19 Ga. App. 455 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1917
1. The provision of the Political Code of 1910, § 748, making counties primarily liable for injuries caused by defective bridges, whether erected by contractors or by the county authorities, is not applicable to a bridge erected over a watercourse which divides one county from another. To bridges of the latter class (that is, to county-line bridges) sections 419 to 423 of the code are applicable, and liability attaches only in accordance with section 768,—that is, for failure of the county to take a sufficient bond from the contractor. Willingham v. Elbert County, 113 Ga. 15 (38 S. E. 348); Forsyth County v. Gwinnett County, 108 Ga. 510 (33 S. E. 892) ; Brooks County v. Carrington, 7 Ga. App. 225 (66 S. E. 625); Laurens County v. McLendon, ante, 246 (91 S. E. 283).
2. Counties are not liable to suit for any cause of action unless made so by statute. Political Code of 1910, § 384. There is no statute expressly authorizing suit against a county for failure to repair a bridge after seven years have elapsed from the date of its construction. County of Monroe v. Flynt, 80 Ga. 489 (6 S. E. 173) ; Arnold v. Henry County, 81 Ga. 730 (8 S. E. 606) ; Dougherty County v. Newsom, 107 Ga. 811 (33 S. E. 660).
3. In this case the petition alleged that the injuries sustained were caused by the defective condition of a county-line bridge, and that the county authorities causing the construction of the said bridge failed to take bond in accordance with section 768 of the Political Code of 1910. It was not alleged that the bridge was built by contract, or that the bridge was let out to the lowest bidder, or that the alleged injuries occurred within seven years after the bridge was built. In fact the plaintiff did
Judgment affirmed.