It has been more than two years since the Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others, and yet scores of lawsuits filed against firms involved in the bridge’s design and upkeep are just getting under way. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis more than two years ago has spawned 121 lawsuits. While the replacement bridge, completed last year, required the attention of more than 600 craft workers and engineers, just one state judge, Deborah Hedlund, sitting in the Hennepin County District
Contractors across the nation will be watching the Mississippi Supreme Court Oct. 5 to see if it upholds a Rankin County circuit court decision that ruled the insurer is not responsible for subcontractor performance under a contractor’s Commercial General Liability policy. In Architex Association Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Co., Architex alleges that “an unintended construction defect by a subcontractor constitutes an occurrence that triggers coverage under a contractor's CGL insurance policy,” according to a statement from the law firm of Burr & Forman LLP of Jackson, Miss., representing Architex. The lawsuit alleges that Scottsdale has a “duty to investigate and
A case challenging the patentability of business methods will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December. The outcome may rock innovators and inventors in the construction industry. Bilski v. Doll is Bernard Bilski’s last appeal. Doll is John Doll, acting director of the U.S. patent office, which has rejected Bilski’s patent for a method to hedge risks in commodities trading. The case would normally be a far cry from construction, except the language of the most recent rejection, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in October, added a new bar for any business-method patent
A federal district judge has issued a ruling that creates a significant setback for the state of Georgia in the ongoing water wars among Florida, Georgia and Alabama. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, from the District of Minnesota, on July 17 ruled Georgia must stop using water from Lake Lanier to meet Atlanta’s drinking-water needs within three years unless Congress permits it. He also ruled withdrawals over the next three years must be frozen at current levels. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) called the ruling a “monumental milestone....The judge’s decision allows the governors to come together to reach an agreement
Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority has settled in full with the insurers of URS Corp., San Francisco, for $74.75 million in claims for the 2004 collapse of a section of elevated highway during construction. Three piers sank under a 140-ft post-tensioned section in April 2004 on the 9-mile-long Reversible Express Lanes project. One of them sank 11 ft and the others a few inches, says Sue Chrzan, Authority spokeswoman. The mediated agreement was reached without determining a cause of the collapse. FIGG Engineering Group, Tallahassee, Fla., designed the box-girder structure, and the Authority will receive $750,000 previously escrowed for claims resolved with
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 refused to accept a case seeking to stop the federal government from building a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico, letting stand a lower-court ruling authorizing its construction.
The Appellate Division of the New York state court ruled four to zero to uphold the state’s right to use eminent domain to build the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y. Developer Forest City Ratner Cos. (FCRC), New York City, says it plans to break this year, with the intent that the Nets will play basketball in the planned arena, named Barclays Center, in the 2011-12 season. In 2006, the developer was aiming to move have the Nets into the arena by the 2009-2010 NBA season. According to FCRC, this is the 23rd consecutive ruling in favor of the megadevelopment,
In an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 4 limited the legal reach of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, known as the Superfund law, in recovering cleanup costs from companies with possible links to pollution at sites. The high court said Shell Oil should not be held liable for contamination at an Arvin, Calif., site where it sold pesticides to a now-bankrupt chemical firm. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said liability under the relevant section of the Superfund law “does not extend beyond the limits of the statute itself.”
Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a new $3.1-billion Strip resort, is suing its lenders for reneging on a critical $800-million construction loan. The 63-story, 3,815-room development is about 70% complete and scheduled to open in October. On April 23, an investment group led by Miami-based developer Jeffrey Soffer filed a $3-billion lawsuit in Clark County District Court against the project’s 11 lenders for refusing to provide prearranged financing. The developer already has invested over $2 billion in the project. A deepening recession and frozen credit markets make new financing difficult. Fontainebleau had hoped to raise $700 million to $900 million through condominium
General contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis and structural engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates have settled a lawsuit with the family of the man who died in his apartment when the boom of a 210-ft tower crane toppled while working on Tower 333 in Bellevue, Wash. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. An LCL action against MKA, part of the suit, remains unresolved. According to MKA Chairman and CEO Jon D. Magnusson, MKA designed the crane base assuming a tie-in to the building frame in the initial configuration, but the crane was erected without a tie-in. The reason for this is the
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