A disputed insurance claim heading for trial next year over construction of Washington, D.C.'s two-year-old Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge revolves around the design-build joint venture's problems in 2019 with concrete voids and honeycombing. The flaws required demolition and rebuilding costing millions of dollars.
The disputed insurance payout is considered a potentially important test of insurance policy language, especially the London Engineering Group 3 builders' risk policy exclusion. "There have been no published court cases in the United States that interpret the meaning" of the comparatively new exclusion meant to define and limit the insurers' obligation to pay, according to Steven Coombs, president of consultant Risk Resources.