Guthrie v. City of Dubuque
Guthrie v. City of Dubuque
Opinion of the Court
— I. The written contract provides that the city shall pay for “grading, in full, 10,200 cubic yards, at 19c., $1,938”; and this is the number of cubic yards which plaintiff claims to have graded, and for which he asks one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-eight dollars, less one thousand, five hundred and fifty-five dollars, admitted to have been paid. The specifications, which are a part of the contract, give “estimated amount of grading cut, 10,200 cubic yards.” Said specifications also contain the following: “The city reserves the right to change the grade of said street, thereby increasing or diminishing the amount of grading as estimated, and if from any change of grade, or any other cause, the amount of grading is materially changed, then the amount due and to be paid under this contract shall be increased or diminished in the same proportion.” Appellant’s contention is that the amount of grading done was not ten thousand, two hundred cubic yards, but was eight thousand, one hundred and sixty-three cubic yards. The estimate of the grading, as stated in the contract and specifications, was taken from measurements obtained from using a city bench mark at Schuler’s store, and appellant claims that this bench mark was erroneous to the extent of about one foot, and therefore showed one foot of grading more than was actually done; that when the grading was made measurements were taken from a correct bench mark, called “Rigi Station,” which showed the correct number of cubic yards graded, namely eight thousand, one hundred and sixty-three. Appellee contends that the estimate stated in the contract and specifications is correct, and therefore the controlling issue in the
We will not set out the evidence on this issue, but simply mention its general tendency. The plaintiff testified that he graded ten thousand, two- hundred cubic yards, basing this statement upon calculations made from the profile of the work in the city engineer’s office and on the figures on the grade stakes set by the assistant city engineer. His testimony tend® quite strongly to sustain his claim as to the number of yards graded. Mr. E. S. Hyde, assistant city engineer, who< had charge of this work, was called by the defendant and examined at length. His testimony shows that the estimates stated in the contract and specifications were arrived at by measurement® from the bench mark at Schuler’s store, and tends to show that the bench mark was incorrect to the extent of nearly one foot, and that estimates made therefrom showed more grading than was actually done to the extent claimed by the appellant. His testimony also tends to show that- Rigi Station corresponded with other bench marks in its vicinity; that it was correct; and that estimates made therefrom showed that only eight thousand, one hundred and sixty-three cubic yards were actually graded. Mr. Ed. C. Blake, city engineer, was called by defendant, but, as the work was in the charge of Mr. Hyde, he knew but little concerning it except as told by Mr. Hyde, and therefore gave no testimony requiring mention here. Mr. Mathew Tschirgi, called by the plaintiff, testified a® to the manner of establishing-bench mark®, and the elevation of different bench marks in- the city, and on redirect examination states as follow®: “At the time we improved Delhi street there was a slight variation discovered between the bench mark at Schuler’s store and the one at Rigi Station. If my recollection is correct, it is something over -two or three-tenths.”
The City of Dubuque, to Guthrie & Ohesterman:
To grading West Fourteenth street from Delhi to Atlantic avenue......................$1,938 00
Received on same......................... 500 00'
Balance due ..........'.................$1,438 00
Allow $500.00.
O. K., Blake, dty Engineer.
John Glab.
II. We have seen that in the contract the amount of grading to be done was estimated to' be ten thousand, two hundred cubic yards. We have also- seen that the contract provides that, “if from any change of grade or any other cause the amount of grading is materially changed, then the amount due and to be paid under this contract shall be increased or diminished in the same proportion.” If, because of an error in the bench at Schuler’s store, the estimate in the contract was not correct, we have a cause that materially changed the amount of grading from that stated in the contract,.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- P. F. Guthrie v. The City of Dubuque
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published