocmulgee, and Oconee Rivers by the Macon and Atlantic Railway Company.September 25, 1890. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Macon and Atlantic Railway Company may bridge Savannah, Ocmulgee, and Oconee Rivers, Ga. That the assent of the United States of America is hereby given to the Macon and Atlantic Railway Company, a corporation incorporated by the laws of the State of Georgia, its successors and assigns, and such other persons as may be associated with it, to construct and maintain a bridge Locations.over the Savannah River at a point, by it to be selected, within six miles of the bridge of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad Company over said river in the County of Effingham, over the Ocmulgee River, within six miles of the mouth of Tobesofka Creek, in Bibb County, and over the Oconee River, within six miles of Dublin, in Laurens County.
Sec. 2. That the bridges shall be so constructed by draw-span orSecurity of navigation. otherwise that a free and unobstructed passage may be secured to all vessels and other watercraft navigating said river. That any bridges constructed under this act shall be built and located under FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch. 923. 1890. 475 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 shall submit to the Secretary of War, for hisSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. examination and approval, designs and drawings of the bridges, piers, and approaches, and a map of the location, giving, for the space of at least one mile above and one mile below the proposed location, of each bridge the topography of the banks of the rivers, the shorelines at high water and at low water, and the direction and the strength of the currents at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the streams and the location of other bridges, wharves, bindings, or ferries, and shall furnish such other information as shall be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until said plans and locations of the bridges are approved by the Secretary of War the bridges shall not be built; and after such approval by the Secretary of War the approved plans and designs for the bridges shall not be deviated from or added to, eitherChange of plans. during the construction or after the completion of the bridges, until the proposed change shall have been submitted to the Secretary of War and received his approval; and the said bridges shall be at all times so kept and managed as to offer reasonable and proper means for the passage of vessels through or under said bridges, and if said bridges or any one of them be built with draws, said draws shall beDraws.Opening of draws. opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats or other craft, and the said company or corporation shall maintain at its own expense, from sunset until sunrise, such lights or other signalsLights, etc. on said bridges as the Light-House Board shall prescribe: and if at any time the navigation of said river shall in any manner be obstructed or impaired by the bridges authorized by this act to beObstructed navigation. constructed the Secretary of War shall have authority, and it shall be his duty, to require said company to alter and change said bridgesStructural changes, etc. at its own expense, in such manner as may be proper to secure free and complete navigation without impediment; and if upon reasonable notice to said company, its successors or assigns, to make such change or alteration, the said company fails to do so, the Secretary of War shall have authority to make the same, at the expense of the owner or owners of said bridges; and in case of any litigation arisingLitigation. from any obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said rivers, caused or alleged to be caused by said bridges, the case may be brought in the district court of the United States in and for the district in whose jurisdiction any portion of said obstruction or bridge may be: *Provided, also*, That nothing in this act shall be*Proviso*.Existing law. so construed as to repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing in reference to the protection of the navigation of rivers or to exempt these bridges from the operations of the same.
Sec. 3. That any bridges built under this act and subject to itsLawful structures and post-routes. limitations shall be lawful structures, and shall be recognized and known as post-routes, 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 passengers or freight than the rate per mile for the transportation over the railroads or public highways leading to said bridges, and they shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads of the United States.
And equal privilegesUse by telegraph, etc., companies. 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-telegraphPostal telegraph. purposes. Sec. 4. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is herebyAmendment, etc. expressly reserved, and the right to require any changes in said structures or their removal, at the expense of the owners thereof,Removal, etc. whenever the Secretary of War shall decide that the public interest requires it, is also expressly reserved. 476 FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Chs. 923, 924. 1890. Sec. 5. That this act shall be null and void if actual constructionCommencement and completion. of the bridges herein authorized be not commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date of the approval of this act. Sec. 6. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridgesUse by other Railroad companies. shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railroad trains or cars over the same, and over the Terms.approaches to the same, upon the payment of a reasonable compensation for such use, and in case the owner or owners of said bridges and the several railroad companies, or any one of them, desiring such use shall fail to agree upon the sum or sums to be paid, and upon the rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said Secretary of War to decide disagreements.bridges, all matters at issue between them shall be decided by the Secretary of War upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Approved, September 25, 1890. Chapter 924: to authorize the Chicago, Henderson, Bowling Green and Chattanooga Railway Company to construct a bridge over Green and Barren Rivers, in the State of Kentucky. Chapter 924 26 Stat. 476 1890-09-25 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2026-02-21 51 1 public
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