Construction News Tracker

This series features developing and breaking news, products, information, and industry analysis specifically for construction professionals.

Cnt 12162021

Construction News Tracker: Resolution Means No US Government Shutdown Before Feb 18

US DOT announces $338M TIFIA Build American Better Bureau loan for building the Thimble Shoal tunnel; Samsung to add $17B semiconductor complex near Austin, Texas by 2024; 800-ft I-74 bridges linking Illinois and Iowa rebuilt for $1.2B

Cnt 12022021

Construction News Tracker: 6 Priorities Guide Infrastructure Act Investment

Top construction news: The US DOT lays out state-by-state distribution of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds, growth in new home construction stalled but permits rising, jobless claims at lowest level since 1969

Cnt 11032021

Construction News Tracker: September Housing Permits Tumbled to a One-Year Low But Overall Construction Starts Rise

September housing starts fell 1.6% as building permits tumbled to 1-yr low, state DOTs say funding extensions provide just 1/12th of the expected spend, Caterpillar may raise prices on all equipment, Senate Appropriations Committee OKs more road spending

Cnt 10212021

Construction News Tracker: Nonresidential Construction in Planning Leaps in September

Hot construction industry news includes a significant jump in the Dodge Momentum Index, 10,000 workers strike in the first major walkout at Deere in 30 years, I-49 completed from North Dakota to Louisiana, work on 45,000 new US hotel rooms started in 2021

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Construction News: Infrastructure Bill Update

Construction headline tracker includes the proposed infrastructure bill has stalled, builder sentiment is rising, home building prices are up, the nation is short 5 million single-family homes, Deere's new electric backhoe and more.

Cnt 09022021

Construction News: Dodge Forecasts 7% Starts Growth through End of 2021

Construction headline tracker includes: materials costs outstrip bid prices; 30 years after levying the tax, LA starts a new road; largest public project ever in RI enters final phase; US craftsmen hand-hew new truss for Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral

Cnt 08192021

Construction News Tracker: $1.2T Infrastructure Bill Starts Road Through the House

Details of infrastructure bill's $550B in new spending, Senate also passed a budget resolution to clear the way for a $3.5T spending package, Dodge measures commercial construction gains across 17 major metro areas in the first half of 2021, more

Cnt 08052021

Construction News Tracker: Infrastructure Spending Makes Its Way in the Senate

The U.S. Senate has agreed to take up a bipartisan infrastructure bill, home building exceeded June forecasts but permits fell steeply, Fed measures constrained supply's impact on GDP, Dodge construction starts slump, New Jersey plans off-shore wind farms

Cnt 07222021

Construction News Tracker: $3.5 Trillion is the Number for New Infrastructure

Construction news is dominated by infrastructure-funding struggles; first construction momentum drop in six months; falling lumber prices; rising portion of civil contractors report growing backlogs but 65% say skills shortage is already delaying projects

Cnt 07082021

Construction News: President and Senators Agree on Infrastructure-Bill Scope as Construction Spending Slows

News Tracker includes House of Representatives passing a $715 transpo and water bill, what lead to May’s decline in construction spending, status of Miami condo-tower collapse, lumber prices’ June plunge, an optimistic construction forecast into 2022

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Construction News Tracker: Will 25% Spending Cut Woo Republicans to Biden Infrastructure Plan?

Administration cuts total by $550B, icing spend on manufacturing, small business, supply chains and R&D, Senate committees take up reauthorization of FAST Act, industry employers kick back at COVID 19 compliance, housing starts plunge

Cnt 05202021

Construction News: No Construction Job Growth in an April that Delivered Only a Quarter of Economists’ Forecasts

Institutional building rebound lifts Dodge Construction Index in April, panic over the global lumber shortage pushed July futures for 2x4s to $1,481, a crack shut down the Desoto Bridge carrying I-40 across the Mississippi River

Cnt 05062021

Construction News: How to Build 500,000 Electric Vehicle Charge Stations?

GM to build second, $2.3B battery plant, Dodge construction starts up 2.3% in March, particle-board prices up 64.9% and lumber prices up 83.4% over 12 months, how to locate lead water pipes to replace them?

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Construction News Tracker: Is the FAST Act Dead?

The FAST Act is dead, according to Republican members of Congress as efforts to renew funding for the bill are underway.

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Construction News Tracker: Biden’s $2.3T Infrastructure Bills Make Their Way to Congress

Administration splits infrastructure program into two bills, housing construction tumbles 10.3% in harsh February, volatile materials costs could dampen construction's 2021 rebound, spending is up in 9 of 16 nonresidential construction sectors

03152021 Cnt

Construction News Tracker: PRO Act Passage Draws Anti-Union Rhetoric from Associations

Construction lost 61,000 jobs in February in the first US employment decline since April, 12-month non-building construction starts in January were 15% below the previous year’s, Nevada governor considers World of Concrete’s request for a June show

Cnt 03042021

Construction News Tracker: Arctic Blast from Texas to Maine Drives Fuel Prices Skyward

All construction material prices increased during January for the first time since 2018, NAHB measured a 14.5% increase in new home construction permits in 2020, PCA forecasts 2021 regional cement consumption to be led by a 3% increase in the South

Cnt 02182021

Construction News Tracker: Residential Spree Leads 2020 Construction Spending Higher than 2019

Just three of the nation's Top 20 metro areas gained in 2020 commercial building starts, Buttigieg DOT expected to bring innovative transport spending and equity, NJ invites bids on $1.8B replacement of a key rail crossing of Hackensack River

Cnt 02022021

Construction News Tracker: Biden Executive Orders Halt Keystone XL and Border-Wall Construction

IHS Markit measures first across-the-board construction cost increases since mid-2018, home construction hits 14-year high in December, FHWA apportions $9.8B in COVID-19 relief funds to DOTs, and more construction news

Cnt 01212021

Construction News Tracker: Biden Unveils $1.9B Coronavirus Relief Plan

Chao resignation clears top of US DOT for Pete Buttigieg, Biden picks Boston mayor and ex-construction-union leader Marty Walsh for Labor secretary, unemployment claims exceed 1M for the first time since July in first week of January

Cnt 01072021

Construction News Tracker: $900B COVID Relief Bill Rejuvenates PPP Loan Program

AGC and AASHTO applaud Biden choice of Pete Buttigieg to lead US DOT, planning of nonresidential construction projects is declining, construction employment lags pre-pandemic levels in 35 states, EEOC OKs asking job candidates for COVID vaccine history

Cnt 12152020

Construction News Tracker: NY/NJ Port Authority Proposes $1.2B Capital Budget Cut

Flat October nonresidential construction spending breaks 4-month string of declines, depressed construction employment hits every state, Purple Line Partners proceed in Maryland without Fluor

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Construction News Tracker: Housing Starts Surprise Forecasters with 6.4% Jump in October

News headlines include Dodge’s forecast of 4% starts increase in 2021, voters approved the most transportation-improvement initiatives in 20 years, horrific crash melts steel and asphalt of I-75 bridge over the Ohio River

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[NEWS TRACKER] 75% of AGC Members Report Cancelled or Delayed Future Construction Projects

Caterpillar’s revenue fell 23%; U.S. construction forecast to drop 2% to the end of 2020 and 3% next year; materials, equipment and subcontractor labor prices fell for the 8th straight month