Verhaegen v. Guy F. Atkinson Co.

This is an action for damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff while performing his duties as a city inspector on a public works project. Defendant contractor appeals from an adverse judgment.

The structure being built was the Anaheim Street Bridge in Long Beach, which spans the channel of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, which at that point is the Los Angeles River. The channel has two levees or embankments to contain the water therein. There was a temporary construction road, some 15 feet wide, running east and west. It was just north of a row of concrete piers…