Amador ledger., 1901-10-11
THE EMERGENCY BUSINESS.

construction of certain bridge near
Carbonate has been declared to be
case of great emergency. All
the members of the board agreed to
meet at the bridge on Tuesday last
for the purpose of inspecting the
same, and special meeting of the
supervisors has been called for Mon
day next to take some action to-
ward its repair or reconstruction.
Probably few of our readers are
aware of the legal import of this
declaration of great emergency
when used in regard to delapidat-
ed bridge. We therefore give the
section of the law bearing on this
point. After requiring that under
ordinary conditions the construction
of bridges must be let by contract to
the lowest bidder after published
notice for bids, the law says:
Provided that in cases of great
emergency, by the unanimous con-
sent of the whole board, they may
proceed at once to replace and re-
pair any and all bridges and
structures without notice.
It will be seen from this that in
great emergencies the board can
avoid the delay necessarily incurred
in advertising for proposals, and
contract for structure without re-
gard to those provisions which are
intended to safeguard the interests
of the taxpayers. The wisdom OF
this law is apparent. Where a
bridge constituting the only means
of COMMUNICATION, is suddenly swept
away by food, or destroyed by
fire or some CONFUSION of nature
the demands of traffic may require
that it be replaced with the utmost
dispatch. The loss from interrupted
traffic is considered of far greater
Importance than the saving thai
might be effected in following the
usual custom of contracting with the
lowest bidder, after notice. 1t is un.
fortunate that the board, before in
vestigation, has declared this Car.
bondale bridge a case of great
emergency. We have no hesitation
in saying that it does not meet the
conditions of such an emergency al
all. Tt may be unsafe and dangerous
it may be that the stage driver re
quires his passengers to get out an6
walk across it, as a precautionary
measure; these things, however, dc
not make it great emergency
under the law. If the mere fact Of
its being rotten and unsafe brings
it within the great emergency
clause, every bridge that ever has
been or ever will be reconstructed
in Amador county might, with equal
reason, be brought under the opera
ton of the same law The provision
requiring such work to be advertised
and submitted to competition is
farcical under such strained con-
struction, for no board of super
visors would dream of tearing down
an old bridge until it has become
unsafe for traffic.
In this Carbonate case it is not
claimed that the bridge has been
subjected to anything extraordinary.
1t has simply rotted under ordinary
influences, and at the close of the
dry season it is suddenly sprung
upon the county that great hurry
exists for new bridge, and there is
no time to call for bids. Why mott
Simply because either some one has
neglected his business, in failing to
notice the progress of natural decay
of the bridge, or else that some one
wants fat job, and has seized the
great emergency provision as al
excuse for dispensing with competi
ton in order to get it.
This is not the first time that al
attempt has been made to work the
great emergency business in bridge
building. Many years ago, a propo
sition was submitted to build al
emergency bridge in lone valley
The supervisors were urged to enter
into a contract without calling fol-
bids. A contractor was presen t,
and submitted figures and was ready
to take the contract at his own price
which he contended was reasonable,
and could not be bettered if bids
were called for. The board, in the
face of opposition, refused to have
the work done in that way, and
called for proposals in the usual
way. The result was there was
something like a thousand dollars
difference in the contract price
under open competition, and the
proposed cost under the emergency
dodge. BY a narrow margin the
supervisors escaped the trap then
We believe our present supervisors
are equal to this emergency, and
will not allow themselves to be
caught in the trap now, with the