MINIMIZING POTENTIAL FOR ADVERSARY CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS DURING CONSTRUCTION OF EISENHOWER MEMORIAL TUNNEL

Some hold the viewpoint that the engineer, especially in public construction, must be ever alert to attempts by the contractor to seize on some advantage in the execution of contracts to the detriment of the public. Certainly, the engineer's first loyalty in the preparation of plans and specifications and the administration of the contract is to the public. However, the referenced viewpoint leads to a basic distrust between the contract parties and creates an adversary relationship during execution of the contract, which serves neither party and may lead to unnecessary and bitter litigation to settle disputes. The contract needs to be fair to both parties: the engineer should recognize that the contractor properly seeks to make a reasonable profit, and the contractor should acknowledge that the work should meet owner expectations of value and be a good-specification product. Underground construction holds special potential for generating adversary relations because the risks are generally greater than those that arise from other highway construction. Attention is needed in the preparation of such contracts to ensure an equitable sharing of risks without vitiating the basic premise of the competitive bidding process. Several innovations were built into the construction contract for the eastbound bore of the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel, including among other features the inclusion of an impartial review board into the administrative process for settling differences, special prebid qualifications for the contractors, the requirement for escrow documents in support of the contractor's bid proposal, the judicious use of escalation provisions, and special design efforts.