on Sept 15, 2020, a strong tropical storm neared the Gulf Coast of Florida and appeared to be heading for a landfall in Alabama. In Florida’s westernmost city, Pensacola, contractor Skanska had partly finished, and traffic was flowing over, the new 3-mile-long Pensacola Bay Bridge. Project leaders believed the worst could be avoided as the storm track called for it to land 200 miles away.

Fifty-five construction barges were tied down but most were left in the jobsite area.

出乎意料的是，暴风雨向东北转向，并加剧了 - 最终成为萨利飓风 - 在阿拉巴马州墨西哥湾海岸附近的岸上，位于该项目地点以西30英里处。受风和激增的惩罚，有27艘驳船摆脱了系泊设备，在私人财产上上岸有几个冲洗。

The wind, waves and storm surge drove one 120-ft-long barge into the new bridge, taking a bite out of its deck section and damaging many beams. Because the old bridge was already being demolished, it could not be re-opened to traffic, cutting off many local residents from quick access to the other side of the bay. After months of大量维修——数百万美元的成本——桥补充道新利18备用官网登录reopened in June.

The overall cost to Skanska is still being tallied and includes penalties due to the Florida Dept. of Transportation for the bridge closure. But a four-day civil court trial of about 1,000 claims against the contractor by motorists and business and property owners concluded Oct. 22 in federal court in Pensacola. The decision could add millions to Skanska's total liability.

The court record shows that during pretrial maneuvering in the days leading up to the trial, the main issue—whether Skanska’s team was prudent in leaving the barges in place, or negligent, and how members came to their decision—was being examined in minute detail.

The case was initiated in 2020 by Skanska, seeking protection against likely claims for damage. It is known formally as Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc. and Skanska USA Inc., as "Owners of the Barge M8030 Praying for Exoneration From or For Limitation of Liability."

Federal scientists have described Hurricane Sally's path and intensityas erratic。Skanska, the company claimed, took all reasonable steps to prepare for the storm, which suddenly changed direction and hit with unexpected intensity.

驳船损坏了彭萨科拉湾桥的部分。照片：由FDOT提供

在春季，法官批准了Skanska的动议，以将承包商的责任（以联邦海事法律为基础）限制为驳船的价值，驳船的价值从125,000美元到550,000美元不等。一份法院文件表明，该裁决有效地将Skanska的责任总计限制在约700万美元。

After recruiting clients with television commercials, plaintiffs' attorneys later filed hundreds of lawsuits against Skanska on behalf of motorists and business owners. Among them are Yoshiko McKnight, the owner of Flowers by Yoko in Gulf Breeze, who seeks $62,000 in income she claims she lost as a result of Skanska barges damaging the bridge. Robello Lopaka, owner of another Gulf Breeze business, Aloha Screen Printing, seeks $56,000.

其他claimants are seeking smaller amounts, based on added gas costs and auto use, from having to drive farther to reach destinations around the bay while the functional part of the new bridge was shut for repairs.

An unusual decision by one judge came in August.

Magistrate Judge Hope Thai Cannon imposed a penalty on Skanska of $92,000 for wiping clean or damaging five mobile phones used by key staff members on the project—an act that effectively destroyed trial evidence, she said. According to the judge, Skanska blamed gaps in its procedures for protecting lawsuit-related phone data.

“This is a textbook case of spoliation,” meaning, the destruction of evidence, Cannon wrote in August in granting claimants' motion for a penalty.

在今年早些时候的审前沉积期间，当地居民和企业主索赔人的律师试图在飓风袭击之前的几天和几个小时内摘取Skanska员工观察到的详细程序。索赔人声称，Skanska拥有有关飓风将建筑驳船搬离工作地点的道路的充分气象信息。根据索赔人的说法，承包商的紧急计划说，在暴风雨袭击之前，任务需要开始30个小时。

取而代之的是，Skanska决定继续在新桥上工作，直到最新的一天，并将其绑在施工现场的驳船上，以便可以继续工作，而不是将其移开。

The path of Hurricane Sally took a turn to the northeast. Image: Courtesy of NOAA

Pre-trial maneuverings didn’t end until days before the trial started.

Skanska提出了一项动议，以排除所有在Sally飓风之前和之后的飓风和风暴的证词和证据。法院记录尚不清楚法官是如何或是否决定的。

Skanska的另一项动议试图排除项目经理Robert Rodgers的沉积证词，Robert Rodgers是该项目的第三高雇员，因为在征服者看来，他不是项目的“管理代理人”。

The subject had come up earlier in the year when Skanska Project Executive Thomas DeMarco was deposed on June 18. The deposition was supposed to be about who had specific roles and responsibilities on the bridge replacement project. He was questioned by claimant attorney Thomas Gonzalez about that and about the hurricane plan itself.

DeMarco testified in the deposition that the hurricane preparedness plan was part of the Skanska Environmental Health & Safety responsibilities, and that it includes inclement weather. Gonzalez had DeMarco show him exactly who on Skanska’s staff had responsibility for the EHS plan. The group included the project superintendent and a safety manager, field engineer and project engineer. All had signed off on the safety plan created as work on the project moved in 2016 to 2017 from a precast yard located on land to working over water.

The Pensacola Bay Bridge connects Pensacola with Gulf Breeze. Map: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Under questioning, DeMarco testified that he and Rodgers had responsibility for keeping an eye out for weather and long-range weather forecasts and that meteorological data was supplied by a consultant, Alan Archer & Associates.

During the interrogation, attorney Gonzalez sometimes veered outside the agreed subject of the deposition—delineating responsibilities and roles on the project.

“In the process of implementing a hurricane preparedness plan, was there someone who had the role of monitoring the expenditures or budget associated with implementation?” he asked.

Skanska的律师反对，当时没有回答这个问题。

Both sides in the case are now preparing post-trial motions and it is unlikely that there will be a ruling from the court before December.