90 Ga. App. 386 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1954
“Prior to the act of December 29, 1888 [Code § 95-1001], a county was not liable for injuries arising from defective bridges unless the bridge had been erected under contract and the county had taken no bond from the contractor as required by law.” Warren County v. Evans, 118 Ga. 200 (44 S. E. 986). Code § 95-1001 has no application to county-line bridges. Brooks County v. Carrington, 7 Ga. App. 225 (66 S. E. 625). It follows that there is no liability on the defendant county here unless (a) the bridge was erected under contract, and (b) the county took no bond from the contractor.
The petition fails to allege that the bridge was repaired under contract. On the contrary, it alleges that the bridge was repaired, within the statutory seven-year period, by county employees. We do not agree that the job foreman, a county employee, can be a contractor, under the definition in Black’s Law Dictionary that a contractor is “one who in pursuit of independent business undertakes to perform a job or piece of work, retaining in himself control of the means, method and manner of accomplishing the desired result”—the petition containing no allegations to this effect. Chapter 23-19 of the Code relating to county-line bridges obviously places the same meaning on the word “contractor.” Code § 23-1903 speaks of “contractors who are awarded contracts under this [section], and Code § 23-1904 provides that the provisions of the chapter (as to such contracts) shall not apply when the bridge can be repaired at a less cost
It therefore appears that this decision must be controlled by Sayer v. Lincoln County, 85 Ga. App. 754, 762 (70 S. E. 2d 146), as follows: “Liability for defects in such a [county-line] bridge attaches only under the provisions of Code § 95-1210, that is, for failure of the county to take a sufficient bond from the contractor; and where, as here, the petition as last amended, properly construed, showed that such a bridge was rebuilt by the county . . . without a contract, and without taking a bond, no liability for injuries caused by defects in such a bridge attached against the county.”
The cases cited in the brief of the plaintiff in error do not con
Judgment affirmed.