Chapter 77. For the right of the Rock Island, Muscatine and Southwestern Railway Company to build a bridge across the Illinois and Mississippi canal
607 words·~3 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-29/chapter-77A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 77.— An Act For the right of the Rock Island, Muscatine and Southwestern Railway Company to build a bridge across the Illinois and Mississippi canal.March 28, 1896. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,*Rock Island, Muscatine and Southwestern Railway Company may bridge Illinois and Mississippi Canal. That the Rock Island, Muscatine and Southwestern Railway Company, organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, is hereby authorized to build a drawbridge for wagon and railroad purposes across the Illinois and Mississippi canal inLocation. sections numbered nine or ten, township seventeen, range two, west of the fourth principal meridian, situate in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, and about two thousand two hundred feet in an easterly direction from lock numbered thirty-seven.
Said bridge to be built*Provisos.* according to the requirements of the War Department: *Provided,*FIFTY-FOURTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 77, 78. 1896.79 That the said drawbridge shall span the entire canal, or at least spanDrawbridge. with one draw span the sixty-foot bottom width of the canal, and shall be built with suitable girders and retaining walls, similar to what have been built by the United States at the bridges at Milan, Illinois, and with the axis of the bridge perpendicular to the axis of the canal: *Provided also,* That the lowest member of the bridge shall be above theHeight. grade of the north embankment, and suitable provision be made for the towpath, and highway crossings along the crossing of the south embankment of the canal and the railroad tracks and embankment: *And provided further,* That the draw shall be opened promptly uponOpening draw. reasonable signal for the passing of boats; and the owners of the bridge shall maintain, at their own expense, from sunset till sunrise, such lightsLights, etc. or other signals on said bridge as the Light-House Board may prescribe.
Sec. 2. That no bridge shall be erected or maintained under theUnobstructed navigation. authority of this Act which shall at any time substantially or materially obstruct the navigation of said canal; and no bridge shall be commenced or built under this Act until the location thereof and the plans and specifications for its construction shall have been submitted to and approvedSecretary of War to approve plans, etc. by the Secretary of War; and any change in the plan of such construction or any alteration in the bridge after its construction shall be subject to the like approval; and whenever said bridge shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, substantially obstruct the free navigation of said canal, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alterationAlterations. of said bridge to be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and all such alterations shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owner or owners of said bridge, or the persons operating or controlling the same.
Sec. 3. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyAmendment, etc. expressly reserved. Sec. 4. 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 approval of this Act. Approved, March 28, 1896. Chapter 78: To authorize the construction of a bridge across the Tennessee River at Knoxville, Tennessee. 29 Stat. 79 1896-03-28 Chapter 78 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 2025-10-30 54 2 public
Connections1 cite this · traces to 1
Cited by 1 section
Traces to 1 document
Citation graph
cites case law
Chapter 77
For the right of the Rock Island, Muscatine and Southwestern Railway Company to build a bridge across the Illinois and Mississippi canal
Stat.×1
Cites 1Cited by 1 across 1 source