That’s the price tag for the misadventure in the Port Angeles WSDOT project to build pontoons for the Hood Canal Bridge (the world’s longest floating bridge over salt water), which was abandoned in 2004 upon discovery of an Native American burial grounds. This chart at p. 7 lays out the details. And this May 16,… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: May 2006
Implosion
Posted in ConstructionWell, this is the opposite of construction. Worth a look, from last weekend’s cooling tower implosion in Oregon.
Reversing Jury Verdict, Court Holds Warranty Clause to be Unambiguous
Posted in ConstructionThis warranty clause in this new case read as follows: WARRANTY. The Contractor shall guarantee all work against faulty materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of final payment and the performance bond shall remain in full force and effect for the period. The clause was at issue in a… Continue Reading
Apprentice Training Rules Not Preempted by ERISA
Posted in ConstructionYou’ll have to be somewhat of an ERISA junkie to enjoy the full scope of this 9th Circuit decision, which turns away a preemption challenge to Oregon’s apprentice training system. Oregon evaluates an application to form a new apprentice training committee based in part on a “needs” requirement — that is, whether the new proposed… Continue Reading
A Joke to End the Week…
Posted in Construction…at the risk of contributing to the already abundant collection of anti-lawyer jokes, at least this one has something to do with construction.
Four Significant Supreme Court Cases Scheduled for Argument in May
Posted in ConstructionThe Supreme Court will take up four significant issues in cases scheduled for oral argument this month: 1. Surety Law. Whether a surety’s obligation to a contractor on a subcontractor’s performance bond was conditioned on the contractor declaring a default before the subcontractor substantially completed the work and whether a contractor may recover attorney fees… Continue Reading
Distinguishing Stute, Division I Awards Summary Judgment to GC in Ladder Accident Case
Posted in ConstructionThe two cases seemed similar enough. In the venerable Stute case decided in 1990, the employee of a subcontractor slipped while installing gutters on a condo project and fell off the roof. The Supreme Court held he could bring a direct action against the project’s GC based on its nondelegable duty to comply with WISHA… Continue Reading
Bad Faith Judgment Against Insurer Reversed by Division I
Posted in ConstructionIn a coverage dispute stemming from construction of a custom home, Division I has delivered a victory to Mutual of Enumclaw (MOE). The trial court had concluded that MOE committed bad faith sufficient to estop its coverage denial by disrupting the private arbitration between its insured and the home’s owner. Division I’s opinion provides guidance… Continue Reading
Arrests Made in “Big Dig” Concrete Investigation
Posted in ConstructionA Sobering Thought: Six employees of the company supplying concrete to Boston’s “Big Dig” have been arrested on criminal charges they falsified records to hide the poor quality of concrete delivered to the project.
Contractor Wins Key Ruling in Suit with Union Trust Funds over ERISA Preemption
Posted in ConstructionThe scenario is all too familiar to Washington general contractors — a subcontractor neglects to make its fringe benefit contributions to union trust funds. The trust funds in turn threaten to file a lien against the GC’s payment bond and foreclose under RCW 39.08. In the Trig Electric case decided in 2000, our Supreme Court… Continue Reading
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