Court rules in favor of Perini-led JV in Boston Big Dig dispute

The dispute is related to a series of claims for additional contract time and compensation against MassDOT for work performed by PKC on a portion of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. During construction, MassDOT ordered PKC to perform changes to the work and issued related direct cost changes, excluding time delay and inefficiency costs. A three-member Dispute Resolution Board (DRB) issued several awards and interim decisions in favor of PKC's claims. MassDOT had sought and was successful in having the DRB's binding awards vacated under the premise that the DRB exceeded its authority.

The decision this week, issued by Superior Court Justice Thomas P. Billings, affirmed the DRB's role as the binding arbitrator. In issuing its decision, the court ruled that each of the claims at issue for the Third and Fourth DRB panels are, in fact, subject to the binding dispute resolution process, and the DRB's awards on these claims are reinstated.

Commenting on the decision, Tutor Perini's CEO, Ronald N. Tutor, said, "The Joint Venture is extremely pleased with the judge's decision on the C11 case involving the Central Artery that has been ongoing in excess of 15 years. The Dispute Review Boards' decisions and awards, including accrued interest to date, exceed USD 80M as the amount due currently to our Joint Venture. This still leaves substantial additional non-binding DRB awards to be either adjudicated or resolved between the parties. This decision certainly vindicates our position and the vigor with which we pursued this litigation over all these years."