Chapter 362. To authorize the construction of a bridge across Rock River, Illinois
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CHAP. 362.— An Act To authorize the construction of a bridge across Rock River, Illinois. February 12, 1901. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Moline and Peoria Railway may bridge Rock River, Ill. That the Moline and Peoria Railway Company, a corporation duly incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois, its successors and assigns, be, and is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain, at a point suitable to the interests of navigation, a bridge for the passage of railroad traffic across Rock River, in section seventeen, township seventeen, range one,—location. from Rock Island County to the opposite shore of said river, in Henry County, in the State of Illinois.
That said bridge shall be built across said river, following the course of the main channel; that the locationSecretary of War to approve plans. and plan or manner of constructing said bridge shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, and until decided by him to be such as will not materially affect the interests of navigation, said bridge shall not be built. And there shall be submitted to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawing of the proposed bridge, and a map of the location, giving the topography of the banks of the river, the shore line 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, and all other information required; and should any change be made in the plan of said bridge during the progress of construction such change shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of War.
And theAids to navigation. said structure shall at all time be so kept and managed, and be provided with such guard fences, sheer booms, and other structures as to offer reasonable and proper means for the passage of vessels and other floating crafts through or under said structure; and for the safety ofLights. vessels passing at night there shall be displayed on said bridge, from the hours of sunset to sunrise, such lights as may be prescribed by the Light-House Board; and the said structure shall be changed at theChanges. cost and the expense of the owners thereof, from time to time, as the Secretary of M ar may direct, so as to preserve the free and convenient navigation of said river. 787 Sec. 2.
That said bridge shall be constructed with unbroken andSpans, etc. continuous spans, and the main span shall be over the main navigable channel of the river, and shall give a clear width of waterway not less than one hundred and sixty-five feet, and shall give dear headroom the full length of said span of not less in any case than thirty-six feet above extreme high-water mark, as understood at the point of location. The remaining spans shall each give a clean width of waterway not less than one hundred and twenty-five feet, and a clear headroom not less in any case than seven feet between extreme high-water mark and the lower chords of the superstructure.
Said bridge shall be constructed at right angles to and its piers parallel with the current of the liver. Sec. 3. That this Act shall be null and void if actual construction ofCommencement and completion. the bridge herein authorized be not commenced within twelve months and completed within three years from the date of the passage hereof. Sec. 4. That the bridge built under this Act. and subject to itsLawful structure and post route. limitations, shall be a lawful structure, and shall be known and recognized as a post route, upon which also no higher charge shall be made for the transportation over the same of the mails, the troops, and the munitions of war of the United States than the rate per mile paid for transportation of said mails, troops, and munitions over the railroads and public highways leading to said bridge; and equal privileges inTelegraph, etc., lines. 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-telegraph purposes: *Provided*, That ail railroad companies desiring the use of the bridge*Proviso*.Right of railroads to use. authorized by this Act shall nave and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains or cars over the same and over the approaches thereto upon the payment of a reason-able compensation for such use; and in case the owner or owners of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any one 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 proofs of the parties; and equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall be granted to all telegraph and telephone companies.
Sec. 5. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyAmendment. expressly reserved. Approved, February 12, 1901.