Sandy Hites Co. v. State Highway Commission

149 S.W.2d 828, 347 Mo. 954, 1941 Mo. LEXIS 758
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 18, 1941
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 149 S.W.2d 828 (Sandy Hites Co. v. State Highway Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sandy Hites Co. v. State Highway Commission, 149 S.W.2d 828, 347 Mo. 954, 1941 Mo. LEXIS 758 (Mo. 1941).

Opinions

This is an action in four counts seeking to recover the value of additional thickness of concrete pavement, over the amount paid for by the State, on four sections of State highway work. On Count 1 (for $5376.17 on Section E) and Count 2 (for $6232.79 on Section F), the jury found for defendant; on Count 3 (on Section G), the jury found for plaintiff for $4120.62; and on Count 4 (on Section H) the jury found for plaintiff for $2491.95. Both parties have appealed from the judgment entered.

The work was done under a written contract with written plans and specifications, awarded on bids received after public notice in accordance with Section 8116, R.S. 1929 (10 Mo. Stat. Ann., 6900). Plaintiff concedes that it has been paid all amounts due it under the contract. "Plaintiff's action is for damages for breach of the implied warranty of sufficiency of the plans and specifications furnished by the Highway Commission." The assignments of error (and points and authorities) in the briefs go to the question of whether or not such an action may be maintained under the circumstances of this case.

Plaintiff's contract provided that it should construct a concrete pavement 20 feet wide, which would be 9 inches thick at the edges *Page 958 (for two feet towards the center) and 7 inches thick over the rest of its dimensions. All sand and gravel was furnished by the State. Plaintiff was to be paid a fixed price (the amount of his bid) per square yard of pavement constructed. The specifications fixed the elevations of the grade on which the pavement should be constructed.

The contract contained (our italics) the following provisions:

"Subgrade Preparation. 1-59. Description. That portion of the graded roadbed upon which surfacing is to be placed is hereby designated as the subgrade. The subgrade shall be constructed so that it will be uniform in density throughout its entire width and will conform to the line, grade and cross-section shown onthe plans or as established by the Engineer. . . .

"1-60C. Rollers . . .

"The roller used in preparing the subgrade for a Portland cement concrete base course or pavement shall be a well-propelled light roller weighing not more than five (5) tons which will insure a uniform compaction of the subgrade and will eliminateclods and loose material.

"Where hauling results in forming ruts or other objectionable irregularities, the Contractor shall reshape and re-roll thesubgrade before the surfacing is placed.

"1-60D. Finishing. After the subgrade for concrete pavement has been compacted it shall be brought to true shape by the use ofan approved subgrade machine, and after rolling it shall betested by means of a template riding on the side forms ahead ofthe mixer. Such template shall be furnished by the Contractor and must have a continuous edge, must be of rigid construction, and must be built to conform to the cross-section shown on the plans. Scratch templates with spikes or teeth will not be permitted. If the subgrade is not to the proper elevation,material shall be added or removed as required, and if material is added it shall be satisfactorily incorporated and compacted. The process of adding or removing material, compacting and testing shall be repeated until all irregularities are removed. Extreme care shall be taken in forming the crown and shaping the subgrade so as to be sure that when the pavement is finallyfinished the specified thickness of concrete is obtained.

"Immediately before the concrete is placed, the true subgrade shall be prepared by means of an approved template or subgrade planer rolling on the forms behind the mixer. The planer shall be capable of being adjusted so as to give the subgrade the exactelevation and cross section at all times. On those areas of the subgrade found to be too high, planing or excavating shall bedone until the required depth is reached, and the surplus material shall be deposited on the shoulder. Those areas foundto be below the true subgrade elevation shall be filled withconcrete as an integral part of the slab proper. . . .

"Portland Cement Concrete Pavement. . . . *Page 959

"15-5. Side Forms. Forms shall be made of steel, of an approved section, with a base width of at lease eight (8) inches, and theheight shall be equal to the thickness of the pavement at the edge.

"B. Setting Forms. The forms shall be set so that they rest firmly throughout their entire length upon the thoroughly compacted subgrade. Any subgrade which is more than one-half (½)inch below the established grade at the form line shall bebrought to grade for a sufficient width, outside the area required by the pavement, to support the forms adequately, and shall be thoroughly rolled as specified in Section 1-62A. All subgrade for forms shall be prepared by a form grader of a type approved by the Engineer. If the finished grade after cutting with a form grader is more than one-half (½) inch low, it shallbe refilled, rerolled, and again cut to the required grade. This operation shall be repeated until a satisfactory foundation for the forms is obtained. Any variations which are less thanone-half (½) inch low and all variations which are above grade,shall be brought to true grade. . . .

"Compensation. 15-22. Method of Measurement. Pavement shall beconstructed to the dimensions shown on the plans.

"The thickness of pavement, except pavement resurfacing, shall be determined from the lengths of cores taken from the pavement, or from lengths of cores and corresponding external edge measurements. . . .

"Due to the fact that sections of pavement deficient inthickness by more than one-half (½) inch will be removed, all cores or edge measurements shorter than the specified thickness by more than one-half (½) inch shall not be considered in determining the average thickness of pavement. . . .

"15-23. Basis of Payment. If the average thickness of any one thousand (1,000) foot section of pavement, as determined by Section 15-22, is less than the thickness shown on the plans byone-half (½) inch or less, the unit price used in payment thereofshall bear the same ratio to the contract unit price as thesquare of the average thickness of the pavement as actually builtbears to the square of the thickness of the pavement specified on the plans.

"The Contractor's unit contract price for Portland cement concrete pavement will be considered as full compensation forall materials and other items entered into the construction of the pavement, and no additional compensation will be allowed forany excess thickness.

"If cement and/or aggregates are furnished by the Commission,the Contractor shall be charged with all materials used in extrathickness of any section which is in excess of the specified thickness as indicated by actual core lengths and edge measurements. Quantities of materials used in such extra thickness shall be derived from cubic *Page 960 yards of concrete, using the same factors as used during construction of the work."

Plaintiff's contract covered 18 miles of concrete highway on Highway No. 35 (from Highway No. 71 east to the Henry County line) in Cass County. The work was divided into four sections of about 4½ miles each.

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Bluebook (online)
149 S.W.2d 828, 347 Mo. 954, 1941 Mo. LEXIS 758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sandy-hites-co-v-state-highway-commission-mo-1941.