The Cost of a Bridge Inspection
A protracted dispute over demurrage fees for the Puyallup River bridge reaches a compromise, leaving the contractor in the red.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The question of demurrage on the Puyallup River bridge, the last point in dispute between Commissioner Weiss and Contractor Tillotson, was settled yesterday. The matter was considered by the streets and alleys committee and it was decided to reduce the demurrage from $666 to $450, which will about pay for the services of the bridge inspector on the job. Contractor Tillotson, it is said, comes out of the job $1,000 short.
“It was decided to reduce the demurrage from $666 to $450, which will about pay for the services of the bridge inspector on the job.”
City infrastructure projects have long been sites of financial friction between public commissioners and private contractors. The 'demurrage' fees mentioned were essentially late penalties for project delays, a common point of contention in Tacoma’s rapid early 20th-century development that persists in modern municipal procurement disputes.
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