Hawkins v. United States

The plaintiffs, as receivers of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Company, bring this suit to recover the costs of tearing down the old bridge and erecting a new bridge over the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal, an artificial, navigable waterway connecting the southern branch of the Elizabeth River with headwaters of the North Landing River, and with Currituck Sound, in the State of Virginia.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad at all times hereinafter mentioned was the owner of the right-of-way of 75 feet in *367width over which the canal passed and had constructed a bridge and fender system across the waters…