Surging Building Costs and Demand Delay Road Construction
- From: "Scott M. Kozel" <kozelsm@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 21:54:55 -0400
Surging building costs, demand delay Florida road construction
The Associated Press - April 10, 2006
Excerpts:
'The cost of building roads has gotten so high, even dirt isn't cheap.
And that spike is causing Florida and other states to delay the
construction of highways, increasing traffic congestion.'
'Engineers say reconstruction from the eight hurricanes that have hit
the United States since 2004, combined with a population boom in Florida
and elsewhere, is forcing road builders to compete with construction
companies for workers, materials and equipment. Surging fuel prices,
China's demand for concrete and steel and the reconstruction of Iraq are
also pushing U.S. road-construction costs higher.'
'"It's certainly been challenging. We plan for cost increases but this
has been a situation that a lot of events have come together all at one
time," said Lowell Clary of the Florida Department of Transportation.'
'Until 2004, highway material costs were steady, with a 12-year average
increase of only 1.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Concrete is up 36.2 percent a unit, from $550 in 2003 to
$749 last year. Prices for reinforced steel and asphalt have also
jumped, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Even a
cubic yard of dirt or "earthwork" cost $7.24 on average in 2005, up 46
percent from $4.96 in 2003.'
'Florida has 8,000 projects in various stages in its five-year program,
but was forced to defer 62 of them when its highway budget came up about
$1 billion short, Clary said.'
'Seven projects were deferred in booming Miami-Dade County, totaling
$140.6 million. Ricky Leme often sits in bumper-to-bumper traffic in an
area where one of the projects has been postponed. He said delaying the
work will only increase congestion.'
.....
'But the problem has also prompted transportation officials elsewhere to
consider new ways to cut costs, including better ways to court
contractors bidding on jobs as the number of contractors bidding on jobs
has plummeted. Fewer bids means higher prices.'
See the URL for the rest of the _Orlando Sentinel_ article -
http://tinyurl.com/fdfpo
--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com
.
- Prev by Date: Re: "Future" New York
- Next by Date: Re: Kaine Approves 70 MPH for I-85
- Previous by thread: Re: US 58 and US 15 have arrived in St. Louis
- Next by thread: How many roads whose name is park way in US?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
