SUBCHAPTER II—ALTERATION OF BRIDGES
§511. Definitions
When used in this subchapter, unless the context indicates otherwise—
The term "alteration" includes changes of any kind, reconstruction, or removal in whole or in part.
The term "bridge" means a lawful bridge over navigable waters of the United States, including approaches, fenders, and appurtenances thereto, which is used and operated for the purpose of carrying railroad traffic, or both railroad and highway traffic, or if a State, county, municipality, or other political subdivision is the owner or joint owner thereof, which is used and operated for the purpose of carrying highway traffic.
The term "bridge owner" means any State, county, municipality, or other political subdivision, or any corporation, association, partnership, or individual owning, or jointly owning, any bridge, and, when any bridge shall be in the possession or under the control of any trustee, receiver, trustee in a case under title 11, or lessee, such terms shall include both the owner of the legal title and the person or the entity in possession or control of such bridge.
The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
The term "United States", when used in a geographical sense, includes the Territories and possessions of the United States.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §1,
Amendments
2016—
1983—
1978—
1952—Act of July 16, 1952, redefined "bridge" and "bridge owner".
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
Amendment by
Short Title
Transfer of Functions
Section 6(g)(3) of
§512. Obstruction of navigation
No bridge shall at any time unreasonably obstruct the free navigation of any navigable waters of the United States.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §2,
§513. Notice, hearings, and findings
Whenever any bridge shall, in the opinion of the Secretary, at any time unreasonably obstruct such navigation, it shall be the duty of the Secretary, after notice to interested parties, to hold a hearing at which the bridge owner, those interested in water navigation thereunder or therethrough, those interested in either railroad or highway traffic thereover, and any other party or parties in interest shall have full opportunity to offer evidence and be heard as to whether any alteration of such bridge is needed, and if so what alterations are needed, having due regard to the necessity of free and unobstructed water navigation and to the necessities of the rail or highway traffic. If, upon such hearing, the Secretary determines that any alterations of such bridge are necessary in order to render navigation through or under it reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed, having due regard also for the necessities of rail or highway traffic thereover, he shall so find and shall issue and cause to be served upon interested parties an order requiring such alterations of such bridge as he finds to be reasonably necessary for the purposes of navigation.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §3,
§514. Submission and approval of general plans and specifications
After the service of an order under this subchapter, it shall be the duty of the bridge owner to prepare and submit to the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, within a reasonable time as prescribed by the Secretary, general plans and specifications to provide for the alteration of such bridge in accordance with such order, and for such additional alteration of such bridge as the bridge owner may desire to meet the necessities of railroad or highway traffic, or both. The Secretary may approve or reject such general plans and specifications, in whole or in part, and may require the submission of new or additional plans and specifications, but when the Secretary shall have approved general plans and specifications, they shall be final and binding upon all parties unless changes therein be afterward approved by the Secretary and the bridge owner.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §4,
Amendments
2016—
1976—
§515. Contracts for project; guaranty of cost
After approval of such general plans and specifications by the Secretary, and after notification of such approval, the bridge owner shall, in such manner and within such times as the Secretary may prescribe, take bids for the alteration of such bridge in accordance with such general plans and specifications. All bids, including any bid for all or part of the project submitted by the bridge owner, shall be submitted to the Secretary, together with a recommendation by the bridge owner as to the most competent bid or bids, and at the same time the bridge owner shall submit to the Secretary a written guaranty that the total cost of the project, including the cost of such work as is to be performed by the bridge owner and not included in the work to be performed by contract, shall not exceed the sum stated in said guaranty. The Secretary may direct the bridge owner to reject all bids and to take new bids, or may authorize the bridge owner to proceed with the project, by contract, or partly by contract and partly by the bridge owner, or wholly by the bridge owner. Upon such authorization and fixing of the proportionate shares of the cost as provided in
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §5,
Amendments
1958—
§516. Apportionment of cost
At the time the Secretary shall authorize the bridge owner to proceed with the project, as provided in
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §6,
Amendments
1958—
1952—Act July 16, 1952, made railroads share equally with proprietors of highways in bearing cost of alterations necessary to remove obstacles to navigation.
