Hidden Costs

Evaluating soils is a tricky business, as Winston-Salem officials have found out. An additional $830,000 was added to the end of a road-widening project, largely due to the need for unplanned drainage and erosion control operations. The upfront soil analysis missed the trouble zones, and the city’s lack of month-to-month project oversight led to the surprise bill. North Carolina recently toughened its EC rules.