Chapter 246. To authorize the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River at or near the city of Boonville, Missouri
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CHAP. 246.— An Act To authorize the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River at or near the city of Boonville, Missouri.May 25, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the Boonville and Howard Boonville and Howard County Bridge Company may bridge Missouri River, Boonville, Mo. County Bridge Company and its successors, assigns, grantees, mortgages, and successors in interest be, and are hereby, authorized to construct and maintain a bridge and approaches thereto across the Missouri River at or near the city of Boonville, Missouri, between the counties of Cooper and Howard, at a point at least one-third of a mile from any other bridge, to be selected consistent with the interests of river navigation.
Said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the Wagon, etc., bridge. passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds, street railway cars, motor cars, animals, foot passengers, and for all road travel, for such reasonable rates of toll and under such reasonable rules and regulations as Toll. may be prescribed by the said parties or their successors and assigns, and to be approved from time to time by the Secretary of War. Sec. 2. That the said bridge shall not be commenced or built until Secretary of War to approve plans, etc. the plans and specifications for its construction have been submitted to the Secretary of War for his approval, nor until he shall approve the plan and location of said bridge; and if any change be made in the plan or construction of said bridge at any time, such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War; and any change in Changes. the construction or any alteration of said bridge that may be directed at any time by Congress or the Secretary of War shall be made at the cost and expense of the owners thereof; that the said bridge shall be constructed without interference with the security and convenience of 139FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 246. 1896. navigation of said river beyond what is necessary to carry out effectually the rights and privileges hereby granted, and in order to secure that object, the said parties shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design of and drawings for said bridge and accessory works and a map of the proposed location, giving for the space of one mile above and one mile below such proposed location the topography of the banks of the river, with shore lines and soundings and direction of currents at medium high water, and such other information as may be required for a full understanding of the subject; and until the said plan and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of War, the construction of said bridge shall not be commenced.
Sec. 3. That said bridge may be built either as a high bridge, with Construction. unbroken and continuous spans, or as a low bridge containing a sufficient pivot drawspan. If built as a high bridge, the spans thereof shall High bridge. not be less than four hundred feet in the clear over the main channel of the river, and the lowest part of the superstructure of said bridge shall be not least fifty-five feet in the clear above the established light-water grade line, and the bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel with the current of the river; and if built as a low bridge Drawbridge. with pivot drawspan, it shall have one drawspan, affording two clear openings of not less than two hundred feet each, which drawspan shall be maintained over the main channel of the river at an accessible and navigable point, and with a fixed span or spans not less than three hundred feet in length in the clear, and the headroom under each span shall not be less than ten feet above the standard high-water grade line, 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,* That *Provisos.* Opening draw. said drawspan shall be opened promptly by said parties or their successors Aids to navigation. and assigns, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of boats and rafts: *And provided further,* That the said parties or their successors and assigns shall, at their own expense, build and maintain, under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of War, when so required, such wing dams, booms, and other necessary work to maintain the channel within the drawspan of said bridge, and shall, at their own expense, maintain a depth of water through said drawspan not less than now existing, as shown by the records of the War Department, at the point where said bridge may be located: *And provided further,* That said parties or their successors and assigns shall maintain at their Lights, etc. own expense, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals on such bridge as the Light-House Board shall prescribe.
Sec. 4. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed, Notification of approval. upon receiving such plan and other information, and upon being satisfied that a bridge so built will conform to the requirements of this Act, to notify the said parties authorized to build the same that he approves of the same; and upon receiving such notification the said parties may proceed to erect said bridge, conforming strictly to the approved plan and location, and should any change be made in the plan of the bridge or accessory works, during the progress of the work thereon, such change shall be subject likewise to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 5. 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, 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 the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the public highways leading to the said bridge, and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post roads in the United States; and equal 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 postal Postal telegraph. telegraph purposes.
Sec. 6. That all street railroad companies desiring the use of said Use by street railroad companies. bridge shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges 140FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 246, 252. 1896. relative to the passage of street railroad trains or cars over the same, and over the approaches thereto, upon the payment of a reasonable compensation Compensation. for such use; and in case the owner or owners of said bridge and the several railway companies, or any one of them, desiring such use 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 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: *Provided,* That nothing in this Act in regard to charges for passengers *Proviso.* Charges. and freight across said bridge shall govern the Secretary of War in determining any question arising as to the sum or sums to be paid to the owners of said bridge by said companies for the use of said bridge.
Sec. 7. That Congress shall have the power at any time to alter, Amendment, etc. amend, or repeal this Act, and the Secretary of War, whenever he shall deem it necessary, may cause the owners of said bridge to remove all material and substantial obstructions to the navigation of said river by the construction of said bridge and its accessory works, or to prevent such obstruction; and the expense of altering said bridge or removing such obstruction shall be at the expense of the owners of the bridge.
Sec. 8. That this Act shall be null and void if construction of said Commencement and completion. bridge shall not be commenced within two years and finished within five years from its passage. Received by the President, May 13, 1896. [Note by the Department of State.—The foregoing act having been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.]