The project to install a new water line and drain line began last March 23, but took longer than the forecasted six weeks because of problems locating underground gas lines,

The New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting that a group of Uptown homeowners have sued a Harahan-based construction company alleging that their historic homes in the Prytania Street corridor have been damaged by the firm's heavy equipment and negligence during a road-repair project that started last March.

New Orleans attorney Bradley Egenberg filed the lawsuit in the city's Civil District Court on behalf of four plaintiffs seeking unspecified damages from Durr Heavy Construction LLC and its liability carrier ABC Insurance Company. The suit alleges more than $50,000 in property damage has resulted from Durr's work on a FEMA-funded Recovery Roads Program project to restore sub-surface utilities and repair road problems related to Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent city flood.

The project to install a new water line and drain line began last March 23, but took longer than the forecasted six weeks because of problems locating underground gas lines, Egenberg said. But he said the real headache for homeowners came when they began noticing cracks in houses, foundations and driveways they believe were caused by the vibrations, heavy equipment and poor planning of the roadwork.

"The project was done carelessly and without proper monitoring, and caused a near-daily seismic event for the homeowners around the 4100 block of Prytania Street," Egenberg said. "We reached out to (Durr), and they summarily rejected the notion, saying it was impossible for these damages to have arisen from their construction.

"Well, we know we didn't have an earthquake in Louisiana. And we didn't have flood damage anytime recently."

Durr's chief executive officer Dana Stumpf said Wednesday afternoon the company would not comment on the lawsuit.

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