Opinion ID: 1309366
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Monroe County Had Primary Responsibility to Reconstruct the Bridge.

Text: Soo Line asserts that the agency decision was contrary to statutory law in failing to find that Monroe County bore the primary responsibility for reconstruction of the destroyed bridge. This argument involves the interpretation of Iowa Code section 327F.2 (1991). That statute provides: Every railroad company shall build, maintain, and keep in good repair all bridges, abutments, or other construction necessary to enable it to cross over or under any canal, watercourse, other railway, public highway, or other way, except as otherwise provided by law, and shall be liable for all damages sustained by any person by reason of any neglect or violation of the provisions of this section. Relying on the except as otherwise provided by law language contained in section 327F.2, Soo Line argues that, by reason of Iowa Code section 306.4(2), jurisdiction and control over secondary roads is vested in the county board of supervisors of the respective counties. It notes that the secondary road system includes all bridges and culverts contained on such roads. Iowa Code § 309.3 (1991); see Larsen v. Pottawattamie County, 173 N.W.2d 579, 581 (Iowa 1970) (a bridge is an integral part of the road on which it is located). As a result of these statutes, Soo Line contends, it is otherwise provided by law that Monroe County be responsible for reconstruction of the bridge. The agency and the district court rejected Soo Line's interpretation of section 327F.2 on the ground that the general responsibility of counties for construction of bridges on secondary roads was surely a matter of legislative awareness when that statute was enacted. Given that circumstance, the agency and district court concluded that section 327F.2 must necessarily be viewed as a special statute fixing responsibility of a railroad company as to bridges ... necessary to enable it to cross over or under any ... public highway. We agree with the interpretation that the agency and district court placed on section 327F.2. It is a special statute dealing with highway bridges that cross railroad lines. Its manifest intent is, we believe, to relieve the public of the expense of constructing and maintaining bridges at those crossing points. See Farley v. Chicago, R.I. & P. Ry., 42 Iowa 234, 236 (1875). The agency acted correctly in placing the burden of reconstructing the bridge on Soo Line without regard to alternative routes or the availability of public funding sources.