Savannah's Chatham County has broken ground on a $71 million jail expansion.

The project will nearly double the detention center's size to more than 2,000 beds and will take two years to finish.

It's one of the largest construction projects in the area and a welcome bit of business for area contractors.

The recession helped bring the expansion's cost down by about $30 million.

Contributors: Rickey Bevington

Tags: prison, Chatham County, jail