A partial good news for the Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for their lawsuit against a group of insurers including big names like Zurich American and Allianz Global. Also the appellate court allowed Hitachi Zosen to join the litigation as an intervenor.

The Washington Court of Appeals has reversed a part of a 2018 ruling that had dismissed many of the claims in lawsuit filed by STP Seattle Tunnel Partners and the WSDOT against a group of insurers.

The giant 17,5m diameter Bertha (produced by Japan's Hitachi Zosen) had hit a steel pipe in 2013. It was an 8-inch steel pipe that was previously used (and left there) to measure groundwater in 2002 around the Alaskan Way Viaduct. A 64-feet section of the pipe has mangled into the cutter head of the Bertha. Initial thought was that it had damaged a number of cutters (Bertha used mostly knives) on the cutter head. But a later assessment has revealed that revealed that portions of the main bearing seal system were damaged, which caused the bearing to overheat during operation.

It took 2 years to dig a recovery shaft from the surface in order to access and lift the machine's cutterhead for repair and partial replacement in 2015.

The Court of Appeals ruling conclusion says:

We grant Hitachi’s motion to join thismatterand grant review on the reserved issues.  We reverse in part and affirm in part: we reverse the partial summary judgment rulings that a single occurrence caused the TBM damage and that “any item” in the Section 2 MBE means the entire TBM; we reverse the summary judgment ruling that none of WSDOT’s claimed damages relates to TBM repairs and the dismissal of WSDOT’s claim for declaratory judgment; and we affirm the partial summary judgment rulings that STP and WSDOT cannot recover under Section 1 or for delay costs and that the Section 2 MBE bars recovery for damage caused by design defects 

The full ruling (US government site)

https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/786911.pdf