City of Mason v. Buchman

On May 7, 1968, in the city of Mason, Lawrence Barton, a contractor, was excavating for a new building on a vacant lot immediately east of defendants’ building. The excavation was almost completed when, at about 11:30 a.m., a portion of the basement foundation of defendants’ building gave way, involving a section of the footing under the southeast corner of the building estimated at from 6 to 8 feet deep and 5 to 16 feet in length. At 11:41 a.m., a section of the southeast brick wall above the footing fell and large cracks developed along the upper front story and laterally along the east…