Bridge and Overpass Failure Claims in Georgia

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When a Georgia bridge or overpass fails, the injured person may have claims against the public body that owns it and against the firms that designed or built it, and each claim runs on its own clock. Against a government owner, a written notice or claim is due within six or 12 months, depending on which government owns the structure. Against a designer or builder, a repose statute counts eight years from the date the structure was substantially completed, with a limited extension for injuries in the last two of those years.

The Government Owner

The first step depends on who owns the structure:

Owner Notice or claim step
The State Written notice within 12 months of the date the loss was or should have been discovered (OCGA 50-21-26(a)(1))
A city A written claim to the governing authority within six months of the event (OCGA 36-33-5(b))
A county Presentment of the claim within 12 months after it accrues, or, for a minor or another person under a disability, within 12 months after the disability is removed (OCGA 36-11-1)

Each government answers on different terms. The State waived its immunity for employees’ torts subject to listed exceptions, and one of them keeps immunity for the plan or design of highways, roads, streets, bridges, or other public works prepared in substantial compliance with the engineering or design standards generally accepted when the plan was prepared (OCGA 50-21-24(10)). A city is relieved of liability for defects in its own streets when it was not negligent in building or maintaining them, or when it had no actual notice of the defect, or when the defect had not existed long enough for notice to be inferred (OCGA 32-4-93(a)). A county is liable to suit only where a statute makes it so (OCGA 36-1-4).

Recovery from the State is also capped at $1 million per person for a single occurrence and $3 million for the occurrence in all, however many state entities are involved (OCGA 50-21-29(b)(1)). For example, imagine a collapse in which four people each suffer $2 million in losses. Each person’s recovery from the State stops at $1 million, and the four per-person limits, which add up to $4 million, run into the $3 million limit for the occurrence.

The Federal Inspection Rule

For bridges covered by the federal inspection standards, 23 CFR 650.311(a) provides that “[e]ach bridge must be inspected at regular intervals not to exceed the interval established using one of the risk-based methods outlined in paragraph (a)(1) or (2) of this section.” Under the first method, the regular interval is at most 24 months; bridges with a deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rated in serious or worse condition, or with serious scour, must be inspected at least every 12 months; and bridges that meet all of a set of listed condition criteria may go up to 48 months (650.311(a)(1)). Under the second method, a risk assessment panel sorts bridges into categories with intervals of up to 12, 24, 48, or 72 months, and the policy must be submitted for approval by the Federal Highway Administration (650.311(a)(2)).

Designers and Builders

No action to recover damages for a deficiency in “the survey or plat, planning, design, specifications, supervision or observation of construction, or construction of an improvement to real property,” for injury to property arising from it, or “[f]or injury to the person or for wrongful death arising out of any such deficiency” may be brought against the person who performed or furnished that work “more than eight years after substantial completion of such an improvement” (OCGA 9-3-51(a)).

The statute then gives a short extension at the end of the period: “in the case of such an injury to property or the person or such an injury causing wrongful death, which injury occurred during the seventh or eighth year after such substantial completion, an action in tort to recover damages for such an injury or wrongful death may be brought within two years after the date on which such injury occurred, irrespective of the date of death, but in no event may such an action be brought more than ten years after the substantial completion of construction of such an improvement” (OCGA 9-3-51(b)).

For example, imagine an overpass substantially completed on March 1, 2018, and an injury on December 1, 2025, in the eighth year. Subsection (b) would allow an action within two years, by December 1, 2027, and never later than March 1, 2028, ten years after completion. An injury after March 1, 2026, falls outside subsection (b), and subsection (a) would already bar the action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the eight-year limit apply to a claim on the construction contract?
No. The section “shall not apply to actions for breach of contract, including, but not limited to, actions for breach of express contractual warranties” (OCGA 9-3-51(c)).

Is a city responsible for a state highway bridge inside its limits?
A city is relieved of liability for defective construction of the parts of the state highway or county road system within its limits, or for the State’s or county’s failure to maintain them, unless the city itself built the road or agreed to maintain it (OCGA 32-4-93(b)).

Does the State’s immunity cover a private contractor working on a state bridge?
The Tort Claims Act’s definition of a state officer or employee leaves out independent contractors doing business with the state (OCGA 50-21-22(7)), and the repose statute for design and construction reaches “any person performing or furnishing” the design, supervision, or construction (OCGA 9-3-51(a)).

Is the 24-month inspection interval the same for every bridge?
No. The 24-month interval belongs to the first method, which also sets 12-month and 48-month intervals for bridges in listed conditions, and the second method allows risk-based intervals of up to 72 months with federal approval (23 CFR 650.311(a)).

  • OCGA 50-21-24(10); OCGA 50-21-26(a)(1); OCGA 50-21-29(b)(1); OCGA 50-21-22(7)
  • OCGA 36-33-5(b); OCGA 36-11-1; OCGA 36-1-4; OCGA 32-4-93(a), (b)
  • 23 CFR 650.311(a)
  • OCGA 9-3-51(a), (b), (c)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about bridge and overpass failure claims under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Which defendant, notice period, and repose provision applies depends on the owner of the structure, the persons who designed and built it, and the specific facts. A person injured in a structural failure should consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

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