Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc. v. Balch, [Ms. 1100637, Sept. 20, 2013] ___ So. 3d ___ (Ala. 2013) (on application
for rehearing). In the original opinion in this case, the Court held that
a road-construction contractor could not be sued after the Department
of Transportation accepted the work, applying the "'accepted-work
doctrine,' which limits the post-acceptance duty of a road-construction
company to third parties." On rehearing, only two Justices concur
in the opinion that would adopt that doctrine. The special concurrences
hold that the failure of the state to maintain the roadway over the five
and one-half years after it accepted the work was the proximate cause,
not any negligence by the contractor. One special concurrence notes that
¤ 6-5-701, Ala. Code 1975, enacted in 2012, will govern future cases.
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