§517. Payment of share of United States
Following service of the order requiring alteration of the bridge, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may make partial payments as the work progresses to the extent that funds have been appropriated. The total payments out of Federal funds shall not exceed the proportionate share of the United States of the total cost of the project paid or incurred by the bridge owner, and, if such total cost exceeds the cost guaranteed by the bridge owner, shall not exceed the proportionate share of the United States of such guaranteed cost, except that if the cost of the work exceeds the guaranteed cost by reason of emergencies, conditions beyond the control of the owner, or unforeseen or undetermined conditions, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may, after full review of all the circumstances, provide for additional payments by the United States to help defray such excess cost to the extent he deems to be reasonable and proper, and shall certify such additional payments to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment. All payments to any bridge owner herein provided for shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury through the Fiscal Service upon certifications of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §7,
Amendments
2016—
1983—
1970—
1958—
Transfer of Functions
Section 6(g)(3) of
"Fiscal Service" substituted in text for "Division of Disbursement" on authority of section 1(a)(1) of Reorg. Plan No. III of 1940, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2107,
§518. Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §8,
Alteration of Bridges
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation act:
§519. Noncompliance with orders; penalties; removal of bridge
Any bridge owner who shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order of the Secretary, made in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished in any court of competent jurisdiction by a fine not exceeding $5,000, and every month such bridge owner shall remain in default shall be deemed a new offense and subject such bridge owner to additional penalties therefor. In addition to the penalties above prescribed the Secretary may, upon the failure or refusal of any bridge owner to comply with any lawful order issued by the Secretary in regard thereto, cause the removal of any such bridge and accessory works at the expense of the bridge owner; and suit for such expense may be brought in the name of the United States against such bridge owner and recovery had for such expense in any court of competent jurisdiction. The removal of any bridge erected or maintained in violation of the provisions of this subchapter or the order or direction of the Secretary made in pursuance thereof, and compliance with any order of the Secretary made with respect to any bridge in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter, may be enforced by injunction, mandamus, or other summary process upon application to the district court of any district in which such bridge may, in whole or in part, exist, and proper proceedings to this end may be instituted under the direction of the Attorney General of the United States at the request of the Secretary.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §9,
§520. Review of findings and orders
Any order made or issued under
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §10,
Codification
"
Change of Name
Act June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949, substituted "court of appeals" for "circuit court of appeals".
§521. Regulations and orders
The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations, and to make and issue such orders, as may be necessary or appropriate for carrying out the provisions of this subchapter.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §11,
§522. Existing provisions of law
(a) Obstructing navigation; criminal penalties
The first sentence of
(b) Construction, reconstruction, or alteration of bridges not completed on July 1, 1939; apportionment of costs
Any bridge, the construction, reconstruction, or alteration of which was required by an order of the Secretary issued prior to July 1, 1939, and was not completed on such date, and in the case of which no penalties have accrued at the time of the enactment of this subchapter, shall be constructed, reconstructed, or altered as required by such order, and not in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter. In the case of any such bridge, however, the Secretary shall apportion the cost of the project between the bridge owner and the United States, and payment of the share of the United States shall be made, in the same manner as if the provisions of this subchapter applied to such construction, reconstruction, or alteration, subject to the following limitations:
(1) In case such construction, reconstruction, or alteration has not begun on or before April 1, 1940, such apportionment of cost shall be made only if (A) the construction, reconstruction, or alteration is carried out in accordance with plans and specifications, and pursuant to bids, approved by the Secretary, and (B) the bridge owner has submitted to the Secretary a written guaranty of cost as provided for in
(2) The Secretary's determination as to such apportionment, and as to such plans and specifications and bids, shall be final.
(3) Such apportionment shall not be made if such construction, reconstruction, or alteration is not completed within the time fixed in such order of the Secretary or within such additional time as the Secretary, for good cause shown, may allow.
(c) Construction, reconstruction, or alteration of bridges not begun on July 1, 1939
Any bridge (except a bridge to which subsection (b) applies) the construction, reconstruction, or alteration of which was required by an order of the Secretary issued prior to July 1, 1939, and was not begun before such date, shall be subject to the provisions of this subchapter as though such order had not been issued, and compliance with the provisions of this subchapter and with such orders as may be issued thereunder shall be considered to constitute compliance with such order issued prior to July 1, 1939, and with the provisions of law under which it was issued.
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §12,
§523. Relocation of bridges
If the owner of any bridge and the Secretary shall agree that in order to remove an obstruction to navigation, or for any other purpose, a relocation of such bridge or the construction of a new bridge upon a new location would be preferable to an alteration of the existing bridge, such relocation or new construction may be carried out at such new site and upon such terms as may be acceptable to the bridge owner and the Secretary, and the cost of such relocation or new construction, including also any expense of changes in and additions to rights-of-way, stations, tracks, spurs, sidings, switches, signals, and other railroad facilities and property, and relocation of shippers required for railroad connection with the bridge at the new site, shall be apportioned as between the bridge owner and the United States in the manner which is provided for in
(June 21, 1940, ch. 409, §13,
Amendments
2016—
1983—
1952—Act July 16, 1952, struck out "used for railroad traffic" after "owner of any bridge".
Transfer of Functions
Section 6(g)(3) of
§524. Applicability of administrative procedure provisions
In the administration of this Act, hearings and other procedures shall be exempted from the provisions of subchapter II of
(July 16, 1952, ch. 889, §3,
References in Text
This Act, referred to in text, is act July 16, 1952, ch. 889,
Codification
Section was not enacted as part of act June 21, 1940, ch. 409,
"Subchapter II of