# Bridge law

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{{Short description|Body of legislation}}
{{about|an area of law|the concept in philosophy of science|Ernest Nagel}}
'''Bridge law''' is the body of laws which apply to [bridge](/source/bridge)s in a particular jurisdiction.

==United States==
In the [United States](/source/United_States), legislative authority to erect a bridge is necessary in three cases: first, when toll is demanded for its use—the right to take toll being a [franchise](/source/Franchising) which cannot be claimed without express grant from the [state](/source/U.S._state); second, when the state owns the bed of the stream over which the bridge extends, as is the case in all public or navigable streams; third, when the structure interferes or threatens to interfere with navigation.

In the last case the authority of state governments is subject to the power given to [Congress](/source/United_States_Congress) by the [Federal Constitution](/source/United_States_Constitution) to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states."<ref>United States Constitution, Art. I., §8.</ref> The states may authorize bridges over navigable streams, and may regulate their size, form, and manner of construction. Until Congress intervenes in such cases, the power of the states is unlimited. When it does intervene, however, its will is supreme, and its legislation, within the limits of the constitutional grant, overrides that of any state. A bridge constructed over a navigable river in accordance with an act of Congress is a lawful structure, however much it may interfere with the public right of [navigation](/source/navigation). For example, President [Franklin D. Roosevelt](/source/Franklin_D._Roosevelt) stopped [Robert Moses](/source/Robert_Moses) from building the Battery Crossing, officially out of concern about blocking navigational access to the [Brooklyn Navy Yard](/source/Brooklyn_Navy_Yard), but actually as an act of revenge, and instead was forced into building the [Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel](/source/Brooklyn-Battery_Tunnel).<ref>{{cite book|pages=660-676|title=[The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York](/source/The_Power_Broker%3A_Robert_Moses_and_the_Fall_of_New_York)|first=Robert A. |last=Caro|year=1974|isbn=9780394480763|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Bridges Act](/source/Bridges_Act)
* [Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula](/source/Federal_Bridge_Gross_Weight_Formula)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{NIE|wstitle=Bridges, Law Relating to}}

Law
Bridges

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