Georgia Contracts Pick Up the Pace in August

According to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Engineering News-Record, the pace of new Georgia construction contracts accelerated in August, with the state experiencing an 18% gain in new work. The gain resulted in an estimated $874.8 million in new contracts during the month.

The biggest gains came in the nonresidential category, which saw a 52% improvement for an August total of $426.9 million. Residential work also improved, with contracts totaling $313.8 million for the month, a 9% increase. The nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure work, declined by 22%, however, delivering an estimated $134.2 million in new contracts.

On a year-to-date basis, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates the pace of 2011 contracts to be 7% behind last year’s volume, with slightly more than $7 billion in new work recorded so far.

Through August, the nonbuilding category is the only negative. However, this work type is 40% behind 2010’s pace, with nearly $1.1 billion in new contracts to date. The residential category is 7% ahead of last year’s pace, with nearly $2.6 billion in new contracts so far. The nonresidential category has so far eked out a 1% gain over last year, and is estimated at nearly $3.4 billion through August.

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.