Jacksonville Port Authority v. Parkhill-Goodloe Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 03 October 1978
• Docket Number: No. FF-257,PARKHILL-GOODLOE,FF-257
• Citation: 362 So.2d 1009
• Parties: JACKSONVILLE PORT AUTHORITY, a body politic and corporate, Appellant, v.CO., INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 1009

362 So.2d 1009

JACKSONVILLE PORT AUTHORITY, a body politic and corporate, Appellant, v. PARKHILL-GOODLOE CO., INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellee.

No. FF-257.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Oct. 3, 1978.

As Corrected Oct. 18, 1978.

Dawson A. McQuaig and William Lee Allen, Jacksonville, for appellant.

Neil C. Taylor of Toole, Taylor, Moseley, Milton & Joyner; and Aubrey L. Coleman, Jr., of Smith, Currie & Hancock, Atlanta, Ga., for appellee.

McCORD, Chief Judge.

This appeal is from a final judgment finding appellant, Jacksonville Port Authority, liable to appellee Parkhill-Goodloe Co., Inc., for damages to its equipment and additional costs incurred for extended time required to complete a dredging contract which was awarded to appellee by appellant. The alleged damages resulted from the unexpected dredging of rock in carrying out the terms of the contract. We affirm.

The trial court in its final judgment stated as follows:

"Prior to bidding, the Plaintiff reviewed the boring reports furnished by the Defendant, as well as making 'on-site' probings themselves in conjunction with other prospective bidders. Neither the boring reports of the Defendant nor the probings by the Plaintiff indicated any significant rock in the area. The area in question was Bid Item No. 3 of the contract. During dredging to the required depth of 38 feet, rock was encountered as high as 35 feet but mostly around 37 feet. The defendant claims that Plaintiff was on notice of possible rock because of prior experience in dredging in an area immediately east of Bid Item No. 3 area when the Plaintiff had scraped over rock in dredging the 36 feet. In such prior dredging the Plaintiff had incurred no difficulty in reaching the 36 feet depth which would put it on notice of any significant rock. Another company had later dredged the area east of Bid Item No. 3 and incurred rock and made a claim against the Defendant. The Plaintiff claims that this information should have been disclosed to bidders and failure to do so constituted fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of implied or expressed warranty which give rise to liability on the part of the Defendant. Additionally the Plaintiff seeks relief on the grounds of mutual mistake and quantum meruit.

The Defendant additionally claims that the Plaintiff dredged too deeply and should not be able to claim damages for delay resulting therefrom. Because of the difficulty in maintaining absolute control of dredging equipment, the dredging contract provided for compensation to the depth of 40 feet 2 feet beyond the minimum required depth. The uneven surface of the rock encountered and the methods required to extract and remove the rock created the possibility of going deeper than 40 feet in some areas. There was some discrepancy likewise in depths reported by the Plaintiff and the Defendant, but nothing significant in the Court's view.

The Court finds that the Plaintiff relied on the boring reports furnished by the Defendant and had a right to do so and its own 'on-site' probings also did not reflect any significant rock to be encountered in the dredging. Further, the Defendant was on notice of rock in the area because of the prior claim from a prior contractor dredging in an adjacent area and the Defendant did not disclose the possibility of rock to the bidders, including Plaintiff, on the contract. The Court finds that Defendant had a duty to make known to the bidders on this project its full knowledge of the possibility of rock in this area. The Plaintiff incurred damages to its equipment and incurred damages for extended time to complete the dredging work for which the Defendant is responsible."

From a review of the record and the briefs of the parties, we agree with the foregoing findings and conclusions of the trial court.

The dispute here involves only Bid Item No. 3 of the bid documents which was for dredging in a certain area to a minimum depth of minus 38 feet mean low water with provision that payment would be made for going as deep as minus 40 feet. Addendum No. 1 to the contract documents issued by appellant to all prospective bidders added 13 pages consisting of seven core boring reports made by Law Engineering Testing Company for appellant at a cost to appellant of $7,271. These core boring reports indicated that the materials likely to be encountered in the area within the 38 foot depth were sand, silt, and limestone fragments. One of the seven borings showed rock at 37.1 feet and two at 40 feet. Appellee, along with two other prospective bidders, made 10 less sophisticated probings in the area which appeared to confirm the information obtained from appellant's six borings rock was not found within 40.8 feet depth. Upon commencement of dredging operations, appellee began encountering an extensive amount of fixed, solid and heavy rock. The rock which was dredged was found in peaks with holes right next to them and was encountered as shallow as minus 33 feet. Appellee is not a rock dredger and does not bid on projects which involve rock dredging of any significant amount. As a result of the large quantities of rock encountered, appellee damaged its dredge pumps and pipelines and spent an additional 19 days in the area of Bid Item No. 3 above what would have been required had only sand, silt and limestone fragments been present.

Upon encountering the rock, appellee called the project engineer for appellant and advised that rock was being encountered and that a claim would be submitted. The project engineer told appellee to go ahead and submit a claim and that it would be considered. Appellee advised appellant that since it had suffered extensive damage to its equipment, it was discontinuing dredging of the rock. Appellant responded and advised that discontinuance of the dredging of the rock would be construed as a breach of the contract, but that any claim submitted by appellee because of the rock would be given careful and thorough consideration. Appellee then resumed dredging of the rock at additional expense and damages. Upon completion of the dredging contract, appellant denied appellee's claim.

As alluded to by the trial court, the evidence shows that a dredging contractor on an earlier project for appellant in the adjacent area in dredging the same depth as required in appellee's contract had to dredge an average of seven or eight feet of rock. This information had not previously been furnished to appellee and the other bidders by appellant.

In support of its position, appellant relies upon the following provisions of the contract between it and appellee:

"1. Examination of Drawings, Specifications and Site of Work

The Bidder is advised, before submitting his proposal, to visit the site of the proposed work and familiarize himself with the nature and extent of the work and any local conditions that may in any manner affect the work to be done and equipment, materials and labor required. He is required to examine carefully the drawings and specifications and contract forms, and to inform himself accurately regarding any and all conditions and requirements contained herein that may in any manner affect the work to be performed. No allowances will be made for conditions overlooked by the Contractor."

"12. Borings

Boring information shown on the Drawings or furnished with the specifications, or both, is not guaranteed...