Tenn. Code Ann. § 69-1-114

This is the official text of Tenn. Code Ann. § 69-1-114, part of Tennessee’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Tennessee, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Railroad drawbridges - Operation

Official statutory text

(a) Railroad companies in this state whose roads cross navigable watercourses in this state shall, upon signal being given by any steamboat for the opening of the draw of any railroad bridge, proceed immediately to open the draw and make ready for the passage of the boat; and as soon as the draw is open and ready, if in the nighttime, they shall hoist a large red light, not less than eight inches (8") in diameter, at least ten feet (10') above the tops of the gallows frame or gallow bitts of the draw; and they shall keep one (1) white light on each end of the draw as a signal that all is ready; and the light shall remain stationary until after the boat has passed. (b) Any railroad company failing so to do shall forfeit for each and every such failure the sum of one hundred dollars ($100), to be recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction, one half (½) to go to the informer, and the other one half (½) to the common school fund of the state. Acts 1869-1870, ch. 89, §§ 1, 2; Shan., §§ 1828, 1829; Code 1932, §§ 3092, 3093; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 70-117, 70-118.
(a) Railroad companies in this state whose roads cross navigable watercourses in this state shall, upon signal being given by any steamboat for the opening of the draw of any railroad bridge, proceed immediately to open the draw and make ready for the passage of the boat; and as soon as the draw is open and ready, if in the nighttime, they shall hoist a large red light, not less than eight inches (8") in diameter, at least ten feet (10') above the tops of the gallows frame or gallow bitts of the draw; and they shall keep one (1) white light on each end of the draw as a signal that all is ready; and the light shall remain stationary until after the boat has passed.
(b) Any railroad company failing so to do shall forfeit for each and every such failure the sum of one hundred dollars ($100), to be recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction, one half (½) to go to the informer, and the other one half (½) to the common school fund of the state.
Acts 1869-1870, ch. 89, §§ 1, 2; Shan., §§ 1828, 1829; Code 1932, §§ 3092, 3093; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 70-117, 70-118.

Status: in_force

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.