A high court judge has ordered Atkins to pay another £500,000 in legal costs and interest on damages to a JV between Hochtief and VolkerFitzpatrick, in a dispute over a Kent road job.
The row centres on the drainage in a new section of dual carriageway, that has already cost the consultant more than £800,000.
In July this year, the Hochtief-Volker JV won £802,475.35 in damages from Atkins in respect of remedial works to Cottington Road Bridge, a two-span bridge carrying the A256 dual carriageway over a road and railway line, which was constructed as part of the £87m East Kent Access Road Phase 2 project for Kent County Council.
- Atkins told to pay £800k after Hochtief-Volker road claim
- Defect disputes: Establishing whether design or workmanship are to blame
In 2009, Atkins was engaged as a subcontractor to complete the civil and structural design elements for the bridge. Following its completion in 2011, surface settlement of the carriageways on the north and south sides of the approach embankments was discovered, which required remedial works in 2012 and 2014.
However, there was insufficient time to resolve all the issues related to the case in the summer and the court adjourned the hearing to allow time for further submissions relating to interest on the damages and the basis on which costs should be ordered.
Now Mrs Justice O’Farrell has found that Atkins should pay interest on the damages totalling more than £190,000, as well as 85% of the JV’s costs and interest on its recoverable costs.
She instructed Atkins to pay £500,000 to the Hochtief-Volker JV in relation to the costs by 25 November 2019.
