Road construction outlook and equipment listings vary across the states

FMI’s first quarter 2015 construction forecast predicts modest highway and streets construction growth through 2019. The growth rate, says FMI, will be around 2 percent annually. In 2014, the value of road construction in the U.S. grew 4 percent over 2013 levels. FMI provides management consulting, and investment banking services to the engineering and construction industry.

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) predicts that highway construction activity will vary across the country, with highway investment up in 24 states and down in 19 states and Washington, D.C. In the seven remaining states, ARTBA says highway investment will be within 5 percent of year-earlier budgets. The Washington, D.C.-based ARTBA’s main goal is to grow and protect transportation infrastructure investment to meet the public and business demand for safe and efficient travel.

EquipmentWatch Intelligence shows that the U.S. North Central region had a disproportionately high number of online resale listings of single drum vibratory compactors. These pieces of equipment are often used in highway construction and maintenance. “North and South Dakota had by far the two greatest shares of postings relative to their populations,” says EquipmentWatch Intelligence analyst Matt Ritchie in his recent report. Ritchie adds: “There was also a relatively high share of compactor listings observed in the southeast, particularly along the Atlantic coast and in Northern Appalachia.” The compactor listings data is based on records from the privately listed resale market. In the photo to the right: A BOMAG BW 124 DH-40 single drum vibratory compactor.

The analysts at EquipmentWatch provide EquipmentWatch Intelligence reports. EquipmentWatch is a resource focused on providing data-driven insights for making informed decisions around heavy equipment. EquipmentWatch produces database information products for the construction equipment industry and provides heavy construction research. The data source serves over 15,000 professional, high-volume users of construction and lift truck data.

On the highway construction front, Congress has until May 31 to offer up legislation to maintain federal highway funding. With the deadline a short 30+ days away, however, Congress may not have enough time to pass a long-term bill and may need to produce another short-term fix to support a temporary infrastructure funding extension.