Delaware Sues Contractors For Issues With Indian River Bridge

DOVER, Del. (AP) - State officials are suing contractors involved in a failed effort to build a new bridge over the Indian River Inlet in coastal Sussex County.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Sussex Superior Court, the state is seeking more than $19 million in damages from Florida-based Figg Bridge Engineers and its subcontractor, Atlanta-based Mactec Engineering, for geotechnical engineering errors.

Figg and Mactec collaborated in a project that was scrapped in 2007 because underground soils supporting fill dirt on the bridge approach ramps were settling slower and deeper than expected, making the ramps unstable.

State officials said they were forced to sue after being unable to reach an out-of-court resolution that is fair to taxpayers.

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