South Carolina has about $50 billion worth of transportation infrastructure needs. The staggering sum is almost a guarantee that fast-growing counties will be asked to contribute to building roads and bridges for decades to come.

With that in mind, the details hidden in the inspection reports and state Department of Transportation files offer little comfort to residents of Beaufort, Charleston, York and other counties that have ponied up money to help build infrastructure the highway department can't afford -- on a timetable that will benefit the counties.

The 35,000 hours of inspections conducted by 12 employees of a Rock Hill company show that employees slept on the job, didn't expeditiously remove rust from steel, and may have endangered the lives of employees and travelers by not following procedure. Inspectors also detailed cracks in the new Broad River bridge, including some that allowed water to flow through the bridge.

Balfour Beatty, the United Kingdom's largest construction firm, was awarded the contract for the 12-mile, $105 million project even though Transportation Department officials were aware that the company was under scrutiny by the federal government and other states, and had reservations about whether the company could complete the project on time.

The staggering financial cost of South Carolina's infrastructure needs means that the state must be frugal with taxpayers' money. According to the Transportation Department, Balfour Beatty offered a bid $23 million lower than that of the next-closest competitor.

Being frugal, however, means spending the money wisely, not necessarily awarding the contract to the lowest bidder. DOT officials say the $105 million project will be completed to the satisfaction of state engineers. However, it'll be years before anyone knows if issues mentioned in the inspection reports on rust and cracks will be a factor in long-term maintenance.

The $23 million savings isn't chicken feed. The savings brought the contract in under original estimates, which saved Beaufort County residents millions, in addition to the millions it saved the Transportation Department and other state taxpayers. But financial savings aren't everything.

As Beaufort County officials prepare a shopping list of projects for another round of capital projects to be paid for with a local sales tax, it would be reassuring if the Transportation Department re-examined the way it awards contracts and how to force construction firms to comply immediately to safety concerns.