Chaney v. Travelers Insurance Co.

238 So. 2d 847, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 4965
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1970
DocketNo. 8045
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 238 So. 2d 847 (Chaney v. Travelers Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chaney v. Travelers Insurance Co., 238 So. 2d 847, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 4965 (La. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

LANDRY, Judge.

The Parish of East Baton Rouge (Parish) and J. H. Jenkins, Contractor, Inc., (Jenkins) and Jenkins’ insurer, The Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers), take these appeals from the judgment of the lower court awarding plaintiff judgment for damages to plaintiff’s residence resulting from construction incident to improvement of the North Melrose Canal, a project undertaken by the Parish on premises adjoining those of plaintiff.

[849]*849The work was performed by Jenkins for the Parish pursuant to a contract containing a hold harmless or indemnity clause. The Parish filed an exception of no cause of action based on the hold harmless clause in its contract. The Parish also filed a third party demand against Jenkins and Travelers for reimbursement under the hold harmless agreement in the event the Parish should be held liable. Jenkins and Travelers reconvened against the Parish. The trial court absolved Jenkins of negligence and held the Parish liable under LSA-C.C. Article 667. The trial court also awarded the Parish judgment against Jenkins and Travelers under the indemnity clause in the contract. We affirm the judgment of the trial court exonerating Jenkins from liability resulting from negligence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court holding the Parish liable but for reasons different from those given by the lower court. We reverse the judgment granting the Parish recovery from Jenkins and Travelers under the indemnity clause.

The facts of this case are undisputed. Plaintiff concedes Jenkins was not negligent in the performance of the work. The project called for the enlarging of an existing open drainage canal and its improvement by installing therein two parallel lines of large concrete pipe to serve as conduits. The pipes, approximately 101/2 feet in inside diameter, were extremely heavy and ponderous, each section thereof weighing approximately 19 tons. The dual pipes, spaced five feet apart, were covered with earth. Excavation was effected through the use of large earth moving bulldozers and a dragline or crane. The sections of pipe were lowered into place by means of a self-propelled dragline which moved on tractor-like treads. After enlargement, one bank of the “canal” was within approximately 10 feet of plaintiff’s residence.

In essence plaintiff testified his home was built approximately 12 years prior to the project in question. At the time the work was performed, the residence was in excellent condition. During construction, movement of the heavy dragline caused the house to vibrate, particularly in the kitchen which room was nearest the work site. After the work had been in progress for some time, plaintiff noticed cracks around the doors and windows and complained to a workman at the site that the work was damaging plaintiff’s residence.

Mrs. Chaney testified substantially to the same effect as plaintiff. She also stated that the vibration was so bad it materially interfered with television reception. To protect some of her delicate glassware, she removed it from her china closet and placed it in boxes on the floor. She also noted that the tremors caused her kitchen cabinets to pull loose approximately one and a half inches from the wall.

Dr. Louis J. Capozzoli, Jr., called as an expert by plaintiff, testified he is head of a firm of consulting engineers whose specialty is foundation work. His inspection of plaintiff’s home after completion of the project revealed cracks in the sheet rock walls going from the corners of virtually all door and window openings. He concluded the cracks were fresh and had appeared within a year of his inspection. Dr. Capozzoli found no signs of settlement around the outside perimeter of the house but did observe some unevenness in the interior flooring. He was of the opinion that the settlement noted did not cause the cracks. In Dr. Capozzoli’s opinion the large dragline used to place the pipes in position would cause sufficient ground vibrations to produce the damage in question if the dragline had been operated on the side of the canal on which plaintiff’s home is located. He also stated that if the drag-line were operated on the opposite side of the canal, the intervening excavation would tend to isolate the vibrations to the point that the resulting disturbance should have little effect on plaintiff’s residence. He conceded, however, that even situated on the opposite side of the excavation, the dragline could conceivably cause the damage. It was his opinion that the movement [850]*850of this ponderous machine did in fact cause plaintiff’s walls to crack.

Kenneth Lindsey, job superintendent for Jenkins, and Herman Rogillio, Project Engineer for the Parish, testified in essence that, among other equipment, a 100 ton dragline was used in the excavation work. They also stated that the canal was deepened and enlarged considerably to accommodate the pipes. When excavation was completed, gravel was placed in the bottom of the hole. The pipe sections were then placed in the hole by the dragline and shoved into proper alignment with a bulldozer. Afterwards the pipes were covered with earth. They also stated that the dragline operated at all times on the side of the canal opposite plaintiff’s residence. Neither witness observed any cave-ins near plaintiff’s home. Both stated that at no time did plaintiff complain of damage to his home.

In holding defendant Parish liable, the trial court relied upon LSA-C.C. art. 667, and the decision of this court in Reymond v. State, Department of Highways, La.App., 217 So.2d 488, rendered December 16, 1968. Article 667, above, states:

“Art. 667. Although a proprietor may do with his estate whatever he pleases, still he can not make ■ any work on it, which may deprive his neighbor of the liberty of enjoying his own, or which may be the cause of any damage to him.”

Plaintiff in Reymond, above, sued for structural damages to her home resulting from construction of a nearby interstate highway. The court sustained an award in plaintiff’s favor on the finding that Article 667, above, rendered defendant liable for damages caused plaintiff’s residence because of vibrations resulting from pile driving operations within the highway right of way.

Our decision in Reymond was reviewed by the Supreme Court in Reymond v. State Department of Highways, 255 La. 425, 231 So.2d 375, rendered January 20, 1970, wherein the applicability of Article 667, above, was stated as follows:

“The English word ‘work’ in Article 667 is a translation of the French ‘ouv-rage’ used in Domat’s No. 8, and both can mean either ‘labor’ or ‘construction, structure, or building’. In the light of the examples given by Domat in his discussion of the law which became the source of our Article 667, it is clear that ‘ouvrage’ and ‘work’ mean ‘construction’. Furthermore, our use of the combination of words ‘make any work’ not only connotes but denotes the meaning ‘construction’ or ‘building’.
* * * * * *
“Our Article 667 as modified by Article 668 either creates a veritable predial servitude and is a ‘catch-all’ for any possible omissions from the later articles prescribing particular servitudes of law, or is a general statement of the principle of law forming the basis of certain particular servitudes which are thereafter enumerated.

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Related

Chaney v. Travelers Insurance Company
249 So. 2d 181 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
238 So. 2d 847, 1970 La. App. LEXIS 4965, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chaney-v-travelers-insurance-co-lactapp-1970.