Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 55 Part 1.djvu/661

 PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 374-AUG. 18, 1941 Acquisition after ex- piration of 5 years after completion. Application of tolls to operation, sinking fund, etc. Operation as free bridge after amortiz- ing costs, etc. Record of expendi- tures and receipts. Statement of con- struction costs, etc. Investigation of costs. Secretary's findings conclusive; exception. Right to sell, trans- fer, etc. or any two or more of them jointly, may at any time acquire and take over all right, title, and interest in such bridge and its approaches, and any interest in real property necessary therefor, by purchase or by condemnation, or expropriation, in accordance with the laws of either of such States governing the acquisition of private property for public purposes by condemnation or expropriation. If at any time after the expiration of five years after the completion of such bridge the same is acquired by condemnation or expropriation, the amount of damages or compensation to be allowed shall not include goodwill, going value, or prospective revenues or profits, but shall be limited to the sum of (1) the actual cost of constructing such bridge and its approaches, less a reasonable deduction for actual depreciation in value; (2) the actual cost of acquiring such interests in real prop- erty; (8) actual financing and promotion costs, not to exceed 5 per centum of the sum of the cost of constructing the bridge and its approaches and acquiring such interests in real property; and (4) actual expenditures for necessary improvements. SEC. 4. If such bridge shall at any time be taken over or acquired by the States or public agencies or political subdivisions thereof, or by either of them, as provided in section 3 of this Act, and if tolls are thereafter charged for the use thereof, the rates of toll shall be so adjusted as to provide a fund sufficient to pay for the reasonable cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the bridge and its approaches under economical management, andto provide a sinking fund sufficient to amortize the amount paid therefor, including reason- able interest and financing cost, as soon as possible under reasonable charges, but within a period of not to exceed twenty years from the date of acquiring the same. After a sinking fund sufficient for such amortization shall have been so provided, such bridge shall thereafter be maintained and operated free of tolls. An accurate record of the amount paid for acquiring the bridge and its approaches, the actual expenditures for maintaining, repairing, and operating the same and of the daily tolls collected, shall be kept and shall be available for the information of all persons interested. SEc. 5. The Big Creek Bridge Company, Consolidated, its suc- cessors and assigns, shall within ninety days after the completion of such bridge file with the Secretary of War and with the highway departments of the States of West Virginia and Kentucky, a sworn itemized statement showing the actual original cost of constructing the bridge and its approaches, the actual cost of acquiring any interest in real property necessary therefor, and the actual financing and promotion costs. The Secretary of War may, and upon request of the highway department of either of such States shall, at any time within three years after the completion of such bridge, investi- gate such costs and determine the accuracy and the reasonableness of the costs alleged in the statement of costs so filed, and shall make a finding of the actual and reasonable costs of constructing, financ- ing, and promoting such bridge; for the purpose of such investiga- tion the said Big Creek Bridge Company, Consolidated, its successors and assigns, shall make available all of its records in connection with the construction, financing, and promotion thereof. The findings of the Secretary of War as to the reasonable costs of the construction financing, and promotion of the bridge shall be conclusive for the purposes mentioned in section 3 of this Act, subject only to review in a court of equity for fraud or gross mistake. SE. 6. The right to sell, assign, transfer, and mortgage all the rights, powers, and privileges conferred by this Act is hereby granted to the Big Creek Bridge Company, Consolidated, its successors and assigns, and any corporation to which or any person to whom such rights, powers, and privileges may be sold, assigned, or transferred, 636 [55 STAT.

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