Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line Railroad v. Ross

Robinson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The plaintiffs agreed to build for the defendant company bridges over the Patapsco and Severn rivers. They were to be built on piles, according to specifications which formed part of the contract. The length and price per linear foot to be paid for the piles, and the cost for driving them, and the price per thousand feet for framing the timber, which included the cost of the materials and putting them in place, are all set forth in the specifications.

Plans also for the bridges, and the estimated number of piles for each bridge were furnished to the plaintiffs before the contract was signed. The whole work was to be done under the direction of the defendant’s engineer, and he was to be ³¹⁷ the sole judge of the quantity and quality of the work, and his decision was to be final and conclusive between the parties. The defendant company reserved the right to “make additions to or deduct portions from the work specified, as shown in the plans, at the same proportional amount of increase or decrease in pay, as the whole amount hears to the original plan ; provided, however, that no alteration shall be made from said plan which shall entail upon the plaintiffs an expense in constructing beyond the proportion of the balance of the work.” It was further agreed that in the event of a difference between the parties in regard to any part of the work done under the contract, the decision of the engineer was to he final and conclusive. After the plaintiffs had begun the construction of the Patapsco bridge, it was found that owing to the soft bottom of the river, the piles furnished for that bridge according to the specifications, were not long enough to bring the bridge to the level required for the defendant’s road.

This they reported to the defendant’s engineer, and they were directed by him to cap the piles near the water’s edge, and to build thereon a trestle work high enough to bring the bridge to the level required. The piles furnished for the Severn bridge were also found too short, and these the engineer directed to be spliced. As these alterations would necessarily increase the cost of construction, the plaintiffs required of the engineer some authority in writing before proceeding to make the same, and thereupon be addressed to them the following letter : “ Messrs. Ross & Sanford : Gentlemen:—-You will please order the piles and extra timber used in Patapsco bridge and piles in Severn bridge as required, and keep strict account of extra expenses incurred.

Signed, W. D. Janney.” ³¹⁸ Upon the receipt of this letter the plaintiffs resumed work, and in the construction of the Patapsco bridge the piles were capped near the water’s edge, and thereon a trestle fourteen feet high was built, and upon this trestle the bridge was laid. In the construction of the Severn bridge the piles were spliced as directed and additional piles furnished. These alterations largely increased the cost of construction, the spliced piles, of which about three hundred were required, alone costing more than three times the price set forth in the specifications. Besides, the plaintiffs suffered loss from delays incident to the furnishing of extra piles.

When the bridges were finished the itemized account of the plaintiffs for the Patapsco bridge amounted to $15,614.31, and the account for the construction of the Severn bridge amounted to $30,553.02. These accounts the defendant submitted to its chief engineer, Latrobe, who, after an examination of both bridges, awarded the plaintiffs $12,491.35 for the Patpsco bridge, and a sum for the Severn bridge much less than that claimed by the plaintiffs. The difference between the sums thus awarded by the engineer, and the amounts claimed by the plaintiffs, is the subject-matter now in dispute. That alterations were made and that the cost of