Great Northern Railway Co. v. State

Citations

• 102 Wash. 348
• 173 P. 40
• 1918 Wash. LEXIS 959

Syllabus

<p>Eminent Domain—Damaging Property—Liability oe State. Under Const., art. 1, § 16, forbidding the taking of private property without just compensation, the state is liable if, in building a state highway without negligence without having condemned the right, it was necessary to blast out and dump rock and material upon a railroad track to its damage.</p> <p>Same—Liability oe State—Nature. In the taking or damaging of private property for public use without negligence, the state acts in its sovereign capacity, and failure to condemn the right is no excuse for denying the state’s liability for the damage done, as it is not a trespasser or tort feasor. •</p> <p>Same—Liability oe State—Acts oe Contractors or Oeficers. Where such damage was done by direction of the state, it is liable as the superior, although it does the work by contract or by direction of its duly authorized officers.</p> <p>Same—Liability oe State—Injuries Not Anticipated. The state would be liable for such damages necessarily resulting from the construction of a highway, although they were not anticipated or contemplated in the plan of construction.</p> <p>Same-—Liability oe State—Instructions. In such case, where it is admitted that all the work was carefully done, it is error to give an instruction leaving to the jury whether any damage resulted from negligent acts.</p> <p>Same—Liability oe State—Blasting. If blasting is necessary in the construction of a highway by the state, in its sovereign capacity, the act is not tortious and the state is liable for the injuries inflicted.</p> <p>Same—Liability of State—Damages. Where the state in building a highway injures a railroad by blasting and dumping rock upon the track, it is liable for the increased expense incurred in operating trains and time consumed in making repairs and labor and supplies on account of delays, as a deprivation of the use of its property, as though it had been physically taken.</p> <p>Same—Liability of State—Damages—Offset of Be