Chapter 678. Authorizing Calhoun County, State of Texas, to construct and maintain a free bridge across Lavaca Bay
762 words·~3 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-31/chapter-678-3737949·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 678.— An Act Authorizing Calhoun County, State of Texas, to construct and maintain a free bridge across Lavaca Bay. March 1, 1901. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Calhoun County, Tex., may bridge Lavaca Bay. That the county of Calhoun, State of Texas, be, and is hereby, authorized to construct and maintain —location.a free bridge across Lavaca Bay, in said State and county, at a point between Nobles Point on one side of said bay and Coxs Point on the other, for the passage of all legitimate traffic of foot, horse, vehicle, animal, and all other legitimate purposes, and for transmission of mails free of all rates of toll whatsoever.
Sec. 2. Aids to navigation. That the bridge herein authorized to be constructed shall be so kept and managed by said county 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 night, and if the bridge be constructed as 877a drawbridge the draw shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signalLights. for the passage of boats as the Light-House Board may prescribe. Sec. 3. That if said bridge erected and maintained under the authorityUnobstructed navigation.*Proviso*. of this Act shall at any time substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said bay, or shall in the opinion of the Secretary of War obstruct such navigation, he is hereby authorized 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 obstruction be removed at the expense of said county, and in case of any litigation arising from obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said bay the case may be brought in the district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof: *Provided*, That nothingExisting law unimpaired. in this Act 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 and bays or to exempt said bridge from the operation of the same.
Sec. 4. That the bridge authorized to be constructed under this ActSecretary of War to approve plans. shall be built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of said bay as the Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the said county 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 bay, 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 bay, 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 under-standing of the subject.
And until the said plans and location of the bridge are approved by the Secretary of 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. Sec. 5. That the bridge constructed, maintained, and operated underLawful structure and post route. this Act and according to its 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 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 the United States shall have the right of way for postal, telegraph, and telephone purposes over said bridge.
Sec. 6. 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 hereof. Sec. 7. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is herebyAmendment. expressly reserved. Approved, March 1, 1901.