Dirt - it's neither good nor bad. But whether a construction site has too much or too little dirt can add a lot to the cost of a project and greatly complicate the logistics.

With fuel prices still relatively high, contractors want to avoid having to take dirt off the site. They also prefer not to have to bring fill onto a site, where it has to be compacted to be suitable for a project.

Contractors usually cannot avoid handling many cubic tons of dirt when they build. So working out the logistics of hauling dirt either way is the heart of a contractor's bid.

As many residents of University City and Clayton recall, a steady stream of dump trucks full of dirt excavated for the MetroLink tunnel under and along Forest Park Parkway complicated rush-hour traffic and was hard on streets.