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54 • DECEMBER 2012 • WORLD FENCE NEWS All the stuff you need! Enjoy the Adventure! Serving You Since 1991 Wholesale to the Gate&Access Control Industry Seattle 800-548-2365 Anaheim 877-386-9797 www.gatesandcontrols.com Spokane 866-709-8869 Sacramento 800-926-5520 Portland 800-204-7344 Las Vegas 866-275-1651 September construction in U.S. jumps 16 percent New construction starts in Sep- tember climbed 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $507.2 billion, it was reported by McGraw-Hill Con- struction, a division of The McGraw- Hill Companies. The nonbuilding construction sec- Check out (and link to) some of the best web sites in the fence industry at World Fence News OnLine! www.worldfencenews.com tor (public works and electric utilities) led the way, helped in particular by a massive natural gas plant and several very large electric utility projects. Meanwhile, nonresidential build- ing retreated after an improved per- formance in August, and residential building eased back slightly. Through the first nine months of 2012, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis came in at $349.6 bil- lion, up 5% compared to the same pe- riod a year ago. The latest month's data lifted the Dodge Index to 107 (2000=100), up from 92 in August. This marked the second highest reading for the Dodge Index so far in 2012, following the 115 reported in April, which benefitted from the start of an $8.5 billion nuclear power plant in South Carolina. "The robust pace for electric util- ity and gas plant construction during 2012 has occasionally produced volatility for total construction on a month-to-month basis," stated Robert A. Murray, vice-president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "If electric utilities and gas plants are excluded, the level of construction starts in 2012 would be up 2% year-to- date, helped by this year's further growth for multifamily housing and the emerging recovery for single fam- ily housing. "As for the other construction sec- tors, commercial building has shown some strengthening during 2012 – while its dollar amount has grown less than 1% year-to-date, square footage is up 16%. However, decreased activ- ity continues to be reported in 2012 for institutional building, manufacturing plants, and public works. Going into 2013, it's not expected that electric utilities will be able to maintain the record pace witnessed in 2011 and 2012, and tight government budgets will restrain the institutional building and public works sectors. It will be up to housing and commercial building to provide upward momentum, and the impending 'fiscal cliff' makes contin- ued growth for these sectors less cer- tain," Murray stated. Nonbuilding construction in Sep- tember soared 67% to $197.9 billion (annual rate). The main lift came from a 335% surge for the electric utility and gas plant category, as a $4.8 bil- lion liquefied natural gas plant in Louisiana (the Sabine Pass Liquefac- tion Project) was included as a Sep- tember construction start. Without this project, the gains for several levels of construction activity in September would have been more moderate – electric utilities and gas plants, up 60%; nonbuilding construc- tion, up 19%; and total construction, up 3%. There were six electric utility projects, each valued in excess of $100 million, listed as September construc- tion starts – a $750 million wind farm in Texas, a $484 million transmission line in Nevada and California, two $300 million gas-fired power plants in Texas, a $171 million transmission continued on page 56