Beaver Engineering & Contracting Co. v. City of New York

Headnote

Contract — action to recover on contract for public work — earth excavation — compensation.

Beaver Engrg. & Contrg. Co. v. City of New York, 192 App. Div. 662 , affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered September 22, 1920, affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict directed by the court. The parties entered into a contract for the construction of a reservoir and part of a conduit. The work was fully performed.by plaintiff. Alleging that defendant’s engineer had misconstrued the terms of the contract in relation to the amount of payment provided for certain items, and the classification of said items, plaintiff moved at the trial for the direction of a verdict in its favor for the sum of $18,331.83. That motion was granted to extent of directing a verdict for the sum of $282.75 arid refusing to direct for the additional sum of $18,049.08. This latter sum is the product of 14,555.71 cubic yards of earth excavation at $1.24 per cubic yard. The excavation had been certified for payment by defendant’s engineer at the rate of twenty-four cents per cubic yard, but plaintiff contends that under the correct construction of the contract, it is entitled to be paid at the rate of $1.48

per cubic yard. The trial court held that twenty-four cents per cubic yard was the proper compensation under the contract.