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A jury has ruled that Morrison Bridge owner Multnomah County is entitled to $4.4 million in damages for a botched project that replaced the span’s steel grating with a polymer deck that started deteriorating shortly after it was installed.

Jurors last week ruled that all parties involved in a lawsuit over the $4.2 million project, completed in 2012, are to blame for its failure. This includes the county, contractor, engineer and the manufacturer and distributor of the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) decking panels that replaced the bridge’s original steel grating.

The Morrison Bridge’s deteriorating deck was installed between 2011 and 2012 by Ridgefield, Wash.-based Conway Construction Co. Problems surfaced within the first year following project completion, when the polymer panels appeared worn and began to loosen, according to county officials. More recently, cracks were discovered in the structure below the panels.

Conway in 2013 filed suit against the panels’ manufacturer and supplier – Durham, N.C.-based ZellComp Inc. and Bristol, Va.-based Strongwell Corp., respectively – blaming the companies for the failing panels. The county later joined the suit, claiming that the contractor was also responsible for the botched project, and filed another suit against New York-based Hardesty & Hanover, which designed the fiber-reinforced polymer system.

The two-week Multnomah County Circuit Court trial started last month and concluded Friday. Jurors said damages to Multnomah County totaled approximately $5.6 million, but they reduced the award by 22 percent – the amount that the county was found at fault.

Jurors ruled that FRP panel manufacturer Zellcomp was most negligent and should pay for 40 percent of the damages. Engineer Hardesty & Hanover’s responsibility is 21 percent and contractor Conway’s is 17 percent. Although the jury found that panel supplier Strongwell was negligent in one or more ways claimed by the county in the case, the company does not owe any damages, according to the decision.

Deborah Kafoury, chairwoman of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement following the verdict that county officials plan to move forward with a project to replace the faulty Morrison Bridge lift span deck as soon as possible. Along with the award from the lawsuit, officials are pursuing state and federal funding for the project.

County officials would like to avoid using FRP again and hope to soon decide on an alternate decking material – lightweight and providing traction – to install on the lift span, county spokesman Mike Pullen has said.

Design of a second deck replacement project is scheduled to start this year. Construction could take place in 2016 or 2017.