33 U.S.C. § 402 — Construction of bridges, etc., over Illinois and Mississippi Canal

This section extends the rules in section 401 of this title so they apply equally to the Illinois and Mississippi Canal — both the parts already built and the parts not yet finished. It also gives the Secretary of the Army authority over bridges built across that canal. Once the Secretary approves the plans for a bridge, the Secretary may — at his own discretion — grant the person or corporation building and owning the bridge a right of way across United States-owned land on either side of the canal and next to it. The Secretary sets the terms and conditions of that right of way, but in his judgment they must be equitable, expedient, and just to the public. Along with the right of way, the Secretary may also let the bridge's owner occupy as much of that federal land as is needed for the bridge's piers, abutments, and other parts of the bridge structure, as well as its approaches. None of this is automatic — granting the right of way and the land use is left entirely to the Secretary's discretion.