Chapter 265.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-27/chapter-265-1139448·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 265.— An act to authorize the construction of a bridge across the Savannah River.July 27, 1892. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Middle Georgia and Atlantic Railway Company may bridge Savannah River to Hutchinson Island, Georgia. That the assent of the United States of America is hereby given to the Middle Georgia 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 over the Savannah River from the main land to Hutchinson Island, in the county of Chatham.
Sec. 2. That the bridge shall be so constructed, by draw-span orConstruction. otherwise, that a free and unobstructed passage may be secured to all Secretary of War to approve plans, etc.vessels and other water craft navigating said river. That any bridge constructed under this 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 shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, the design and drawings of the bridge, 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, the topography of the banks of the river, the shore lines at high water and at low water, and the direction and strength of the currents at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the stream, and the location of other bridge or bridges, wharves, landings, or ferries, and shall furnish such other information as shall be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject; and until said plan and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be commenced or built, and after such approval by the Secretary of War the approved plans and designs for the bridge shall not be deviated from or added to either during the construction or after the completion of the bridge until the proposed change shall have been submitted to the Secretary of War and received his approval; and the said bridge shall be at all times so kept and managed as to offer reasonable and proper means for the passage of vessels through or Opening draw.under said bridge, and if said bridge be built with a draw said draw shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats or other craft, and the said company or corporation shall maintain, Lights, etc.at its own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as the Light-House Board shall prescribe; and if at any Unobstructed navigation.time, the navigation of said river shall in any manner be obstructed or impaired by the bridge authorized by this act to be constructed, the Secretary of War shall have authority, and it shall be his duty, to re quire said company to alter and change said bridge, 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 improvements, the said company fails to do so, the Secretary of War shall have authority to make the same, and shall thereupon institute proceedings Litigation.in the circuit court of the United States in and for the district in which any part of said bridge may be located for the recovery of the cost *Proviso*.thereof: *Provided, also*, That nothing in this act shall be so construed Existing laws not affected.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 this bridge from the operations of the same.
Sec. 3. 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 munitions of war of the United States, or passengers or freight over said bridge than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroads or public highways leading to said bridge, and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post roads of the United States.
And equal 275 privileges in the use of said bridge shall be granted to all telegraph and telephone companies, and the United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches for said postal-telegraphPostal telegraph. purposes. Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridgeUse by other companies. and its approaches shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of trains over the same upon payment of a reasonable compensation for such use; and in case the owner or ownersTerms. of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any of them, desiring such use shall fail to agree upon the sum or sums to be paid or upon rules and conditions to which each shall conform in using said bridge and approaches, 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. 5. 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 removal, at the expense of the owners thereof, whenever the Secretary of War shall decide that the public interest requires it, is also expressly reserved. Sec. 6. That this act shall be null and void if actual construction ofCommencement and completion. the bridge herein authorized be not commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date hereof.
Approved, July 27, 1892.