§ 320. — Bridges on Federal dams.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 23USC320]
TITLE 23--HIGHWAYS
CHAPTER 3--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 320. Bridges on Federal dams
(a) Each executive department, independent establishment, office,
board, bureau, commission, authority, administration, corporation wholly
owned or controlled by the United States, or other agency of the
Government of the United States, hereinafter collectively and
individually referred to as ``agency'', which on or after July 29, 1946,
has jurisdiction over and custody of any dam constructed or to be
constructed and owned by or for the United States, is authorized, with
any funds available to it, to design and construct any such dam in such
manner that it will constitute and serve as a suitable and adequate
foundation to support a public highway bridge upon and across such dam,
and to design and construct upon the foundation thus provided a public
highway bridge upon and across such dam. The highway department of the
State in which such dam shall be located, jointly with the Secretary,
shall first determine and certify to such agency that such bridge is
economically desirable and needed as a link in the State or Federal-aid
highway systems, and shall request such agency to design and construct
such dam so that it will serve as a suitable and adequate foundation for
a public highway bridge and to design and construct such public highway
bridge upon and across such dam, and shall agree to reimburse such
agency pursuant to subsection (d) of this section for any additional
costs which it may be required to incur because of the design and
construction of such dam so that it will serve as a foundation for a
public highway bridge and for expenditures which it may find it
necessary to make in designing and constructing such public highway
bridge upon and across such dam. In no case shall the design and
construction of a bridge upon and across such dam be undertaken
hereunder except by the agency having jurisdiction over and custody of
the dam, acting directly or through contractors employed by it, and
after such agency shall determine that it will be structurally feasible
and will not interfere with the proper functioning and operation of the
dam.
(b) Construction of any bridge upon and across any dam pursuant to
this section shall not be commenced unless and until the State in which
such bridge is to be located, or the appropriate subdivision of such
State, shall enter into an agreement with such agency and with the
Secretary to construct, or cause to be constructed, with or without the
aid of Federal funds, the approach roads necessary to connect such
bridge with existing public highways and to maintain, or cause to be
maintained, such approach roads from and after their completion. Such
agreement may also provide for the design and construction of such
bridge upon and across the dam by such agency of the United States and
for reimbursing such agency the costs incurred by it in the design and
construction of the bridge as provided in subsection (d) of this
section. Any such agency is hereby authorized to convey to the State, or
to the appropriate subdivision thereof, without costs, such easements
and rights-of-way in its custody or over lands of the United States in
its custody and control as may be necessary, convenient, or proper for
the location, construction, and maintenance of the approach roads
referred to in this section including such roadside parks or
recreational areas of limited size as may be deemed necessary for the
accommodation of the traveling public. Any bridge constructed pursuant
to this section upon and across a dam in the custody and jurisdiction of
any agency of the United States, including such portion thereof, if any,
as may extend beyond the physical limits of the dam, shall constitute
and remain a part of said dam and be maintained by the agency. Any such
agency may enter into any such contracts and agreements with the State
or its subdivisions respecting public use of any bridge so located and
constructed as may be deemed appropriate, but no such bridge shall be
closed to public use by the agency except in cases of emergency or when
deemed necessary in the interest of national security.
(c) All costs and expenses incurred and expenditures made by any
agency in the exercise of the powers and authority conferred by this
section (but not including any costs, expenses, or expenditures which
would have been required in any event to satisfy a legal road or bridge
relocation obligation or to meet operating or other agency needs) shall
be recorded and kept separate and apart from the other costs, expenses,
and expenditures of such agency, and no portion thereof shall be charged
or allocated to flood control, navigation, irrigation, fertilizer
production, the national defense, the development of power, or other
program, purpose, or function of such agency.
(d) Not to exceed $65,000,000 of any money heretofore or hereafter
appropriated for expenditure in accordance with the provisions of this
title or prior Acts shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary
in accordance with the provisions of this section, as an emergency fund,
to reimburse any agency for any additional costs or expenditures which
it may be required to incur because of the design and construction of
any such dam so that it will constitute and serve as a foundation for a
public highway bridge upon and across such dam and to reimburse any such
agency for any costs, expenses, or expenditures which it may be required
to make in designing and constructing any such bridge upon and across a
dam in accordance with the provisions of this section, except such
costs, expenses, or expenditures as would have been required of such
agency in any event to satisfy a legal obligation to relocate a highway
or bridge or to meet operating or other agency needs, and there is
authorized to be appropriated any sum or sums necessary to reimburse the
funds so expended by the Secretary from time to time under the authority
of this section. Of each bridge constructed upon and across a dam under
the provisions of this section, there may be financed wholly with
Federal funds that portion thereof which is located within the physical
limits of the masonry structure, or structures, of the dam, and the
Secretary shall in his sole discretion determine what additional portion
of the bridge, if any, may be so financed, such determination to be
final and conclusive. The remainder of the bridge, and any necessary
related approach roads, shall be financed by the State or its
appropriate subdivision with or without the aid of Federal funds; but
said portion of the bridge so financed by the State or its subdivisions,
including such portion thereof, if any, as may extend beyond the
physical limits of the dam, shall nevertheless be designed and
constructed solely by the agency having custody and jurisdiction of the
dam as provided in subsection (a) of this section.
