"For instance, in the 1980s several nuclear power plants in Washington were canceled after the estimated construction costs increased from $4.1 billion to over

"For instance, in the 1980s several nuclear power plants in Washington were canceled after the estimated construction costs increased from $4.1 billion to over $24 billion." That's not even 10x. I would say hitting the correct order of magnitude is "on budget" for civil engineering projects. Here is what out of budget looks like: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-13/how-the-cost-of-remaking-the-san-francisco-bay-bridge-soared-to-6-5-billion https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-13/how-the-c...