LIABILITY FOR HIGHWAY DRAINAGE DAMAGES
This effort to help engineers confronted with drainage problems having legal implications, reviews many cases on this subject. The duties and responsibilities of road agencies are outlined, and cases where damages have been allowed against municipal corporations are listed and discussed. Since all claims for damages to land as a result of flooding are based on improper drainage or interference with water caused by the highway or street facility, it is important that public officials in charge of designing, constructing, and maintaining the roads have a knowledge of the "Law of the Water" as interpreted in their jurisdiction. A review of the many cases which resulted in verdicts in favor of the landowners indicate that the flood damage could have been avoided if the public official had been more aware of the liability as a matter of law. Damage could also be avoided by more attention to the findings of recent drainage research. If unprecedented rain occurs and private lands are flooded, the fact that careful hydraulic analysis had been made and the facility designed accordingly may establish that it was the rainfall and not the highway improvement that caused the damage.
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Supplemental Notes:
- A supplement to this paper by L.W. Thomas was published in Addendum 2, December 1980, pp 902-S1 through 902-S5.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Mahin, M J
- Publication Date: 1976
Language
- English
Media Info
- Pagination: p. 885-901
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Serial:
- Selected Studies in Highway Law
- Volume: 2
- Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Case studies; Courts; Floods; Liability; Loss and damage; Surface drainage
- Uncontrolled Terms: Damages
- Old TRIS Terms: Highway drainage
- Subject Areas: Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Law;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00148921
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Aug 28 1998 12:00AM