Chapter 1504. To authorize the Missouri Central Railroad Company to construct and maintain a bridge across the Missouri River, near the city of Saint Charles, in the State of Missouri
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CHAP. 1504.— An Act To authorize the Missouri Central Railroad Company to construct and maintain a bridge across the Missouri River, near the city of Saint Charles, in the State of Missouri. March 3, 1905. [[H. R. 19097](/us/bill/58/hr/19097).] [[Public, No. 237](/us/pl/58/237).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Missouri River.Missouri Central Railroad Company may bridge, near Saint Charles, Mo. That the Missouri Central Railroad Company, a corporation of the State of Missouri, is hereby authorized to construct, maintain, and operate a railroad bridge, with a single or double track for railroad traffic, across the Missouri River connecting the counties of Saint Charles and Saint Louis, in the State of Missouri, at the section from a point about three and a half miles south of west of the city of Saint Charles, in the county of Saint Charles, to a point due south in Saint Louis County in said State.
The 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. Sec. 2. Secretary of War to approve plans, etc. That the bridge, authorized to be constructed under this Act shall be located and built under and subject to such regulations for the security of navigation of said river as the Secretary of War shall pre scribe, 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, giving for the space of one mile above and below the proposed location the depth and cur-rents at all points of the same and the location of any other bridge or bridges, together with all other information touching said bridge and river as may be deemed requisite by the Secretary of War to deter-mine whether said bridge when built will conform to the provisions of this Act and cause any serious obstruction to the navigation of the river or injuriously affect the flow of water.
Sec. 3. Construction. That the Secretary of War is hereby authorized and directed, upon receiving said plan and map, and upon being satisfied that a bridge built on such a 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 War shall approve the plan and location of the said bridge, and notify the said company of the same in writing, the Changes.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 such change shall be subject likewise to the approval of the Secretary of War. Sec. 4. Railway, wagon and foot bridge. That said bridge shall be constructed to provide for the passage of railroad trains, whether the same be operated by steam, electricity, or otherwise, and at the option of the corporation by which it may be built may be used for the passage of wagons, passenger cars, electric motors, and vehicles of all kinds, for the transit of animals and for foot passengers and all kinds of common travel or communication for such reasonable rates of toll as may be approved from time to time by the Secretary of War.
Sec. 5. Lawful structure and post route. That the bridge shall be a lawful structure, and shall be known and recognized as a post route, and shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post-roads of the United States, and no charge shall be made for the transmission over the same of the mails, troops, and Telegraph, etc., rights.munitions of war of the, United States. Equal privileges in 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 Changes.and its approaches for postal, telegraph, and telephone purposes; and any changes in the said bridge which the Secretary of War may require 1273in the interest of navigation shall be made by the person or corporation owning or operating the same at, their own expense.
Sec. 6. That the said bridge herein authorized to be constructedAids to navigation. shall be kept and managed at all times to afford proper means and ways for the passage of vessels, barges, or rafts, both by day and by night, and there, shall be displayed on said bridge, by the ownersLights, etc. thereof, from sunset to sunrise, such lights or other signals as the Light-House Board may prescribe, and such 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 the said company, in order the more effectually to preserve the free navigation of said river.
Sec. 7. That this Act shall be null and void unless the bridge hereinTime of construction. authorized be commenced within one year and completed within three years from the date hereof. Sec. 8. That Congress shall have power at any time to alter, amend,Amendment. or repeal this Act. Approved, March 3, 1905.