Chapter 106. authorizing Velasco and Surfside Terminal Railway Company to construct a bridge across the Galveston and Brazos Canal
837 words·~4 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-27/chapter-106-1858927·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 106.— An Act authorizing Velasco and Surfside Terminal Railway Company to construct a bridge across the Galveston and Brazos Canal.February 14, 1893. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Velasco and Surfside. Railway Company may bridge Galveston and Brazos Canal, Texas. That the Velasco and Surfside Railway Company, a corporation chartered under the laws of the State of Texas, is hereby authorized and empowered to erect, construct, maintain, and operate a bridge over and across the Galveston and Brazos Canal, in Brazoria County, Texas.
Said bridge shall be constructed Railway bridge.to provide for the passage of railway trains on and over a double or single track, as said Velasco and Surfside Railway Company may elect. Sec. 2. That said bridge shall be constructed with a draw or turn ofDraw. sufficient capacity to afford free passage to such vessels and boats as *Provisos*.Opening draw.navigate said channel: *Provided*, That said bridge shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats and other water craft, except when trains are passing over the draw or turn; but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in opening the draw or turn after the passage of trains or at any other time; and the said Velasco and Surfside Railway Company shall maintain at its own expense, from Lights, etc-sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as the United States Light-House Board shall prescribe.
And no bridge shall be erected and maintained under the authority of this act which shall Free navigation.at any time substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said canal; and if any bridge erected under such authority shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of such bridge to be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction, and all such alterations shall be made and such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owner of said bridge.
And in case of any obstruction, or alleged obstruction. to the navigation of said canal caused, or alleged to be caused, Litigation.by said bridge, the case may be brought in the circuit court of the United States in which any portion of said obstruction or bridge may Existing laws not affected.be located: *Provided further*, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing 447 in reference to the protection of navigation of rivers, or to exempt this bridge from the operations of the same.
That all railroad companiesUse by other companies. desiring the use of any bridge constructed under this act shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains or cars over the same and over the approaches thereto upon payment of a reasonable compensation for such use; and in caseCompensation. the owner or owners of said bridge 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 rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said bridge, 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.
Sec. 3. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this actSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. shall be located and built under and subject to such regulations for the security of said canal as the Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the said corporation shall, at least two months previous to the commencement of the construction of said bridge, submit, to the Secretary of War for his examination and approval a design and drawing of the bridge and a map of the location, giving such information as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of War to judge of the proper location of said bridge, and shall furnish such information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until such plan and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be built; and should any change beChanges. made in the plan of said bridge during the progress of construction, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
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 structure, or its entire removal, at the expense of the owners thereof, whenever Congress shall decide that the public interest requires it, is also expressly reserved. Sec. 5. That this act shall be null and void if actual construction of theCommencement and completion. bridge herein authorized be not commenced within one year and completed within three years from the passage of this act.
Approved, February 14, 1893.