payment of such toll, shall be liable to the corporation for three times the amount thereof, and any corporation which, by its agents or servants, or in any manner, shall illegally collect any toll from any person traveling on such road shall be liable to such person for three times the amount thereof. [L. '69, p. 346, § 11; Cd. '81, § 2465; 1 H. C., § 1581.] § 5725. Notice to be Given of Completion of Bridge.-Any bridge constructed by a corporation formed under this act, when completed and fit for public travel, and notice thereof is posted in some conspicuous place on such bridge, or by publication in some newspaper, as in the case of a road, is a common highway, within the meaning and subject to the conditions specified in section 5722, as to roads, and subject to the further power of the corporation to prescribe, by advertisement in some conspicuous place on such bridge, the rate of speed anyone may travel on such bridge. [L. '69, p. 346, § 12; Cd. ’81, $ 2466; 1 H. C., § 1582.] "Act" refers to §§ 5717-5729, 8736, 8739 and 8740. § 5726. Tolls, Collection and Liability for.-A corporation may collect and receive such tolls for crossing its bridge as may be plainly written or printed upon a sign-board, posted in some conspicuous place on such bridge, but no person not liable to pay toll on a road, as provided in section 5723, is liable to pay toll for crossing such bridge; and any person who shall pass over such bridge without paying the toll legally chargeable thereat, or any corporation which shall illegally collect any toll from any person crossing such bridge, shall be respectively liable to each other for three times the amount of such toll, as provided in section 5724, in case of roads. [L. '69, p. 346, § 13; Cd. ’81, § 2467; 1 H. C., § 1583.] § 5727. To Keep Accounts and File With Auditor.-It shall be the duty of every incorporation organized for the construction of any macadamized road, plank road, clay road, or bridge, to keep an accurate statement on [or] account of the moneys expended by said corporation in the construction of any such road or bridge, and keeping the same in repair, including any sums paid for lands appropriated as necessary for said corporation, which statement or account shall be verified at the time of the annual meeting held for the election of directors, by the president of the said corporation, or one of the directors thereof, to the effect that he believes the said account to be just and correct; and a copy of such verified account shall, within ten days after such annual election be deposited with the auditor of the county with whom the articles of incorporation are filed. Said incorporation shall also keep an accurate account of the tolls received for traveling upon said road or bridge, or of other profits accruing to said corporation, which accounts shall be verified in like manner, and a copy thereof deposited with said county auditor within ten days after such annual election. [L. '69, p. 347, § 15; Cd. ’81, § 2469; 1 H. C., § 1584.] § 5728. Toll Road or Bridge may Become Free, When.-At any time after the expiration of ten years from the time of taking tolls on any macadamized road, plank road, clay road, or bridge, it shall be lawful for the county court [commissioners] of any county through which any such road, or part thereof, shall pass, or in which said bridge may be situated, to pay to such corporation the amount of money expended by it in the construction of such road or bridge, and keeping the same in repair, and all other necessary expenses, including any sums paid for lands appropriated by such corporation, together with interest on said account and sums of money, at the rate of twenty per centum per annum, after deducting from said amount the tolls and other profits annually received by said corporation; and after the payment of the amounts expended in constructing and keeping in repair said road or bridge, and other necessary expenses incurred in and about the same, and interest thereon, less the amount received by such corporation, the said road or bridge shall become free for public travel. [L. '69, p. 347, § 16; Cd. '81, § 2470; 1 H. C., § 1585.] See, also, supra, § 5682. $5729. County may Purchase Road or Bridge. The foregoing section shall not be construed to prohibit said county court [commissioners] at any time before the expiration of said period of ten years, from purchasing said road or bridge, for any sum that may be agreed upon by said county court [commissioners] and corporation. [L. '69, p. 384, § 17; Cd. ’81, § 2471; 1 H. C., § 1586.] CHAPTER XVII. Roads Improved or Paved at Expense of Land Benefited. $ 5730. County Commissioners may Establish, etc.-The commissioners of any county may, at any regular or called session, cause to be established, located and constructed, improved, straightened, widened, altered or relocated any public road or highway as herein provided, when the same is conducive to the public convenience or welfare. [L. '93, p. 301, § 1.] Cited in 13 Wash. 54; 20 Wash. 40; 22 Wash. 107. $ 5731. Definition and Construction of Terms. The word “improvement" as used in this chapter shall mean a road as contemplated to be improved under this act. The word "road" as used in Rem. Wash. Code Vol. I-130 this chapter shall be construed to mean a public highway or thoroughfare. The words "territory (or property) particularly benefited" as used in this chapter shall be construed to include, in addition to the lands lying within two miles on either side of the improvement, all cities, road districts or townships, which will be subject to special assessment for the improvement. The words "improvement boundary" as used in this chapter shall be construed to mean a line two miles distant from and parallel to the center line of the improvement on either side thereof, connected at the places of beginning or termini by a line at right angles thereto, unless such line enter the corporate boundary of a city, in which case the improvement boundary shall follow the meandering of the city boundary in so far as said boundary shall come within said two-mile limit. Words used in the singular in this chapter shall include the plural, and the plural the singular. [L. '93, p. 301, § 2.] § 5732. Limitation on Construction.-No road improvement shall be located or commenced under this chapter unless the same has its beginning at the boundary limits of an incorporated city, or trade center located on a railroad or navigable body of water, or connect with a road or road system already improved under this chapter, or with a road which has been otherwise constructed of such a nature to permit of heavy freighting and rapid travel on the same at any time of the year. [L. '93, p. 301, § 3.] Cited in 13 Wash. 54. § 5733. Description of Improved Road.