(e) In making, reviewing, or approving the design of any bridge or
approach structure to be constructed under this section, the agency
shall, in matters relating to roadway design, loadings, clearances and
widths, and traffic safeguards, give full consideration to and be guided
by the standards and advice of the Secretary.
(f) The authority conferred by this section shall be in addition to
and not in limitation of authority conferred upon any agency by any
other law, and nothing in this section contained shall affect or be
deemed to relate to any bridge, approach structure, or highway
constructed or to be constructed by any such agency in furtherance of
its lawful purposes and requirements or to satisfy a legal obligation
incurred independently of this section.
(Pub. L. 85-767, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 917; Pub. L. 86-342, title I,
Sec. 108, Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 613; Pub. L. 88-423, Sec. 4(c), Aug.
13, 1964, 78 Stat. 398; Pub. L. 91-605, title I, Sec. 116(a), Dec. 31,
1970, 84 Stat. 1724; Pub. L. 93-87, title I, Sec. 128(a), Aug. 13, 1973,
87 Stat. 265; Pub. L. 93-643, Sec. 123(a), Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2290;
Pub. L. 94-280, title I, Sec. 137(a), May 5, 1976, 90 Stat. 443; Pub. L.
95-599, title I, Sec. 128(a), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2707.)
Amendments
1978--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95-599 substituted ``$65,000,000'' for
``$50,000,000''.
1976--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94-280 substituted ``$50,000,000'' for
``$27,761,000''.
1975--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 93-643 substituted ``$27,761,000'' for
``$25,261,000''.
1973--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 93-87 substituted ``$25,261,000'' for
``$16,761,000''.
1970--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 91-605 substituted ``$16,761,000'' for
``$13,000,000''.
1964--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 88-423 substituted ``which such bridge is
to be located, or the appropriate subdivision of such State, shall enter
into an agreement with such agency and with'' for ``such State, shall
enter into an agreement with such agency and with which such bridge is
to be located, or the appropriate subdivision of''.
1959--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 86-342 substituted ``$13,000,000'' for
``$10,000,000''.
Appropriation Out of Highway Trust Fund of Sums Appropriated Under
Authority of Increased Authorization
Section 128(b) of Pub. L. 95-599 provided that: ``Sums appropriated
or expended under authority of the increased authorization established
by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this section [amending
subsec. (d) of this section] shall be appropriated out of the Highway
Trust Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978, and for
subsequent fiscal years.''
Appropriation of Increased Authorization
Section 137(b) of Pub. L. 94-280 provided that: ``Sums appropriated
or expended under authority of the increased authorization established
by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this section [to subsec. (d)
of this section] shall be appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund for
the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977, and for subsequent fiscal
years.''
Restriction on Increased Authorization of Appropriations
Section 116(b) of Pub. L. 91-605 provided that: ``All sums
appropriated under authority of the increased authorization of
$3,761,000 established by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this
section [amending subsec. (d) of this section] shall be available for
expenditure only in connection with the construction of a bridge across
Markland Dam on the Ohio River near Markland, Indiana, and Warsaw,
Kentucky. No such sums shall be appropriated until all applicable
requirements of section 320 of title 23 of the United States Code have
been complied with by the appropriate Federal agency, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the States of Kentucky and Indiana.''
Section 123(b) of Pub. L. 93-643 provided that: ``All sums
appropriated under authority of the increased authorization established
by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this section shall be
available for expenditure in the same manner and for the same purpose as
provided for in subsection (b) of section 116 of the Federal-Aid Highway
Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-605).''
Section 128(b) of Pub. L. 93-87 provided that: ``All sums
appropriated under authority of the increased authorization of
$8,500,000 established by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this
section [to subsec. (d) of this section] shall be available for
expenditure only in connection with the construction of a bridge across
lock and dam numbered 13 on the Arkansas River near Fort Smith,
Arkansas, in the amount of $2,100,000 and in connection with
reconstruction of a bridge across the Chickamauga Dam on the Tennessee
River near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the amount of $6,400,000. No such
sums shall be appropriated until all applicable requirements of section
320 of title 23 of the United States Code have been complied with by the
appropriate Federal agency, the Secretary of Transportation, and the
State of Arkansas for the Fort Smith project, and the State of Tennessee
for the Chattanooga project.''
