Public-private partnerships (P3s) have burst onto the scene in the U.S. as a solution to help meet the overwhelming need for public infrastructure and the underwhelming public resources to pay for it. P3s, of course, are hardly new. Private funding sources have been used for decades to develop major infrastructure and social assets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In the last decade, P3s have become common in Canada, and they were utilized in the U.S. in the 1970s to develop post offices. In many cases, these privately financed assets are well timed, developed and operated.They can also provide a
Prices for construction materials were flat in March, as plunging diesel fuel and metals prices offset increases in items used in new housing and nonresidential building renovations, according to a recent analysis of new federal figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Thanks to a recent, sharp drop in diesel fuel prices last month—along with continuing declines in steel, copper and aluminum prices—overall construction costs were unchanged from February and up only 0.9% over the past year,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the construction trade association. “However, building contractors had to absorb another month of increases in
Thirty-eight percent of highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work-zone study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials added that the study found work-zone crashes are more likely to kill vehicle operators and passengers than construction workers. “Any time your jobsite is just a few feet away from fast-moving traffic, danger is never far away,” said Mike Hoover, chair of the association’s national highway and transportation division and executive vice president of Tempe, Ariz.-based Sundt Construction. “When you see construction
Public-private partnerships are alive and thriving in Colorado because of leadership from the Colorado Dept. of Transportation, the Regional Transportation District and the City and County of Denver. P3 projects benefit from Colorado’s Integrated Project Delivery statute, which was enacted in 2007 and permits all state agencies, municipalities and special districts to deliver capital projects through any combination of design, demolition, construction, operation, maintenance and finance. CDOTCDOT’s High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), under the leadership of Director Mike Cheroutes, is expanding the Boulder Turnpike (U.S. 36) on a P3 basis. The turnpike originally opened in 1951 as a four-lane divided
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is reflecting a steady upturn in design activity. The American Institute of Architects reported the March ABI score was 51.9, down from a mark of 54.9 in February. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 60.1, down from the reading of 64.8 the previous month. “Business conditions in the construction industry have generally been improving over the last several months,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. “But as we have continued to report, the recovery has been uneven
Construction employment increased in 30 states in March as the industry expanded, but at a slower pace than in February, according to a recent analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Association officials cautioned, however, that many states remain vulnerable to construction cutbacks from newly enacted and proposed decreases in federal funding for infrastructure. “A majority of states are adding jobs month by month and year-over-year,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The expansion appears poised to continue for residential and private nonresidential construction, but investment in infrastructure and public buildings is still on
New construction starts in March climbed 8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $475.7 billion, it was reported by McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of the McGraw-Hill Cos. The gain for total construction in March followed two months of decline and was led by a strong increase for the non-building construction sector (public works and electric utilities). At the same time, March witnessed slightly reduced activity for both housing and nonresidential building. During the first three months of 2013, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis came in at $100.5 billion, unchanged from the same period a year ago.The latest
The confidence of Colorado business leaders has surged going into the second quarter of 2013, according to the most recent Leeds Business Confidence Index, or LBCI, recently released by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. With waning uncertainty giving way to a stabilizing economy, the second quarter LBCI posted a reading of 58.1, a sharp increase from last quarter’s 51.3 reading. Expectations measured positive—at 50 or higher—for all of the metrics measured by the index. They include hiring and capital expenditures, the state and national economies, and industry sales and profits.For the first time, index participants were
Nonfarm payroll jobs in Colorado increased 10,800 from January to February to 2,352,900 jobs, according to a recent survey of business establishments by the Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment. Private-sector payroll jobs increased 10,100 and government increased 700. According to the survey of households, the unemployment rate decreased one tenth of one percentage point over the month to 7.2%. The decrease in the unemployment rate was caused by a larger increase in the number of people reporting their status as employed than in the number of people actively participating in the labor force. The last time the Colorado unemployment
Construction spending rebounded in February with gains from depressed January levels in residential, private nonresidential and public investment, according to a recent analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the rise in public investment was likely to be short lived and urged policy makers in Washington to make infrastructure investment a priority. “It is encouraging to see growth in both monthly and year-over-year totals in private residential and nonresidential construction spending,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “There are increasing signs that 2013 will be a good year for
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