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A “Differing Site Condition” claim was submitted to the County of Morris by the contractor constructing the new 6-span pre-stressed concrete bridge over the Jersey City Reservoir. The bridge was supported by two abutments and five piers. The abutments were founded on pipe piles and the pier foundations were spread footings on tremie concrete slabs. The construction involved the construction of cofferdam structures in water depths exceeding 20 feet. The project required the substructures to be constructed in a dry environment to allow for the construction of granite masonry on the pier shafts. The foundations required approximately 28 feet of excavation below the stream bed. Scour countermeasures, by means of tremie concrete 17 ft thick, was required as the base for the spread footing.
The contractor claimed that the soil conditions encountered during construction differed from the geologic profile provided in the contract documents. On the basis of the “differing subsurface conditions”, the multi-million dollar claim involved damaged sheet piles; the need for drilling, splitting and blasting methods; additional equipment, labor and material costs; delay of construction schedule; and additional construction cost for other phases of the project resulting from the schedule delay.
YU & Associates was retained by the prime Claims Consultant on behalf of the County of Morris to provide expert witness and consultation service related to geotechnical engineering. The scope of work included meeting with all involved parties, reviewing all relevant design and construction documents, reviewing NJDOT Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge, reviewing relevant correspondences, comparing information from the Contract Documents to actual subsurface conditions encountered, evaluating the project bid documents relative to typical standards for subsurface geotechnical data collection and presentation, and providing opinions on the appropriateness of contractor’s cofferdam construction methods.
