A concrete foreman in Denver told me 'the schedule is a guess, the budget is a prayer, but the dirt never lies' and it stuck with me.

3 comments

3 Comments

That's a solid line right there. Used to get so hung up on dates and spreadsheets, you know? But the dirt, the actual work in front of you, it tells you exactly what's going on. Makes you wonder why we spend so much time on the other stuff when the real answer is right there.

jamiew8319d ago

...and my buddy had that exact thing happen on a job last summer. He was building a retaining wall, had everything plotted out perfect on paper, budget and timeline all set. Then he started digging and hit a massive root system from an old oak tree that wasn't even on the survey. Took him three extra days just to deal with it, had to rent a stump grinder and everything. He said the numbers on his spreadsheet basically became a joke after that first shovel went in the ground. Sometimes you just gotta let the dirt tell you when to slow down, I guess.

diana_grant3mo ago

So what happens when the dirt tells you something that completely wrecks the schedule and budget? Do you just accept the new truth and start over, or is there pressure to ignore it and push ahead anyway?