-An improved road contemplated under this chapter shall be constructed as near as practicable along the center line of the established highway, and shall be uniformly graded to a width of not less than sixteen feet; the profile thereof shall not have a greater incline at any point of more than one foot perpendicular to twenty feet horizontal; proper drains, culverts and bridges shall be constructed to convey off all surface and seepage water, and when the road is located along a hillside or incline, the drainage of the surface of the roadbed shall be toward the hillside or incline; a roadway shall be constructed upon the graded road in such a manner and of such material as will permit of heavy freighting by team and rapid driving during any time of the year, and if such construction be a macadam or Telford pavement, or a roadbed of equal durability of other material, it shall not be less than twelve feet wide; if of plank, gravel, crushed stone or other material equally or less permanent, it shall be not less than eight feet wide, and shall be constructed on the grade so that the righthand side of the roadway going out from the place of beginning shall as nearly as practicable conform to the center line of the grade. [L. '93, p. 302, § 4.] § 5734. Costs. The costs and expenses of the improvements made under this chapter shall be apportioned as near as may be to the corporations, companies, persons and property benefited thereby. [L. '93, p. 302, § 5.] § 5735. Application to Commissioners.-Application for such improvement shall be made to the commissioners of the county, signed by two or more owners of lots or lands which will be particularly benefited thereby: Provided, that such petitioners shall appear by the assessment-rolls of the county to own property which will be particularly benefited, representing in value not less than ten thousand dollars for each mile of the improvement petitioned for, and the petitioners must represent property within the improvement boundary equivalent to not less than five thousand dollars for each mile of the proposed improvement. [L. '93, p. 302, § 6.] § 5736. Petition to be Filed With Clerk of County Commissioners. The petition shall be filed with the clerk of the board of county commissioners, and shall set forth the necessity of the improvement, and describe the route and termini thereof; and there shall be filed therewith a bond payable to the county with at least two good and sufficient sureties in not less than one thousand dollars, conditioned for the payment of all costs if the prayer of the petition [petitioners] be not granted, or be dismissed for any cause. [L. '93, p. 303, § 7.] § 5737. Approval of Bond-Hearing on Petition-Dismissal.—If the bond be approved by the clerk of the board of county commissioners, he shall immediately deliver a copy of the petition to the commissioners who may appoint a time for the hearing and consideration of said petition, and if the commissioners upon the hearing find against the improvement, they shall dismiss the petition and proceedings at the cost of the petitioners; and they shall cause an itemized bill of costs to be made up by the clerk for their examination and approval, which shall include the per diem of the engineer, together with all other costs necessarily made. [L. '93, p. 304, § 11; L. '99, p. 169, § 1.] $ 5738. Order for Improvement Surveyor's Plat and Estimate.If the commissioners find for the improvement they shall cause to be entered on their journal an order directing the engineer to proceed with the construction of said improvement in the following manner: 1. The county engineer shall be the engineer and shall go upon the road described in the petition or as changed in accordance with this chapter, and survey and level the same, and set a stake at every hundred feet, numbering from the place of beginning, out; note the intersection of lines and boundaries of lands, road districts, or township lines, landmarks and road crossings, and make a report, profile and plat of the same, and estimate the number of cubic yards of earth or other substance to be removed, cut or filled, necessary bridges, culverts and drains to be constructed, obstructions to be removed, the materials along or adjacent to said road which can be made available and used in construction of the same, the estimated cost thereof, and an estimate of the cost of each working section, as hereinafter provided, and of each section of one hundred feet. 2. The engineer shall also make and return a schedule and plat of all the lots and lands lying within the improvement boundary, which plat shall be drawn upon a scale sufficiently large to represent all the meanderings of the road proposed to be improved, and shall distinctly show the boundary lines of each lot or tract of land included in the improvement boundary, the name of the owner of each lot or tract of land as the same may appear upon the records at the time, and an estimate of the total cost of the entire improvement proposed, which estimate shall include all fees and salaries estimated to be paid for locating, supervising and appraising, together with such other matters as the engineer may deem material. The profile shall show the surface line, the grade line and gradient fixed, and the engineer shall make and file with his report an itemized bill of all costs made in the discharge of his duty under this section, and shall file his report with the clerk of the board of county commissioners within thirty days after making the survey and level. [L. '93, p. 304, § 12; L. '99, p. 170, § 2.] § 5739. Appraisers-Oath and Duties of.-Immediately upon the filing of the engineer's report, the county commissioners shall appoint three disinterested appraisers, residing within the county, but not within the territory particularly benefited by the proposed improvement, whose duty it shall be to at once proceed to assess the benefits of such proposed improvement to the corporations, companies, persons and property particularly benefited thereby, and estimate the damages to property over or through which the road shall be established or relocated, and award the same to the owners thereof. Before entering upon their duties, the appraisers shall severally take and subscribe to an oath to impartially and, to the best of their knowledge and ability, perform the duties required of them, and file said oath with the clerk of the board of county commissioners. Said clerk shall thereupon and forthwith deliver into the hands of the appraisers the engineer's report upon the proposed improvement, and all maps, charts and schedules pertaining thereto, taking a receipt from said appraisers therefor. The appraisers shall thereupon proceed to actually view in person all lands as shall appear from the engineer's report to lie within the improvement boundary, and obtain from the duplicate assessment-roll of the county the total assessed valuation at the time of all property within the limits of any road district or township through or into which the proposed improvement |