A HEARING ON S. 1530, AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF GILPIN CONSTRUCTION CO. BILL (H. R. 8188) SENATE ACT SUBSTITUTED FOR HOUSE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Thursday, December 13, 1928. The committee this day met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Fred A. Britten, chairman, presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. Evidently a quorum is present. We have been called this morning upon request of Congressman Hawley to give consideration to H. R. 8188, which is a bill for the relief of the Gilpin Construction Co. A copy of this bill and a report thereon by the Navy Department reads as follows: [S. 1530, Sevienth Congress, first session] AN ACT For the relief of Gilpin Construction Company Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to pay to Gilpin Construction Company, of Astoria, Oregon, $112,990.32, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and in full settlement of any and all claims against the United States arising out of and/or in connection with Navy Department Bureau of Yards and Docks Contract No. 4615, dated February 17, 1923, for the furnishing of all labor and materials and the construction of four timber piers, one timber bulkhead, two brush bulkheads, a railroad track, and for the dredging of the channel and turning basin at the Navy submarine and destroyer base at Astoria, Oregon, and as compensation for any and all services, labor, and materials furnished thereunder or extra thereto. [H. R. 8188, Seventieth Congress, first session A BILL For the relief of Gilpin Construction Company Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to pay to Gilpin Construction Company, of Astoria, Oregon, $112,990.32, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and in full settlement of any and all claims against the United States arising out of and/or in connection with Navy Department Bureau of Yards and Docks Contract No. 4615, dated February 17, 1923, for the furnishing of all labor and materials and the construction of four timber piers, one timber bulkhead, two brush bulkheads, a railroad track, and for the dredging of the channel and turning basin at the Navy submarine and destroyer base at Astoria, Oregon, and as compensation for any and all services, labor, and materials furnished thereunder or extra thereto. [No. 336] For the RelIEF OF GILPIN CONSTRUCTION Co. (H. R. 8188) L11-15/QM-Gilpin Constn. Co. (271227) S. The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS, NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 24, 1928. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's letter of January 7, 1928, transmitting the bill (H. R. 8188) for the relief of Gilpin Construction Co., and requesting the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, I have the honor to inform you as follows: The purpose of this bill is to compensate the Gilpin Construction Co. for extra cost incurred in connection with a contract for dredging that was in the nature of 2197-29-No. 35-1 (277) unliquidated damages and could not be allowed by the Navy Department. The relief proposed is equitable in its nature. The circumstances leading up to the making of the contract described in the bill, with special reference to the rock dredging that gives rise to the claim, included the following: With a view to the development of a submarine and destroyer base at Astoria, toward which $250,000 was appropriated by the act of June 4, 1920 (40 Stat. 822), bids were invited, under specification No. 4615 and accompanying drawings, for the construction there of four timber piers, a timber bulkhead, two brush bulkheads, a brush breakwater, and a railroad track, and the dredging of a channel 300 feet wide and 30 feet deep and a turning basin 22 feet deep. It was estimated that there would be about 1,000,000 cubic yards of material to be removed, of which 400,000 yards would be required as fill. The Government had made hydrographic surveys over the areas i which the work was to be done, and had caused a number of borings to be made, the results of all of which were indicated on the drawings. Bids were opened January 17, 1923, and of the three received, that of the Gilpin Construction Co. was much the lowest. This bid was, for the construction work complete, $128.500; for the construction work with omission of the breakwater, $100,000; and for the dredging (whether the dredged material should be deposited as fill behind the bulkheads or wasted on authorized dumping grounds), 20 cents a cubie yard. The drawings indicated the presence of rock in but one place within the area to be dredged, at the bend in the channel about 950 feet from the outward end of the tender pier, the northernmost of the four timber piers. The company submitted with its bid a letter, dated January 10, 1923, suggesting that the channel be shifted to the south and that the dredged material be dumped in a certain area to the south and east of the proposed bulkhead, all as indicated on an accompanying marked plan. With these changes the company thought that rock excavation would be avoided, the breakwater made unnecessary, and other advantages gained; and it offered, in case they should be approved, to do all the dredging for 15 cents a cubic yard. These modifications were satisfactory, and after some further negotiations the company's modified offer was accepted. Contract No. 4615, bearing date February 17, 1923, was thereupon entered into by the Gilpin Construction Co. with the United States through the Bureau of Yards and Docks. It provided for all the construction work covered by the specification except the breakwater, and for the dredging of 800,000 cubic yards of material, the channel to be located as proposed by the company and dredged to a depth of 28 feet, and the basin to be reduced in width from 1,000 feet, as shown on the Government's drawings, to 660 feet and dredged to a depth of 22 feet. The agreed price for the construction work was $100,000 (subject to minor adjustments should pile length vary from basic lengths assumed for bidding purposes) and for the dredging 15 cents a cubic yard. The piers and bulkheads were to be completed by September 18, 1923, and the remainder of the work, including the dredging, by May 20, 1924, these dates being, respectively, 180 days and 425 days after the date (March 22, 1923), on which a copy of the signed contract was delivered to the contractor. The estimated amount of the contract was $220,000. When the work had progressed for several months, it developed that to dredge the areas delimited by the contract to the depths specified would require the removal of so large a quantity of material in excess of the yardage stipulated that the cost would exceed the funds available. Accordingly, in order to get the advantage of the deeper areas in the natural channel and thus keep down so far as possible the quantity of dredging, the shifting of the channel about 100 feet to the north was, in September, 1923, approved; with, however, the understanding, as this shift would bring the north line of the channel back to the known rock area, to avoid which the southerly shift in the location of the channel was originally made, that any rock excavation made necessary thereby would be paid for as an extra. The dredging in the turning basin was done with a suction dredge and completed March 22, 1924. The channel dredging then began, and immediately thereafter, on March 24, an outcropping of rock was encountered on the north side of the channel about 200 feet from the end of the tender pier. Later, another outcropping of rock was encountered a short distance from the bend of the channel on the north bank. All dredging that could be done with the suction dredge was completed May 17, 1924. The two rock ledges were too hard to be removed by this means, and had to be removed with a dipper dredge and for the most part after drilling and blasting. From the ledge off the tender pier 7,471 cubic yards of rock were removed, and from the ledge near the bend in the channel |