World Fence News

58 • JULY 2019 • WORLD FENCE NEWS this volatility – if this project is ex- cluded, the decline for nonbuilding construction in April would have been a more moderate 9% following a 7% increase in March. The electric utility/gas plant cate- gory plummeted 87% in April, reflect- ing both weak activity for the month and the comparison to March that included the $4.3 billion LNG export terminal. The public works categories as a group dropped 5% in April, slow- ing after a 21% increase in March. The miscellaneous public works category (which includes site work, rail tran- sit, and pipelines) fell 29%, although April did include the start of a $307 million rail transit extension at Harts- field-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, and a $290 million riverfront revitalization project in Omaha, Neb. Declines were also reported in April for water supply construction, down 17%; and river/harbor develop- ment, down 40%. On the plus side for public works, sewer construction in April climbed 88%, led by a $631 million water pol- lution control effluent tunnel in Car- son, Calif. and a $412 million sewer project in Redwood City, Calif. Highway and bridge construction in April edged up 1%, rising for the second month in a row after declines in January and February. Supporting April's improved highway and bridge amount was $253 million for the start of renovation work on the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx, N.Y. The top five states for highway and bridge construction starts in April, ranked by dollar volume, were – California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Ohio. Nonresidential building in April dropped 18% to $248.5 billion (an- nual rate), which followed a 24% in- crease in March. The manufacturing plant category fell 72% in April after soaring 90% in March that included the $1.6 billion Toyota-Mazda automotive manufac- turing plant in Alabama. By contrast, the largest manu- facturing plant project that reached groundbreaking in April was a $250 million paper mill in Green Bay, Wis. The institutional side of nonres- idential building decreased 9% in April, which reflected a mixed pattern by project type. The amusement-re- lated category fell 50% after being boosted in March by the $850 million renovation of the KeyArena in Seattle. Healthcare facilities fell 29% in April following growth during the previous two months, while the public buildings category (courthouses and detention facilities) dropped 22%. On the plus side, the transporta- tion terminal category soared 159% in April, lifted by the $972 million terminal building portion of the $1.3 billion new airport terminal project at Kansas City International Airport. Educational facilities grew 6% in April, registering improvement for the second month in a row after a lack- luster performance in January and February. Large high school projects that reached groundbreaking in April were located in Fall River, Mass. ($215 million), Upper Arlington, Ohio ($140 million), and Santa Mon- ica, Calif. ($98 million). The top five states for K-12 school construction starts in April, ranked by dollar vol- ume, were – Texas, Ohio, California, Washington, and Massachusetts. The commercial building catego- ries as a group fell 16% in April, after a 22% rise in March. Hotel construction dropped 51% from its March amount, which featured the start of the $850 million hotel portion of a $1.1 billion hotel and theater redevelopment proj- ect located in Times Square New York City. The largest hotel project that reached groundbreaking in April was a $229 million Embassy Suites hotel in Nashville. Office construction in April re- treated 9% from its March amount, which included such projects as a $750 million Facebook data center in Sandston, Va., the $550 million Nor- folk Southern headquarters building in Atlanta, and a $300 million Cloud- HQ data center in Ashburn, Va. In April, new data center projects continued at a brisk pace, with six projects valued each at $100 million or more reaching groundbreaking, led by a $315 million Facebook data cen- ter in New Albany, Ohio. Dodge Data & Analytics is North America's leading provider of analyt- ics and software-based workflow inte- gration solutions for the construction industry. To learn more, visit www. construction.com. Dodge: April construction starts retreat 15 percent continued from page 56

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