Standard American Dredging Co. v. City of Oakland

This is an action to recover a balance alleged to be due on a written contract between plaintiff and defendant for certain dredging work done by plaintiff in a portion of Oakland harbor. The contract called for work specified as sections “A,” “B,” and “C.” The controversy arises out of the work done in the area designated in the contract as ‘Section A,’ the approach channel.” The facts as to the amount of the material dredged and the amount of money actually paid are not disputed.

The portion of the specifications of the contract called in question is as follows:

“AREAS.

“For convenience of reference the area .to be dredged is divided into 3 sections, Section A being the approach channel, Section B lying alongside the proposed bulkhead parallel to the Oakland Mole and Section C lying along the main bulkhead running in a general northeast and southwest direction.

“DEPTH AND AREAS TO BE DREDGED.

“Section A, the approach channel, shall be dredged to a depth of twenty (20) feet below low tide. The bottom width shall be five hundred (500) feet and side slopes shall be those assumed by the material during the dredging operations in said Section A. . . .

“Material dredged from…