Opinion ID: 185896
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Pre-Trial Rulings

Text: 15 During the tunnel's construction, KiSKA experienced a number of difficulties with both the dewatering system and the excavation methods required by the contract. Two complications proved particularly troublesome: (1) the dewatering system specified by WMATA failed to lower the groundwater table two feet below the tunnel invert and (2) the great majority of surface grout holes could not be drilled vertically at their specified locations without damaging underground utility lines. Although KiSKA overcame these difficulties and eventually completed the project, it did so at a cost of almost double its $43 million lump-sum bid. Upon completion of the project, KiSKA filed a five-count complaint against WMATA asserting both tort and contract claims. 16 Before the case went to trial, the district court issued several pre-trial rulings, three of which KiSKA now challenges on appeal. First, the district court dismissed KiSKA's tort claims on sovereign immunity grounds, holding that the challenged decisions are `susceptible to policy judgment,' and therefore immune from judicial review, because they involve planning and design rather than implementation or operation. KiSKA Constr. Corp. v. WMATA, Civ. No. 97-2677 at 5 (D.D.C. Feb. 7, 2000) (mem.) (First Order). Second, the district court held that the contract was ambiguous, but not patently so, with respect to whether the contract required that the dewatering system maintain the groundwater level at two feet below tunnel invert. KiSKA Constr. Corp. v. WMATA, Civ. No. 97-2677 at 7 (D.D.C. June 9, 2000) (mem.) (Second Order). 5 Third, the district court held that while the contract affords no flexibility with regard to the locations of grout drillings, KiSKA Constr. Corp. v. WMATA, Civ. No. 97-2677 at 8 (D.D.C. Dec. 22, 2000) (mem.) (Third Order) (emphasis in original), the contract permitted KiSKA to drill all grout holes, including surface grout holes, `horizontally, vertically or inclined,' id. at 9 (quoting Contract § 239, ¶ 3.2(A)). 6