AB 483

This bill directs expenditure of $927,428.70 from the general fund in payment

of a claim against the Department of Transportation by Zenith Tech, Inc. The

claimant entered into a contract with DOT to remove and reconstruct the West

Milwaukee Street Stock River Bridge in Janesville, Wisconsin. The claimant asserts

that the water levels on site were dangerously high throughout much of the project

and created site conditions materially different than those indicated in the contract

documents and that the changed conditions resulted in delays and additional

expenses. Due to site conditions, the claimant requested DOT delay the start of the

project which DOT refused. DOT maintains that the claimant should not have relied

on the hydraulic information in the project specification, that the claimant should

not have relied on specific river conditions that were subject to change, and that the

claimant was responsible for choosing the means and methods for performing its

work. The claimant asserted it is entitled to an equitable adjustment in the contract

price and requested $471,926.70 for additional costs, $276,902.00 for winter

inefficiency costs, and reversal of $165,600.00 in liquidated damages imposed by

DOT. On September 7, 2021, the claims board denied the claim because it concluded

that the claimant did not demonstrate the criteria necessary to justify a change in

work order under the contract, and that the claimant has raised questions of fact

regarding its request to delay the project's start date that are better evaluated by a

court of law (see 2021

Assembly Journal

, p. 488).