ACT

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BRIDGEACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House oe Repbesentatiyes of theUnited States of Amebica in Congbess Assembled, That the Tennessee andArkansas Bridge Company, a corporation organized and created under and byvirtue of the laws of the State of Arkansas, and the Tennessee Constructionand Contracting Company, a corporation organized and created under and byvirtue of the laws of Tennessee, be, and the same are hereby, jointly authorized «'and empowered to erect, construct, and maintain a bridge over the MississippiRiver from or near Memphis, in the State of Tennessee, to or near the townof Hopefield, in the State of Arkansas. Said bridge shall be constructed toprovide for the passage of railway trains, and, at the option of the corporationsby which it may be built, may be used for the passage of wagons and vehiclesof all kinds, for the transit of animals, and for foot passengers, for such rea-sonable rates of toll as may be approved from time to time by the Secretaryof War.

Sec. 2. That any bridge built under this act and subject to its limitationsshall 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 transmission over thesame of the mails, the troops, and the munitions of war of the United States,or for passengers or freight passing over said bridge, than the rate per milepaid for the transportation over the railroad or public highways leading to thesaid bridge ; and it shall enjoy the rights and privileges of other post roads inthe United States.

Sec. 3. That said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuousspans; two spans thereof shall not be less than five hundred and fifty feet inlength in the clear, and no span shall be less than three hundred feet in theclear. The lowest part of the superstructure of said bridge shall be at leastsixty-five feet above extreme high-water mark, as understood at the point oflocation, and the bridge shall be at right angles to and its piers parallel with

.appendix B.

OF CONGRESS APPROVED FEBRUARY 26, 1885.

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the current of the river. No bridge shall be erected or maintained under theauthority of this act which shall at any time substantially or materiallyobstruct the free navigation of said river; and if any bridge erected under suchauthority shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of War, obstruct such naviga-tion, he is hereby authorized to cause such change or alteration of said bridgeto be made as will effectually obviate such obstruction; and all such altera-tions shall be made and all such obstructions be removed at the expense of theowner or owners of said bridge. And in case of any litigation arising from anyobstruction or alleged-obstruction to the free navigation of said river, causedor alleged to be caused by said bridge, the case may be brought in the circuitcourt of the United States in‘which any portion of said obstruction or bridgemay be located. Provided further, That nothing in this act shall be so con-strued as to repeal or modify any of the provisions of law now existing inreference to the protection of the navigation of rivers, or to exempt this bridgefrom the operation of the same. A

Sec. 4. That all railroad companies desiring the use of said bridge shallhave and be entitled to equal rights and privileges relative to the passage ofrailway trains or cars over the same, and over the approaches thereto, uponpayment of a reasonable compensation for such use; and in case the owneror owners of said bridge and the several railroad companies, or any one ofthem, 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 saidbridge, all matters at issue between them shall be decided by the Secretary ofWar, upon a hearing of the allegations and proofs of the parties. Provided,That the provisions of section two in regard to charges f6r passengers andfreight across said bridge shall not govern the Secretary of War in determiningany question arising as to the sum or sums to be paid to the owners of said.bridge by said railroad companies for the use of said bridge.

Sec. 5. That any bridge authorized to be constructed under this act shallbe built and located under and subject to such regulations for the security ofnavigation of said river as the Secretary of War shaH"prescribe; and to secure

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that object the said companies or corporations shall submit to the Secretaryof War, for his examination and approval, a design and drawings of thebridge and a map of the location, giving, for the space of two miles above andtwo miles below the proposed location, the topography of the banks of theriver, the shore-line at extreme high and low-water, the direction and strengthof the currents at all stages, and the soundings, accurately showing the bed ofthe stream, the location of any other bridge or brigdes, and shall furnish suchother information' as may be required for a full and satisfactory understandingof the subject; and until the said, plan and location of the bridge are approved’ by the Secretary of War the bridge shall not be built; and should any changebe 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.

Sec. 6. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this act is hereby ex-’ pressly reserved ; and the right to require any changes in said structure, or itsentire removal, at the expense of the owners thereof, whenever Congress shalldecide that the public interests require it, is also expressly reserved.

Sec. 7. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, on satisfactoryproof that a necessity exists therefor, to require the companies or persons. owning said bridge to cause such aids to the passage of said bridge to be con-structed, placed, and maintained at their own cost and expense, in the formof booms, dikes, piers, or other suitable and proper structures for the guidingof rafts, steamboats, and other water-craft safely through the passage-way, asshall be specified in his order in that behalf ; and on failure of the company orpersons aforesaid to make and establish such additional structures within areasonable time, the said Secretary shall proceed to cause the same to be builtor made at the expense of the United States, and shall refer the matter withoutdelay to the Attorney-General of the United States, whose duty it shall be toinstitute, in the name of the United States, proceedings in any circuit court ofthe United States in which such bridge or any part thereof is located for therecovery of the costs thereof ; and all moneys accruing from such proceedingssh^ll be coyered into the Treasury of the United States.

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