Ben Pinnell is the Superintendent for Hickory Construction project on Bonny Oaks.  "We have missed about half of our days in October and missed about one third of the days in September. We wait until the end of November to tally up our days but it definitely has affected schedule," he said Tuesday.

Some contracts build in 'rain days' but projects can get stuck in the mud, too. For every day it rains more than a tenth of an inch of rain, the Bonny Oaks site becomes mud. That means a day or two of drying before getting back out. And every project has a due date.  "We're scrambling," Pinnell explained.  "You know the saying, 'You make hay when the sun shines.'  We try to make up when we can but it's tough to get everything to cooperate with you."

Rain days require creative scheduling. Workers opt for projects like metal cutting inside a future medical building on Riverfront Parkway instead of the outdoor ones.  Jared Chastain is a project manager for the Strauss Company.  He explains how this works.  "Sometimes we shift people from job to job so that we can keep everybody working. We try to give the guys 40 hours when we can."

Every day that's rained out gets documented. But this weather means more than just halted hard work.  "With the rain comes more responsibility," adds Chastain.  "The city has requirements on storm water protection so we've got things we have to monitor during rain events."

So now everyone must play the waiting game until the rain ends.