As used in this article, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:
The word “municipality” shall be deemed to include any county or city in this state.
The word “bridge” shall be deemed to include the substructure and the superstructure of the bridge and the approaches thereto and also all property, rights, easements, and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient for the operation thereof, and shall embrace bridges which are now in existence or hereafter constructed and wholly or partly within the municipality or are within twenty miles of the territory over which such municipality has jurisdiction and which are over the Mississippi River, and shall also embrace combined railroad and highway bridges, as well as highway bridges.
The term “governing body” shall mean the board of supervisors of a county or the council, board of aldermen, or other legislative body of a city.
The word “improvements” shall mean such repairs, replacements, additions, and betterments of and to a bridge acquired by purchase or by condemnation as are deemed necessary to place it in a safe and efficient condition for the use of the public, if such repairs, replacements, additions, and betterments are ordered prior to the sale of any bonds for the acquisition of such bridge.
The term “cost of bridge”, as applied to a bridge to be acquired by purchase or by condemnation, shall include the purchase price or the amount of the award, cost of improvements, financing charges, interest during any period of disuse before completion of improvements, cost of traffic estimates and of engineering and legal expenses, plans, specifications and surveys, estimates of cost and of revenues, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of the enterprise, administrative expense, and such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing herein authorized, and the acquisition of the bridge and the placing of the bridge in operation.
The term “cost of bridge”, as applied to a bridge to be constructed, shall embrace the cost of construction, the cost of all land, property, rights, easements, and franchises acquired, which are deemed necessary for such construction, the cost of all machinery and equipment, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for six months after completion of construction, cost of traffic estimates and of engineering and of legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, estimates of cost and of revenues, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of the enterprise, administrative expense, and such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing herein authorized and the construction of the bridge and the placing of the bridge in operation.
The word “owner” shall include all individuals, incorporated companies, copartnerships, societies, or associations having any title or interest in any property, rights, easements, or franchises authorized to be acquired by this article.