When a grant shall be made to the proper authority of the state, or a municipal or other subdivision thereof, of lands of the state now or formerly under tidewater fronting on or within the extended lines of any street or highway heretofore or hereafter laid out or provided for, and said authority shall have or may hereafter grant or lease the lands so granted, or the right to use the lands for the purpose of constructing a bridge over or along the same, to a corporation organized under sections 48:5-13 to 48:5-25 of the title Public Utilities, the board of commerce and navigation may insert an express provision in the grant that the lands may be used for such purpose.
N.J.S. § 12:3-35