Beall Pipe & Tank Corporation, a Corporation v. Shell Oil Company, a Corporation

With jurisdiction grounded upon diversity of citizenship, appellant (Beall) has brought suit against appellee (Shell) for damages resulting from alleged product defect. Jury trial resulted in a verdict for Beall. Challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, Shell then moved for new trial and for judgment non obstante veredicto. The District Court granted both motions and entered judgment for Shell; this appeal followed. We affirm.

The product involved is Shell Culvert Coating Compound, an asphalt product.

Beall is a manufacturer of tanks, pipes and trailers, with plants in various western states. Among its pipe products are culvert pipe, a corrugated, galvanized product used for conveyance of water under roadways, and “smooth” pipe, an ordinary steel product used for carrying water under pressure in domestic water and irrigation systems. This lawsuit concerns the latter.

The processing of pipe involves dipping it in hot asphalt to achieve a protective coating of the metal surface. Beall’s Portland, Oregon, plant was dipping both culvert and smooth pipe. Culvert pipe was dipped in a horizontal vat, while smooth pipe, since 1924, had been dipped in a…