Schutt Construction Co. v. United States

The primary issue in this case is whether, under the facts here involved, an excavating contractor is equitably entitled to reimbursement for a 15 percent overrun in the amount of trees and brush cleared under a lump-sum contract.1

On June 1, 1953, the Army Corps of Engineers solicited lump-sum bids for clearing all the trees and brush along a 20-mile stretch of the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tennessee. The bid specifications stated that there were approximately 10,480 acres involved, but that only approximately 2,828 acres were actually wooded; the rest being farm land. The…