Warrenton officials received a surprise when bids came back for a project to upgrade a water main along Middletown Road. The city had budgeted $44,000 for the project, but the low bid came in at $123,000.The existing water main at Middletown Road will be replaced with a larger pipe, Public Works Director Guy Gevers said. The project involves boring under the intervening railroad tracks where the main connects with the rest of the water system.One reason the project was more expensive than expected was the railroad company required the pipe to bore into the ground farther away from the tracks, Gevers said.Boring and running piping under the tracks is by far the most expensive portion of the project. Gevers said he had miscalculated how much that portion was going to cost the city.To help pay for the installation, aldermen on March 21 approved an $80,000 transfer from the city’s infiltration repairs and improvements fund. That will leave $45,000 in the repair fund.St. Charles County Piping was awarded the project with a low bid of $123,400.35.The Warrenton Board of Aldermen meets the first and third Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m. at Warrenton City Hall. It’s next meeting is April 18.City of Warrenton