Civil Engineering Dispute Resolution

Construction work on the civil engineering contract started at Point 5 in August 1998. The new surface buildings and underground structures are necessary to accommodate the CMS detector for the LHC Project. The principal underground works consist of two new shafts, two parallel caverns separated by a supporting pillar, and a number of small connection tunnels and service galleries. A dispute resolution procedure has been included in the contract, whereby a Panel of Adjudicators may be called upon to make a decision in the case of a difference or dispute between the parties. The aim of this paper is to present CERN's first experience of civil engineering Adjudication arising from problems encountered with the ground freezing technique employed to allow construction of two new shafts.