despite covid-10 and economic shutdown, highway and bridge construction work increasing, says new report

Twenty-four states, along with the District of Columbia, have seen an increase in the dollar value of new highway and bridge construction contracts during the first two months of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a just-released industry report.

In putting together numbers covering the March to May time period, the American Road and Transportation Builder’s Association pegged the total dollar value of such contracts at $21.2 billion.

That figure is greater than the $20.2 billion recorded for the same period of time last year, and actually represents the highest cumulative contract value since early 2015.

More specifically, highway contracts for March to May of this year stood at $16.4 billion, up by nearly $1 billion over last year.

Bridge project contracts, at the same time, stood at $4.8 billion, an increase of $500 million over 2019.

States seeing the most significant contract value increases include California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
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In the publication Construction Market Forecast Report, Alison Premo Black, chief economist with ARTBA, noted that while the strong contract numbers are good news, “there is growing concern over reported declines in state and local transportation revenues.”

By Garry Boulard

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