Better Roads Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/102915
Outlook2013 CONTRACTORS AGENCIES Do you anticipate that the levels of highway and bridge work (construction, repair, maintenance) put up for bid by your state in 2013 will increase, decrease or stay about the same? Increase 28.8% Decrease Stay about the same 34.8% 43.9% 18.2% 56.1% How many more will you employ? Significantly more Just a few more Just one or two 17.6% 76.5% 5.9% 18.6% 50.0% Do you anticipate that the majority of highway and bridge construction/maintenance/repair work put up for bids by your agency in 2012 will change in makeup (e.g. more of some sort of work and less of another)? Yes 38.1% No Will you employ more or less people in 2013? More 25.8% Less It will be the same Decrease Stay about the same 25.8% 45.5% Do you expect funding available for transportation infrastructure work in our region will be more, less or about the same in 2013 as it was in 2012? More 21.2% Less About the same Do you anticipate that levels of highway and bridge construction/ maintenance/repair work put up for bids by your agency in 2013 will increase, decrease or stay about the same, compared to 2012? Increase 31.4% 61.9% Will funding available for bridge and road work in 2013 in your area, compared to 2012, be more, less or about the same? More Less About the same 20.3% 19.5% 60.2% Do you foresee making changes in the way you work with contractors, e.g. in bids, design/build, bonuses, specs, other? Yes 31.4% No 68.6% Do you expect to take advantage of more flexibility and authority in how state and regional agencies can use federal funds because of reforms in MAP-21? Yes 43.2% No 56.8% An Overview The American Road and Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) predicts that the nation's transportation construction infrastructure market is expected to show modest growth in 2013, increasing 3 percent from $126.5 billion to $130.3 billion. ARTBA predicts the bridge market, which showed substantial growth over the past 10 years, remains flat this year. The annual predictions are the work of Dr. Alison Premo Black, the association's chief economist. Black says growth is expected in highway and street pavements, private work for driveways and parking lots, airport terminal and runway work, railroads, and port and waterway 14 January 2013 Better Roads construction. Black says the pavements market will be sluggish in 2013, growing 2.8 percent to $58.4 billion. This includes $47.7 billion in public and private investment in highways, roads and streets, and $10.7 billion in largely private investments. "With no new real federal money in the 2012 MAP-21 surface transportation law, still recovering state and local tax collections and modest new housing starts, the pavements market will be uneven across the nation," says Black. "Pavement work is anticipated to be down in 25 states. Growth above a 5 percent range is expected in 19 states." But Black says there are two developments related to MAP-21 that could lead to additional market activity in the short term and strengthen the market in 2013 and 2014. "First, the law's restructuring of the federal highway program offers state transportation departments more flexibility in their use of federal funds. This could lead to slightly increased investment in highway, bridge and pavement work above the forecast in some states," she says. "Second, MAP-21's expanded federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program should also increase construction activity in some states."