Herrington v. Booth

Citations

• 252 Pa. 70
• 97 A. 178
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 570

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Townships—Townships of first class — Construction of road — Caving in of adjoining land — -Dependent contractor — Acts of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104; May 24,1901, P. L. 297; June 7,1901, P. L. 510.</p> <p>1. If a landowner sees fit to dedicate ground for a highway there is no necessity for him to petition the township commissioners to lay out such road. Dedication by the sole owner and its acceptance are all that is necessary. A deed of dedication simply waives the right to compensation and enables the township to go on and use the land without resorting to further preliminaries.</p> <p>2. In a township the strongest evidence of an acceptance of a dedication is the assumption of control of a street and the expenditure of public money upon it by the township supervisors.</p> <p>3. Where as the result of the excavation of a public street by a contractor engaged by a township, a cave-in occurs after the completion of the work, which was performed in the manner required by the terms of the contract, which reserved supervision of the work to the engineers of the township, the contractor is a dependent contractor, and the liability, if any, for injuries received from such cave-in rests on the township and not upon him, and in a suit against the contractor to recover for such injuries binding instructions were properly given for the defendant.</p> <p>4. In such case where the street as excavated was over lands dedicated to the township, the contention of plaintiffs’ counsel that as the'township had not proceeded to open the highway under the Act of June 7, 1901, P. L. 510, the contract between the township and the defendant was, ultra vires and conferred no authority upon defendant to excavate the street and made it liable as a trespasser, was unfounded. The Acts of April 28, 1899, P. L. 104, Section 7, and Hay 24, 1901, P. L. 297, Section. 1, empower commissioners in townships of the first class to open, grade, construct and pave all public highways of the