Chapter 145. To authorize the Saint Clair Terminal Railroad Company to construct and maintain a bridge across the Monongahela River
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CHAP. 145.— An Act To authorize the Saint Clair Terminal Railroad Company to construct and maintain a bridge across the Monongahela River. March 10, 1902.[[Public, No. 33](/us/pl/57/33).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That the Saint Clair Terminal Monongahela River. Saint Clair Terminal Railroad Company may bridge, at Clairton Station, Pa.Railroad Company, a corporation existing under the Jaws of the State of Pennsylvania, is hereby authorized to construct, maintain, and operate a railroad bridge, with one or more tracks, for railroad traffic across the Monongahela River from a point on the hinds of the Saint Chair Steel Company, located at Clairton Station, on the Pitts-burg, Virginia and Charleston Railroad on the west, bank of the Monongahela River, to a point opposite thereto on the east bank of said river between Bellbridge Station and Patterson Station, on the Use for railway, etc.Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railroad.
The said bridge, when built in accordance with the requirements of this Act, shall be a legal structure and may be used for railroad and highway purposes. 59 Sec. 2. That the bridge authorized to be constructed under this Act Secretary of War to approve plans, etc.shall be located and built under and subject to such requirements for the security of navigation of said river as the Secretary of War shall prescribe; and to secure that object the railroad company shall submit to the Secretary of War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawing of the bridge and a map of the location of said bridge, and such data for any distance above and below said location as to the depth, width, and currents of the river the topography of the banks, location of other bridges, and any other information he may desire as to any matter, so as to determine whether said bridge when built will cause no serious obstruction to navigation of the river or injuriously affect the flow of water.
Sec. 3. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed, Obstruction to navigation.upon receiving said plan and map and upon being satisfied that a bridge built on such plan and at said locality will conform to the provisions of this Act and cause no serious obstruction to the navigation of the river or injuriously affect the flow of water, to notify the, said company that he approves the same, and upon receiving such notification the said company may proceed to the erection of said bridge, conforming strictly to the approved plan and location; but until the Secretary of Changes.War shall approve the plan and location of the said bridge and notify the said company of the same in writing the bridge shall not be built or commenced, and should any change be made in the plan of the bridge during the progress of the work thereon or after its completion such change shall lie subject likewise to the approval of the Secretary of War.
Sec. 4. That said bridge, at the option of the railroad company, may Railway, wagon and foot bridge.be constructed so that the same can be used for the passage of wagons and vehicles of all kinds and for the transit of animals and for foot passengers over the same, and may be also used for that purpose in addition to railroad purposes; and the company maintaining the same Toll.shall have the right to charge such reasonable rates of toll as bridge companies are authorized to collect under the laws of Pennsylvania: *Provided,* That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridge *Proviso.* Use by other railways.
Compensation.shall have and be entitled to equal lights and privileges relative to the passage of railway trains over the same, and over approaches thereto, upon payment of a reasonable compensation for such use; and in case Disagreement. Determination by Secretary of War.the owner or owners of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any 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 lie decided by the Secretary of War upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties.
Sec. 5. That any bridge constructed under this Act shall be a legal lawful structure and post route.structure, and shall be known as a post road, over which no higher charge shall be made for the transportation of mails, troops, and munitions of war, or other property of the United States over the same than the rate per mile charged for their transportation over the railways of and public highways leading to said bridge. The United Postal telegraph, etc.States shall also have the right of way over said bridge for postal telegraph or telephone purposes, and equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall be granted to all telegraph and telephone companies.
Sec. 6. That the said bridge shall be so kept and managed at all Unobstructed navigation.times as not to interfere with the passage of vessels, barges, or rafts, both by day and by night; and there shall be displayed on said bridge Lights.by the owners thereof, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals as the Light-1 louse Board may prescribe; and such changes Changes.shall be made from time, to time in the structure of said bridge as the Secretary of War may direct, at the expense of said railroad company, in order the more effectually to preserve the free navigation or said 60river, or the said structure shall be altogether removed if in the judgment of the Secretary of War the public good may require such removal, and without expense or charge to the United States.
Time of construction. Sec. 7. That, this Act shall be null and void if actual construction of said bridge be not commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date of the approval of this Act. Amendment. Sec. 8. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved. Approved, March 10, 1902.