Dive summary:

• One statistic gives a view into the complexity of the O'Hare Modernization Program at Chicago's signature airport: $700 million of a $1.2 billion project for one runway was allocated to relocating things – including a cemetery – that were in the way.
• The total program was expected to cost $6.6 billion when it was announced 12 years ago, which the city Department of Aviation equates to $8.7 billion now, and it will add a runway, extend two, relocate three existing ones and create a new terminal "campus" at the west end of the airport.
• In one case of juggling, taking 5,000 feet off one runway meant adding 3,000 feet to a different one because there must always be at least one 13,000-foot strip to handle international aircraft, but all that meant relocating railroad tracks and associated buildings – twice.

From the article:

"We moved about 24 million cubic yards of soil material on this project, and none of it has left the site," says [assistant commissioner of the Chicago Dept. of Aviation Fank] Grimaldi.  ...