A breach of contract claim is moving forward against two engineering companies in connection to the $28 million rehabilitation of the Merrimack River Bridge in Haverhill, Massachusetts, after a federal judge determined claims brought by the project leader weren't time-barred.

In a Dec. 9 opinion, U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper for the District of Massachusetts concluded Cianbro Corp.'s breach of contract claim against two engineering companies could move forward, determining it wasn't time-barred by the statute of limitations as the alleged breach occurred in 2023, which has a six-year statute of limitations limit. Cianbro filed suit against Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers and Lamson Engineering Corp., alleging they breached their contract after providing defective designs to Cianbro. The plaintiff hired Mueser and Lamson as members of a design team to aid in its attempts to win the bid for the Merrimack River Bridge rehabilitation project. Cianbro claimed these defective designs necessitated remedial work and a lot of money to fix.