Highway project costing taxpayers millions more than originally projected

Kimball Payne and Bob Evans of the Hampton Daily Press uses a large number of documents, maps and thousands of e-mails to investigate a federal highway project that is projected to be completed two years past the original completion date and have an added cost of twice what the Virginia Department of Transportation had projected. “E.V. Williams has already been paid $25.9 million more than its original bid of $64.7 million. By the end, VDOT estimates the added costs will double, creating a 77 percent overrun.” The series is divided into eight sections: Money, Design, Delays, Infighting, Contract, Bridge, Magruder and Next. A timeline detailing “The roadmap to chaos” is also included with the piece.