Early County v. Fain
| Decision Date | 10 July 1907 |
| Docket Number | 345. |
| Citation | 58 S.E. 528,2 Ga.App. 288 |
| Parties | EARLY COUNTY v. FAIN. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court.
"A bridge which constitutes a portion of the public road is necessarily a public bridge."
It matters not by what authority such bridge is constructed whether by act of the General Assembly or an order of the county officers, by the road hands or by an individual. If it is a part of the public county road and the public authorities use it, it becomes a public utility, and the duty of keeping it in repair is imposed upon the county authorities, and the county is liable for an injury resulting from a negligent performance of such duty.
[Ed Note.-For cases in point, see Cent. Dig. vol. 8, Bridges, § 50.]
Error from Superior Court, Early County; E. J. Reagan, Judge.
Action by J. R. Fain against Early county. Judgment for plaintiff. Defendant brings error. Affirmed.
R. H Sheffield, for plaintiff in error.
L. M Rambo, for defendant in error.
Fain brought suit in a justice's court against Early county, on account of damages resulting from injuries received by his horse in falling through a public bridge of said county. By consent the case was appealed to the superior court without a trial in the justice's court. The judge of the superior court, without the intervention of a jury, tried the case on the following agreed statement of facts: "That on the 14th day of February, 1904, J. R. Fain was driving along the Ft. Gaines and Damascus public road in a buggy with a horse attached thereto, which was the property of J. R. Fain; that on said public road, about one-fifth of a mile south of Gaines cross-roads, in the 1535 district, G. M., of Early county, a bridge was constructed over a gully or drain, said bridge being under 10 feet in length, by the county of Early by its proper officers, to wit, the superintendent of roads of Early county, Ga., and not constructed under sections 344, 345, or 346 of the Political Code of 1895, since December 29, 1888; that said described bridge formed a part of the Ft. Gaines and Damascus public road, and was a continuation of said public road over a drain, and was used by the public as a public bridge; that on the 14th day of February, 1904, the flooring of said bridge was in an inferior, insufficient, and decayed condition, and that the timbers of said bridge were in an inferior and decayed condition, which was unknown to J. R. Fain, and which was known to the superintendent of the public roads of Early county and the county commissioners of Early county; that on the said 14th of February, 1904, the horse which the said J. R. Fain was driving fell, without fault on the part of J. R. Fain, through said bridge, on account of the inferior and decayed condition of the flooring and the timbers of which said bridge was constructed, and sustained permanent injuries, which decreased the value of the horse in the sum of $75, in which sum the said J. R. Fain was and is damaged." The court found for the plaintiff $75, and judgment was entered accordingly. Defendant's motion for a new trial was overruled.
The single question submitted for our decision is whether the bridge, whose defective condition caused the injury to plaintiff's horse, was a public bridge within the meaning of the Code. The Supreme Court in the cases of Tatnall County v. Newton, 112 Ga. 780, 38 S.E. 48, and Howington v. Madison County, 126 Ga. 700, 55 S.E. 942, defines a public bridge as follows: "A bridge which constitutes a part of a public road is necessarily a public bridge." The pleading in this case alleged that the bridge in question was constructed by the county authorities since...
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