A trial date has been set in a breach of contract suit against the Warren County Port Commission filed by the company hired in 2007 to replace the T-dock crane support platform at the Port of Vicksburg.

Arguments will begin Sept. 21 before Circuit Court Judge Jim Chaney, according to court dockets.

Most major work by Vicksburg-based Riverside Construction to build a newer, stronger dock ended last year. However, the company filed suit in October claiming geotechnical reports supplied by those hired by the county’s engineering firm, ABMB Engineers Inc., were misrepresented and that damages incurred by the company for missing the contract end-date should be eased due to an array of circumstances.

Riverside has asked for a 75-day extension of its contract, an increase of $893,191 in its $3.4 million contract price. Georgia-based concrete materials supplier Standard Concrete Products is named as a co-defendant in the suit.

The company was the only bidder on the project when commissioners took offers in June 2007. At the time, the final price doubled engineering estimates then still in the throes of materials shortages because of Hurricane Katrina. Deadlines were driven by efforts to link a contract extension with port operator, Kinder Morgan, with a deal to provide more consistent business at the port. Most recent terms in that extension are tied to an Oct. 1 deadline for Kinder Morgan to firm up a deal to ship raw steel materials to the SeverCorr plant in Columbus.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vickburgpost.com