United States v. Norris Looney, Doing Business as the Norris Looney Company

. This litigation arises out of a construction contract between Norris Looney and the United States, pursuant to which Looney has constructed a building to serve as a microwave station on Squak Mountain in the State of Washington. Suing in the District Court under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346 (a) (2), Looney successfully claimed that, in addition to the contract price for the job, as to which there is no present controversy, he is entitled to damages for added expense incurred in his performance as a result of an alleged breach of warranty by the United States. The government has appealed.

The contractor has attributed the extra cost in question to the non-availability of a certain road as a means of access to the building site and the consequent necessity of moving men and materials over a more difficult and circuitous route. The following references to the matter of access to the building site appear m the specifications which are part of the contract:

After the contract was signed and before the work was started, it became apparent that the road mentioned in the specifications would not be completed in time for use on this job. Accordingly, the government provided and the…