Chapter 60. To authorize the West Braddock Bridge Company to construct a bridge over the Monongahela River from the borough of Rankin to Mifflin Township
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CHAP. 60.— An Act To authorize the West Braddock Bridge Company to construct a bridge over the Monongahela River from the borough of Rankin to Mifflin Township.April 21, 1894. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,West Braddock Bridge Company may bridge Monongahela River, Allegheny County, Pa. That it shall be lawful for the West Braddock Bridge Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to construct and maintain a bridge and. approaches thereto over the Monongahela River from a point in the borough of Rankin, in the county of Allegheny, to a point in Mifflin Township, in the county of Allegheny.
Sec. 2. That said bridge may be constructed to provide for the passageRailway, wagon, and foot bridge. of railway trains, street cars, wagons, and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals, foot passengers, and all kinds of commerce, travel, or communication, and said corporation may charge and receive reasonable tolls therefor, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War. Sec. 3. That any bridge built under this Act and subject to its limitations,Lawful structure and post route. shall be a lawful structure, and shall be recognized and known as a post-route, and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads in the United States: *Provided*, That the United States may*Proviso*.Postal telegraph.Secretary of War to approve plans, etc. construct a postal telegraph over said bridge without charge therefor.
Sec. 4. That said bridge 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 this end the said corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War for his examination and approval the plans and drawings of said bridge, and a map of the proposed location, giving, for the space of one mile each way, the topography of the banks of the river and the shore lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the current at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed of the stream, the location of any other 58 bridge or bridges in the vicinity, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject, and until the plan and location of said bridge have been approved by the Secretary of War, the bridge shall not be commenced *Proviso*.Channel span.or built: *Provided*, That the channel span of said bridge shall be in length not less than four hundred feet in the clear.
Sec. 5. That all railroad companies desiring the use of any bridgeUse by railroad companies. constructed under this Act shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains or ears over the same and the approaches thereto, upon payment of reasonable Compensationcompensation for such use; and in case the owner or owners 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 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 proof of the parties.
Sec. 6. That said bridge herein authorized to be constructed shallUnobstructed navigation. be so kept and managed at all times as to afford proper means and ways for the passage of vessels, barges, or rafts both by day and by night, and there shall be displayed on said bridge by the owners thereof, Lights, etc.Changes.from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals as the Light-House Board may prescribe; and such changes shall be made from time to time in the structure of said bridge as Congress may direct, at the expense of said bridge company, in order the more effectually to preserve the free navigation of said river.
Sec. 7. 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, or the corporation of persons controlling the same, whenever public interests require it, is also reserved. Sec. 8. 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 of the approval of this Act.
Approved, April 21, 1894.