Sammons-Robertson Co. v. Massman Const. Co.

156 F.2d 53, 1946 U.S. App. LEXIS 2525
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMay 20, 1946
DocketNos. 3061, 3062
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 156 F.2d 53 (Sammons-Robertson Co. v. Massman Const. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sammons-Robertson Co. v. Massman Const. Co., 156 F.2d 53, 1946 U.S. App. LEXIS 2525 (10th Cir. 1946).

Opinion

HUXMAN, Circuit Judge.

These appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma involve judgments rendered in an action on a contract, instituted by the Sammons-Robertson Company, and on counterclaims by the defendant Massman Construction Company. For the purpose of this appeal, the necessary parties are the plaintiff, herein called Sammons; the Massman Construction Company, herein called Massman; the Grand River Dam Authority, herein called the Authority, and the surety companies, herein called the Surety Companies. The complaint set out twelve separate causes of action, and Mass-man’s answer set out two separate counterclaims on which it sought recovery. The court found for Sammons on some of its causes of action and denied relief on others. It found for Massman on one of its counterclaims and against it on the other. A balancing of these respective findings re-[55]*55suited in a final judgment for Sammons against the Authority for $6,136.37. In Number 3061 Sammons has appealed from that portion of the judgment adverse to it, and in Number 3062 Massman and the Surety Companies have appealed from those portions of the judgment adverse to Massman. The case was largely factual and most of the reasons urged for reversal by the respective parties are that the respective findings of fact complained of are not supported by substantial evidence, or that the trial court misconstrued the legal effect of some of the provisions of the contract. The record consists of 2,215 pages of evidence, and the briefs of the respective parties are extensive. It is obvious that due regard to the length of the opinion will make it impossible to discuss in detail all the items of evidence or all of the legal contentions that are advanced by the various parties. The appeals in the two cases were consolidated and were presented on a single record and briefs, and will be so treated in this opinion.

The Authority was created by the Act of the Legislature of Oklahoma, 82 O.S.A. §§ 862, 881, for flood control and hydroelectric power development purposes. It entered into an agreement with the United States government whereby the United States agreed to finance the construction of a dam on the Grand River. The Authority employed engineers, and thereafter Massman was granted Contract No. 7 for the construction of the dam. The contract contained sixty separate items of work.

Sammons entered into a subcontract with Massman whereby it agreed to perform the work required to be done under the following items, at the prices as follows:

Item 2: Earth excavation in the valley 35 cents per cu. yd.
Item 3: Earth excavation in roads and parkings 35 cents per cu. yd.
Item 4: Overhaul 1 cent per sta. yd.
Item 5: Tamping or rolling fill 11 cents per cu. yd.
Item 6: Mass rock excavation 1.75 per cu. yd.
Item 7: Trench rock excavation 4.70 per cu. yd.

The subcontract provided that the requirements, terms and conditions of the main contract and the plans and specifications therein were made a part of the subcontract.

In Number 3061, Sammons complains of the adverse rulings of the court on Counts 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and in Number 3062 Mass-man and the Surety Companies complain of the court’s judgment on Counts 11 and 12 and of the court’s judgment disallowing Massman recovery on one of its counterclaims.

Number 3061.

Count 1.

In this count, Sammons sought recovery against Massman for additional compensation for work done under Items 2 and 3 of the contract. Recovery was sought in part on the basis of quantum meruit for work done outside the contract, and in part on an agreement for additional compensation for what was claimed to be extra work. This claim is for work in connection with a dike, the treatment of gravel, and the work around the plant and yards.

Complaint in connection with the dike was that' rather than permitting Sammons to dispose of the excavated earth and gravel in the cheapest and most convenient way, Massman required Sammons to construct a dike extending from the region above the damsite across the valley floor for flood protection, which made the disposal of the waste material more expensive. From the evidence it appears that the dike was considered necessary to the construction of the project to protect the work from flood waters. It was discussed between the parties in the negotiations for the subcontract. Sammons constructed the dike without objection. Sammons also sought to recover the added expense of disposing of excavated material beyond the dike on the theory that had the dike been placed 700 feet above the damsite this added expense would not have been necessary. It is sufficient to say that Sammons did not object to the placing of the dam and that it may not now complain because in retrospect it appears that a different location would have been more economical.

Complaint is also made that changing the ratio of the slope of the excavation for the dike from a ratio of three-to-one to one-to-one increased Sammons’ expenses. The specifications required the excavation on the down-stream side to be at a slope of [56]*56one vertical to three horizontal. Massman requested Sammons to leave the slope at a one-to-bne ratio. There was evidence which supported a conclusion that Sammons’ only objection to this change was the additional expense of coming back and doing some additional work required by the change, and that it was agreed that if it was required to come back and do such additional work, it should be compensated therefor. Sammons does not claim that it came back to do this additional work.

Sammons also contends that Massman required it to “select, segregate, separate arid place gravel” for the benefit of Massman in the construction of roads, ballasting railroads, and making storage piles for future use. The court found that no material was stored for future use. Sammons contends that the job was what is known as a cut-and-waste job, and that being required to do the above things compelled it to carry this material away by shovels and trucks at an added expense. An examination of the entire. record refutes this contention. The contract and subcontract clearly reveal that they contemplated the excavated material should be used where practical in other parts of the work, as directed either by the engineers, the Authority, or Massman, and that Sammons should receive extra compensation only where the haul exceeded 700 feet. Sammons was paid under numerous in-. voices for overhauling charges. Complaint is also made that Sammons was required to refrain from wasting material on the area where Massman’s plant was later located, and that the additional haul resulting therefrom increased its cost. This argument is also based on the same theory alluded to, that the contract was what was known as a cut-and-waste job, and that the wishes of the main contractor were therefore subordinate to those of Sammons. Sammons is wrong in this contention. As already found, .it was not. primarily a cut-and-waste job and it follows that Sammons had no superior right to dump this material on the site selected for Massman’s plant. The findings of the court on the various contentions under Count 1 find support in the record and are therefore approved.

Count 4.

Count 4 relates to three matters. It first deals with the excavation of rock in the gravity section of the dam.

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Bluebook (online)
156 F.2d 53, 1946 U.S. App. LEXIS 2525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sammons-robertson-co-v-massman-const-co-ca10-1946.