BALTIMORE COUNTY. 741

ments shall have been paid into the country treasury as aforesaid, the
said County Commissioners shall give an order on the treasurer for the
repayment of the depositors of the amount paid into the treasury by them
for preliminary expenses as above provided. No work shall be done on
said road nor any contract made therefor, and if the petition be for the
closing of a road no final order closing such road shall be passed, until
all the assessments made as aforesaid shall have been actually paid into
the county treasury; and when any new road is to be opened or old one
altered or improved, the work may be given out by contract or be done
by the said County Commissioners under the direction of the Roads En-
gineer and superintendence of the road supervisors of their district as
The said County Commissioners may determine; provided the contract
price or cost of construction of such road, as the case may be, shall not
exceed the amount of the net assessments collected for that purpose, and
the said County Commissioners shall not pay in full for the making of
such road until the same shall have been thoroughly examined and ac-
cepted by them, and when so examined and accepted said road shall be
opened to public travel and shall be recorded as a public road of the
county and thenceforth kept in repair as such; provided, however, that
the said County Commissioners shall not be liable in damages for any
injury happening on said road by reason of its disrepair prior to its actual
acceptance as a county road; and it is further provided, that when a county
road so opened, altered or relocated cannot be conveniently drained by
ditches or drains alongside the same, the examiners so appointed as afore-
said shall have the power to provide for such drains upon the property
outside the limits thereof and to provide for carrying off the surface
water to the nearest or most convenient place of discharge, and shall, in
making their estimates of the cost of said road, include reasonable com-
pensation to the person whose property is so used, and award such com-
pensation as a part of the damages and assess the same as a part of the
benefits arising from the construction of said road, and report their action
in the premises to the County Commissioners as a part of their return
and award; and whether such be specifically returned or not, the examin-
ers shall, in their return and award, be deemed to have taken into con-
sideration the damage to abutting propertv which may arise from all
proper and necessary drainage of said road at the time of its construc-
tion or any time thereafter; provided that no provision as aforesaid shall
be made for drainage surface water from said roads over or across the
property of any person who has not had notice of the proceedings and an
opportunity to be heard and appeal as hereinbefore provided. And in
all cases where roads are hereafter dedicated to the use of the public by
private grant, such grants shall be taken to carry with them the right at
all times to properly drain such highways without liability to abutting
owners for injuries occasioned in consequence thereof. The County Com-
missioners of Baltimore County shall also have the power at any time
of their own volition and without a petition being filed as hereinbefore
provided to open, alter, relocate or close any county road upon giving