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****************************************************** The ``officially released'' date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ``officially released'' date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ``officially released'' date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** VERTEFEUILLE, J., with whom SULLIVAN, J., joins, dissenting. I respectfully dissent. The dispositive issue in this case is not whether the trial court properly concluded that the defendants'1 condemnation awards should be increased. Rather, the principal question is whether, in increasing the awards based on its consideration of the existing bridge abutments on the properties, the trial court's factual findings were clearly erroneous. The majority concludes that the trial court's determination that the properties have a special adaptability for a highest and best use as a bridge site was speculative because it was unsupported by the record. The majority therefore concludes that the trial court's increase of the defendants' condemnation award was improper. Because I would find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by considering the special adaptability of the abutments when it assessed the defendants' damages and, most importantly, because the trial court's findings were not clearly erroneous, I must dissent. The function of the trial court in condemnation hearings is to determine as closely as possible the just compensation for the property taken. Alemany v. Commissioner of Transportation, 215 Conn. 437, 444, 576 A.2d 503 (1990). This court has held that, in condem-

nation hearings, the value placed by the trial court on the property taken is a matter of fact and that this court should uphold the trial court's finding unless it was clearly erroneous. Gebrian v. Bristol Redevelopment Agency, 171 Conn. 565, 571, 370 A.2d 1055 (1976); Birnbaum v. Ives, 163 Conn. 12, 20

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