Related Links: ENR's Construction Industry Confidence Index Declines in Third Quarter Full Report: ENR's 3rd Quarterly Cost Report, 2012 (subscription required) Construction Firms Weigh in on Romney's Presidential Bid A Second Obama Term Could Look Much Like the First As part of our most recent Construction Industry Confidence Index survey (CICI), ENR conducted an election poll asking which candidate would be better for the construction industry. Of the 378 executives polled, 71.2% said Romney was the better choice, 14.8% said Obama was the better choice, and 14.0% declined to answer.Many execs said their choice was ideological, with some claiming Obama
Related Links: Romney Tops Obama In ENR Survey of Construction Executives ENR's 3rd Quarterly Cost Report, 2012 (subscription required) With the American presidential election less than two months away, the construction industry has taken a wait-and-see attitude about the markets. Many top construction executives believe the market will stay in a holding pattern until the election results come in and the new administration's spending and regulatory priorities and the direction of the economy become clear.The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey shows the industry's uncertainty. The second-quarter 2012 CICI fell six points from the first quarter to 50
Source: J.D. Power European diesel truck and engine brands placed highest in recent J.D. Power studies. Related Links: Ford Offers Gas When Diesel Is Too Much Navistar Makes U-Turn, Arrives at Cummins The biggest diesel trucks on the road have taken a "precipitous drop" in reliability as vehicle manufacturers have incorporated new emissions controls required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, says one expert at J.D. Power and Associates.In two separate studies this summer, J.D. Power surveyed fleet managers in the heavy-freight and vocational, or work truck, vehicle categories. The studies cover Class 8 trucks and engines for the 2011
Related Links: View Complete Report with Data and Analysis (pdf) Construction Financial Management Association For many in the industry, the construction market seems to have stabilized and is beginning to show signs of life. However, there are concerns among owners, both public and private, about the availability of funds to launch new capital programs. So the construction industry believes that any significant rebound will not come until 2013.The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey shows the industry's guarded optimism. The second-quarter 2012 CICI fell two points from the first quarter to 56 on a scale of 100. (A
Related Links: View complete report with Data and Analysis Products and Services website ENR Quarterly Cost Reports Construction professionals are starting to see more in their paychecks as compensation begins to thaw out from the pay freeze of the past few years. However, recruiters say total pay packages aren't improving for all—only specific skill sets are seeing a bump up.Average base salaries among non-executive-level staff rose 2.4% in 2011 and are expected to rise another 2.69% this year, according to the 2012 salary survey of construction and construction management staff by Personnel Administration Services (PAS), Saline, Mich.Adding to the improved
PHOTO COURTESY OF DUKE ENERGY Duke Energy's Dan River Combined-Cycle Station in Eden, N.C., is leading the utility's shift to natural gas from coal, a growing trend. Related Links: View complete report with Data and Analysis (pdf) Demand Starts To Unfreeze Pay Take the Natural-Gas Highway Cheap natural gas is lighting a fire under manufacturing, a sector of the U.S. economy given up for dead as the Rust Belt spread and the so-called service economy became the nation's fallback. Taking advantage of low-cost feedstock, a petrochemical industry boom on the U.S. Gulf Coast is expanding to areas near the great
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton Pumped up Retail filling stations for natural-gas vehicles, such as this one in Chicago, are popping up, but domestic supplies are debatable. Related Links: View complete report with Data and Analysis Few companies are operating retail natural-gas fueling stations across the U.S. these days. However, the prospect of many years of cheap natural gas is spurring a small construction boom to build out the country's so-called "natural-gas highway."Most of the stations today are add-ons to existing gas and diesel filling stations. "We have about 300 stations today, mostly CNG [compressed natural gas], and are building
ENR na Related Links: View Complete Report with Data and Analysis (pdf) Demand Starts To Unfreeze Pay Cheap Natural Gas Is Reinvigorating U.S. Power Production and Manufacturing In just a few years, America has become the low-cost producer of a major energy source—natural gas—and the long-term implications could be a game changer for some materials. New drilling technology has dramatically increased the production of oil and gas from North America's abundant shale resources. Furthermore, producers are now "flaring off" fewer wells to capture the gas for productive uses.This trend already is spurring construction in the powerplant sector: Utilities are switching
MH Analytics Construction's unemployment rate in March rose slightly Economics Lower Unemployment Masks Number of Workers Leaving Construction's unemployment rate in March rose slightly, to 17.2%, from February's 17.1%, as the industry lost an estimated 7,000 jobs last month. But the rate was better than March 2011's mark of 20%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest monthly status report on the employment picture, released on April 6, showed that jobs lost in the buildings-construction sector outweighed gains in the heavy-civil and residential specialty trades.Corruption Former CEO of Concrete-Beam Producer Guilty of DBE Fraud The former CEO of a Pennsylvania concrete-beam
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. DIESEL FUEL, 1985=100. ASPHALT, 1981=100. Rising crude-oil and fuel costs will take a toll on highway projects this spring, says Anirban Basu, chief economist at Arlington, Va.-based Associated Builders and Contractors. "The spike in petroleum prices is a major concern," Basu says, adding, "This type of [hike] could become increasingly problematic for both the broader economy and the nation's construction industry."Rising oil prices were reflected in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' producer price index for diesel fuel, which peaked at a year-to-year increase of 50% last July. As of last month, the annual inflation rate for
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