Chapter 30. To authorize the Natchitoches Railway and Construction Company to build and maintain a railway and traffic bridge across Red River at Grand Ecore, in the parish of Natchitoches, State of Louisiana
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CHAP. 30.— An Act To authorize the Natchitoches Railway and Construction Company to build and maintain a railway and traffic bridge across Red River at Grand Ecore, in the parish of Natchitoches, State of Louisiana. March 1, 1900. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That the Natchitoches Railway Natchitoches Railway, etc., Company may bridge Red River at Grand Ecore, La. and Construction Company, a corporation duly incorporated and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Louisiana, be, and is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain, by itself or through, its assignees, a railway and traffic bridge across Red River at a point suitable to the interest of navigation, at Grand Ecore, parish of Natchitoches, State of Louisiana.
Said bridge shall be constructed Transit, toll, etc. to provide for passage of railway trains, and for all legitimate traffic of foot, horse, vehicle, animal, and all other legitimate purposes, and for transmission of the mails, at such legal rates of toll as may be fixed by said railway company or its transferees and approved by the Secretary of War, except to the people of the parish of Natchitoches, to whom the use of said bridge shall at all times and under all circumstances be free.
Sec. 2. That said bridge, built under this Act and subject to its To be lawful structure and post route. limitations, 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 than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroad or public highways leading to the said bridge, and 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 Telegraph, etc., companies. the United States shall have the right of way across said bridge and its approaches for postal telegraph purposes: *Provided*, That the *Proviso*.
Aids to navigation. bridge herein authorized to be constructed shall be so kept and managed by the company owning or operating it as to afford proper ways and means for the passage through or under it of vessels, barges, or rafts at all times, both by day and by night. And if said bridge be Draw. constructed as a drawbridge, the draw shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signal for the passage of boats; and upon whatever kind Lights. of bridge is built there shall be displayed, from sunset to sunrise, at the expense of said company, such lights and signals as the Light-House Board shall prescribe.
Sec. 3. That if said bridge, erected and maintained under the Obstructions to navigation. authority of this Act, shall at any time substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said river, or shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized —alterations. to cause such change or alteration of said bridge to be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and such alteration shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of the owner or operators of said bridge; and in case of any litigation arising from —litigation. the obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said river, the case may be brought in the district court of the United States for the western district of Louisiana: *Provided*, That nothing *Proviso*.
Existing law unaffected. in this Act shall be so construed 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 said bridge from the operation of same. Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring to use the said bridge Right of railroads to use. shall have and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the 38 passage of railway trains over the same and the approaches thereto upon the payment of a reasonable compensation for such use, which compensation may be different in case of different railways.
In case of disagreement as to compensation for the use of said bridge, the difference shall be determined by the Secretary of War upon hearing the allegations and proof of the parties in interest. Sec. 5. Secretary of War to approve plans, etc. That the bridge authorized to be 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 or corporation shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawings of said bridge, and a map of the location, prepared with reference to known datum plane upon prescribed scale, furnished by the engineer officer having supervision of said river, and giving, for the space of two miles above and two miles below the proposed location of the bridge, the topography of the banks of the river, with shore lines at high and low water, the direction and strength of the currents at all stages, and the soundings accurately showing the bed of the stream, the location of any other bridge or bridges, and shall furnish such other information as may be required for a full and satisfactory understanding of the subject.
And until the said plans and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of —changes. War the bridge shall not be built; and should any change be made in the plan of the said bridge during the process of construction such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, and said structure shall be changed at the costs and expense of the owners thereof from time to time, as the Secretary of War may direct, so as to preserve the free and convenient navigation of said river.
Sec. 6. Commencement and completion. That this Act shall be null and void if actual construction of the bridge herein authorized be not commenced within one year, and completed within three years from the date hereof. Sec. 7. Amendment. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, March 1, 1900.