Contractor Kiewit/Flatiron GP is suing DEAL S.r.l., McNary Bergeron & Associates LLC, Sani Engineering Ltd., International Bridge Technologies Canada Inc., International Bridge Technologies Inc. and T.Y. Lin International Group Ltd. over an incident that saw a section of the new Port Mann Bridge crash into the Fraser River during construction in February 2012.
Kiewit filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on February 7, claiming Italy-based DEAL represented itself "as a world leader in the field of specialized equipment for bridge construction," the claim states, while the other defendants specialized in engineering services. Kiewit claims DEAL provided a manual detailing the limits of its bridge-erection equipment while McNary Bergeron prepared reviews of Kiewit's erection procedures, which defendant Sani Engineering peer-reviewed. The other defendants provided bridge design services.
But the companies allegedly failed to "specify and deal with the risk that the main truss might slide during span-by-span erection of segments on a slope," the complaint states.
Kiewit claims that on February 10, 2012, as it was positioning a segment of the bridge, the erection gantry shifted backwards down a slope, leading to a segment of the bridge falling into the river below.
Kiewit seeks damages for expenses incurred investigating the incident, operational costs during repairs, replacement costs for lost or damaged equipment and for debris removal and cleanup.
None of the allegations has been proven in court and the defendants had not filed responses to Kiewit's claim by press time.
