Skip to main content

News Briefs

Date Posted: October 15 2004

Short-term road funding OK’d
Unable to come together to adopt a plan that would have funded construction transportation spending for six years, Congress and President Bush approved a measure on Sept. 30 that funds highway work for the next eight months.

A six-year funding scheme would have allowed state departments of transportation to plan long-term projects knowing how much federal funding will be available. Instead, said the Engineering News Record, the money approved by Congress “should give state departments of transportation enough certainty to proceed with bid lettings through early spring. But having just eight months of assured federal aid is unlikely to convince states and transit agencies to launch planning and design contracts for major new projects.”

The longer-term funding plan also had provisions for fixing the lack of equity among the states when it comes to receiving federal highway money. Michigan currently only receives a return of 88 percent of the money taxpayers send to Washington earmarked for road work – ranking us at No. 47 in terms of equity received.

The greater problem is that Congress and President Bush cannot not agree on how much to spend on highway construction – the Senate wanted to spend $318 billion over the next six years, while Bush wants to spend about $70 billion less.

Construction takes a hit in August
August construction starts in the U.S. dropped 4 percent from the previous month to a rate of $573.3 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. The retreat for total construction was due to a slower pace for nonresidential building after a very strong July, in conjunction with a slight loss of momentum for residential building and non-building construction (public works and utilities).

However, for the first eight months of 2004, total U.S. construction on an unadjusted basis amounted to $394.3 billion, was up 10 percent from the same period a year ago.

“Total construction continues to move at a healthy pace, and its now virtually certain that full-year growth for 2004 will exceed the 5 percent gain in 2003,” said Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. “Single-family housing is still exceptionally strong, and the broad trend for commercial building this year is generally upward, even with the reduced amount of construction starts in August. At the same time, tight fiscal conditions over the past several years continue to have a restraining influence on the institutional structure types and public works construction.”

Fatal injuries increase in U.S.

A total of 5,559 fatal workplace injuries were reported nationwide last year, up from 5,534 in 2002, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced earlier this month.

One in every five deaths – 1,126 – occurred among construction workers.