What a difference a year makes. In the second quarter of 2008, construction starts had moved slightly off the record-run rate of the previous three years. The economic bloodletting set off by the subprime meltdown did not really spill over into construction until the second half of the year. Photo: Tom Hale / Midwest Construction State transportation agencies plug budget holes with ARRA dollars. + Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Research and Analytics Related Links: Costs Post Rare Quarterly Decline Firms Hold the Line on Raises, But Salaries Remain Competitive Slow Payment Is Sapping Contractors Strength A Strong Market Still Has
Most of the U.S. construction industry may be on flat-line status, but the building pulse is still strong in Salt Lake City, Utah. More than $4 billion of large mixed-use, commercial, education and health-care projects are under construction in the metropolitian area, with others ready to start construction or go out for bid. Photo: Michael Moore / SME Steel Contractors Bidders fight for over $4 billion of nonresidential work. Related Links: Razor-Thin Margins As Contractors Fight For Stimulus Projects Costs Post Rare Quarterly Decline Firms Hold the Line on Raises, But Salaries Remain Competitive Slow Payment Is Sapping Contractors Strength
A $106-billion military funding bill that includes $4.4 billion for defense and civil construction is heading to the White House for President Obama's expected signature. Final congressional approval for the package came on June 18, when the Senate approved it by a 91-5 vote. Most of the measure's funds will go to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo: Army Corps of Engineers Bill includes funds for hospital projects at Fort Belvoir, Va. Related Links: Read about the Bethesda hospital project Corps of Engineers Fort Belvoir slide show The largest share of the spending bill's construction funding is $2.7
Another lavish multibillion-dollar Las Vegas Strip resort project has suffered a recession-related setback: On June 9, the $3.1-billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which is about 70% complete, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Construction of the 63-story hotel-casino-retail complex is now halted. Photo: Luetta Callaway/ENR Mega-project’s craft workforce dropped from 3,300 to 250 in recent months. Scheduled to open in October, the project is being built by Fontainebleau Resorts LLC, an investment group led by Miami-based developer Jeffery Soffer, who also owns the famed Morris Lapidus Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. It so far has invested over $2 billion in the
House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a $106-billion supplemental spending bill for fiscal 2009 that most funds the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but also contains about $4.4 billion for defense and non-military construction, much of it in the U.S. The conference agreement, approved June 11 by House and Senate appropriators, is expected to go to the House and Senate floors during the week of June 15. The measure's construction allocations include $2.7 billion for Dept. of Defense construction, including $263 million to finish hospital projects in Bethesda, Md., and Fort Belvoir in Virginia; $488 million for other military
Complaints about Buy-American provisions contained in the economic-stimulus measure are growing louder in the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say that the problem is focused on the estimated $280 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that are being administered by states and localities, including aid for drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and other infrastructure sectors. "It is really apparent to us that Buy-American requirements are having a major impact on projects administered by state and local government," says Myron Brilliant, the Chamber's senior vice president responsible for international
Reports of solid profits and prospects by some of the construction industry’s largest publicly traded power, environmental and infrastructure giants had to be music to Wall Street’s ears. The good news was delivered at Credit Suisse’s engineering and construction conference, held on June 4 in New York City. Fluor Corp. has a strong balance sheet and $2.3 billion in cash, Vice President Kenneth Lockwood told analysts and investors. “We think we’re doing well in a challenging environment,” he said. The firm reported $5.5 billion in first-quarter project awards, a $29.1-billion backlog and very little debt. Lockwood is optimistic about winning
Nevada’s 2009 biannual Legislature adjourned this month without addressing a looming $7-billion transportation funding shortfall over the next decade. Highway construction spending may be slashed, despite a 103% increase in traffic between 1990 and 2005. Legislators were reluctant to increase fuel taxes, and Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) threatened to veto an increase. Transportation officials recommended adjusting the vehicle registration depreciation schedule to redirect funds for highways, a move that would generate about $47 million per year. Instead, lawmakers used the idea to fill the state’s general fund. The Nevada Dept. of Transportation expects its 2010-11 capital improvement program to be
Even as the Obama administration looks to pump more stimulus money into the marketplace, contractors are pointing to challenges of turning existing funds into new or saved jobs. Firms report some stimulus progress in stabilizing their workforce, but nonresidential construction job losses won’t end in 2009. While construction job losses slowed last month to 59,000, industry unemployment is now at 19.2%, compared to 9.4% overall in the U.S., says Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors’ chief economist. “Homebuilding has hit bottom, but nonresidential still has a ways to fall,” he adds. Simonson points to “ominous signs,” such as architect-engineer employment, down
Through the first four months of 2009 the total value of construction starts reached $117 billion, which was 39% less than the first four months of last year, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. “The pattern of construction starts over the past two months suggests a transition from extended declines to more of an up-and-down pattern, which generally takes place when a bottom gets established,” says Robert Murray, MHC’s chief economist. “This process of establishing a bottom is still in its early stages.” The public-works market is expected to see more strength as the impact of the stimulus bill begins to emerge.
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