Chapter 504. Authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River at or near Parkville, Missouri
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CHAP. 504.— An Act Authorizing the construction of a bridge across the Missouri River at or near Parkville, Missouri. April 15, 1902. [[Public, No. 71](/us/pl/57/71).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* Missouri River. Kansas City, Northeastern and Gulf Railway Company may bridge, at Parkville, Mo. That the Kansas City, North-eastern and Gulf Railway Company, a corporation duly incorporated under the laws of the State of Kansas, be, and the same is hereby, authorized and empowered to erect, construct, build, and maintain a bridge over and across the Missouri River, for the passage and crossing of railroad cars and engines, electric cars, and such other material and things as may be used in the management, control, construction, or operation of a railroad, or railroads, hereby giving and granting unto said railway company, and to its grantees and assigns, the power and authority to erect, establish, construct, and maintain in connectionRail way, wagon, and foot bridge. with such railway bridge a wagon bridge and foot-passenger bridge, or either or both of them.
Sec. 2. That said bridge shall be constructed over said river at orLocation. within one mile of the city of Parkville, in Platte County, Missouri, on the left hank of the said river, and at or within one mile of the halfsection line dividing section thirteen of township ten south, of range twenty-four east, of the sixth principal meridian, in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Sec. 3. That any bridge built under this Act and subject to its limitationsLawful structure and post route. 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 munitions of war of the United States than the rate per mile paid for the transportation over the railroads or public highways leading to the said bridge, and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post roads of the United States.
Sec. 4. That the rights, privileges, and authority granted to saidRights, etc., extend to successors, etc. railway company by this Act shall extend to and be enjoyed bv the successors, grantees, and assigns of said railway company, and the obligations and duties by this Act made incumbent upon said railway company shall be assumed in all respects by any such grantee, assignee, or successor of said railway company. The said railway company shall have the right, privilege, and authority to build, establish, erect, and maintain all necessary approaches to said bridge upon either bank of said river, and when said bridge is constructed all other railroad companiesUse by other companies. or transportation companies which may desire to use said bridge m the conduct of their business, and which may approach said bridge from either side of said river, shall have the right to do so, and shallCompensation. pay to said railway company, its successors or assigns, a reasonable compensation for the use of the same, to be fixed by the Secretary of War if the parties to such transactions can not agree.
The owners ofTolls. said bridge, if they shall erect, establish, and maintain in connection103 therewith a wagon and foot-passenger bridge, may charge and receive reasonable compensation or tolls, to be approved by the Secretary of War, for the transit over said bridge of all wagons, carriages, vehicles, animals, and foot passengers: *Provided,* That said railway company,*Proviso*.Free bridge. its successors or assigns, may, at its option, operate said bridge with-out charge, compensation, or tolls to wagons, carriages, vehicles, animals, and foot passengers.
Sec. 5. That any bridge built under the provisions of this Act may,Construction at the option of said railway company, its successors or assigns, be built as a drawbridge or with unbroken and continuous spans: *Provided,**Provisos*.High bridge. That if the same shall be made of unbroken and continuous spans it shall not be in any case of less elevation than fifty feet above high-water mark, as registered since the year eighteen hundred and seventy, as understood at the point of location, to the lowest point of the superstructure, with straight girders; nor shall the main channel span of said bridge be less than four hundred feet in the clear at low-water mark, and all other’ spans over the waterway shall be not less than three hundred feet in the clear; and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the liver, and the bridge itself at right angles thereto as near as may be. and the main span shall be over the main channel of the river: *And provided also, *That if a bridge shallDrawbridge. be built under this Act as a drawbridge, the same shall be constructed as a pivot drawbridge with one or more draws, as the Secretary of War may prescribe, and with spans of such clear length on each side of the central or pivot piers of the draws as he may prescribe: and the next adjoining spans over the river to the draws shall also be of such clear length as he may prescribe; and said spans shall not be less than ten feet above extreme nigh-water mark, as registered since the year eighteen hundred and seventy, measuring to the lowest part of the superstructure of the bridge; and the piers of the said bridge shall be parallel with the current, of the river, and the bridge itself at right angles thereto as near as may be; *And provided also,* That said drawbridgeOpening draw. shall be opened promptly upon reasonable signal and without unnecessary delay: *Provided,* That said company, its successors andLights, etc. assigns, shall maintain, at its own expense, from sunset, until sunrise, such lights or other signals on said bridge as the Light-House Board shall prescribe, and shall build and maintain such sheer booms or other structures as may be necessary to safely guide vessels, rafts, or other water craft through said channel spans, and as shall receive the approval of the Secretary of War: *And provided further,* That theAids to navigation. company, person, or corporation building said bridge may. subject to the approval of the Secretary of War, enter upon the banks of said river, either above or below the point of location of said bridge, and confine the flow of the water to a permanent channel, and to do What-ever may be necessary to accomplish said object, but shall not impede or obstruct the navigation or flood discharge of said river, and shallLiability for damages.Secretary of War to approve plans, etc. be liable for all injuries to or appropriation of private property: and all plans for such works or erections upon or within the banks of the river shall be submitted to the Secretary of War for his approval before any of such work shall have been commenced.
Sec. 6. That no bridge shall be erected or maintained under theUnobstructed navigation. authority of this Act which shall substantially or materially obstruct the free navigation of said river, and no bridge shall be commenced or built under this Act until the location thereof and the plans and specifications for its construction, with such maps as shall be necessary forMaps. a full understanding of the regimen of the river for a distance of one mile above and one-half mile below the proposed site of the bridge shall have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of War: andChanges. any change in the plan of such construction or any alteration in the bridge after its construction shall be subject to the like approval; and104 whenever said Bridge shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, substantially obstruct the free navigation of said river, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridge to be made as will obviate such obstruction, and all such alterations shall be made and all such obstructions shall be removed at the expense of the owner or owners of said bridge, or the persons operating or controlling the same, and in case of any litigation arising from any obstruction orLitigation. alleged obstruction to the free navigation of the Missouri River, at or near the crossing of said bridge, caused thereby, the cause shall be commenced and tried in the circuit court of the United States of either judicial district of the States of Kansas or Missouri in which said bridge or any portion of such obstruction touches.
Sec. 7. That the United States shall also have the right, withoutTelegraph, etc., rights. charge therefor, to construct telegraph or telephone lines across said bridge, and equal privileges in the use of said bridge shall be glinted to all telegraph and telephone companies; and Congress may, at anyAmendment. time, alter, amend, or repeal this Act. Sec. 8. That this Act shall be mill and void if actual construction ofTime of construction. the bridge herein authorized he not commenced within two years and completed within four years from the date of the approval of this Act.
Approved, April 15, 1902.