Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Road to recovery still uphill: although positive signs are all around, APWA
cautions "we're not out of the woods yet.".
(2004 Forecast)
5/1/04 Pub. Works 25
2004 WL 70870304
Public Works
Copyright 2004 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Saturday, May 1, 2004
ISSN: 0033-3840; Volume 135; Issue 5
McManamy, Rob
Try as they might, public works officials across the United States still are
having a hard time generating much enthusiasm for 2004. Despite having spirits
bolstered by a flurry of good economic news in recent months--from diving
unemployment rates and a rising gross domestic product to robust housing starts
and some modestly bullish forecasts--city and state leaders concede that they
will not soon escape the bottom line of wide-spread budget crises. "We're
certainly not out of the woods yet," says Peter B. King, executive director of
the American Public Works Association (APWA), Kansas City, Mo. King is based in
Washington, D.C., where his office represents the interests of the 27,000-member
group before the federal government, monitoring policy development and pushing
its own legislative agenda before Congress and the White House. "We continue to
have concerns, but we remain cautiously optimistic about 2004," adds King.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
"Though the broader economy is beginning to recover, governments are still
feeling the pinch from declining revenues," explains Kermit Baker, chief
economist for the American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C.
"Traditionally, it takes a while for a weakening economy to be felt in
government budgets. Likewise, it takes a while for a strengthening economy to
produce increases in government revenue. While the federal government can
deficit spend, many state and local governments must maintain a balanced
budget," notes Baker.
Adds Ed Sullivan, chief economist for the Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement
Association (PCA), "Balanced budget amendments increase the exposure of cutbacks
in state construction activity." And that trickles down to squeeze municipal
budgets, as well.
As a result, the only alternative often left to cash-strapped state and local
governments is to defer maintenance. Since that option already has been in wide
use, however, APWA's King believes the time is now here when many needed
projects "just have to get done." For that reason, he feels, almost on a gut
level, that public works construction simply has to move ahead this year, even
if a number of economic hurdles remain.
BITING THE BULLET
Many obstacles persist and tight municipal budgets from coast to coast in
December even intruded on traditional seasonal tidings. According to the
Associated Press, many small towns across the United States--from Clark, N.J.,
and Mesa, Ariz., to Arlington, Texas, and Livonia, Mich.--announced this winter
that they could not afford to put up their traditional holiday lighting
displays, ranging in cost from $8000 to $150,000. So, diminished public funds
forced some towns to go without their annual light shows and others to seek help
from the private sector.
Less symbolic, but even more telling, the City of Chicago announced Dec. 12,
2003, that it was laying off dozens of workers in its Transportation and Water
Management departments in hopes of cutting municipal payroll enough to balance
its 2004 budget. In all, some 800 city employees were said to be at-risk.
Chicago also unveiled plans to convert 290 other full-time Transportation
Department workers to "seasonal" status next year in order to save money.
Such tough choices dominated discussion in Nashville, Tenn., last month at the
annual meeting of the National League of Cities (NLC), which at times took on
the appearance of a revival. Speaking to some 3500 local elected officials from
across the United States at his Dec. 11, 2003, keynote address, NLC president
John DeStefano Jr., the mayor of New Haven, Conn., lamented the trend. "Because
of state and federal budget problems, many of us are cutting workforces, cutting
services, and having to raise taxes."
Later in his speech, after reciting a list of daunting challenges now facing NLC
members, DeStefano passionately exhorted colleagues to press for increased
investment from Washington, D.C., in their respective cities. "To do together
what we cannot do alone," he said. "Cities and towns are not asking for
handouts, we are asking for investment in what makes America work."
And federal dollars are more sorely needed now than perhaps ever. In its 19th
annual City Fiscal Conditions Survey, released in November, NLC found that 81%
of its 328 respondents said that their cities were less able to meet their
financial needs in 2003 than they were in 2002. Similarly, 83% predicted that
they would be even less able to meet such needs in 2004. Both are the highest
negative scores in the survey's history.
"Unquestionably, the economy is headed into a positive growth period now,"
concedes Ken Simonson, chief economist for Associated General Contractors (AGC)
of America, Washington, D.C. "But given the historically long lead times for
such growth to have a positive effect at the local level, I don't think those
benefits will show up for cities and states in 2004. I'm afraid that we're in
for a long, 3-year period of decline that may not see real improvement until
2007."
APPRECIATING 'FIRST RESPONDERS'
Such prolonged sluggishness could very well mean more cuts like Chicago's all
over the United States. That is why 2003-2004 APWA president Dwayne Kalynchuk,
P.E., made it his top priority to lobby city governments to shield their public
works personnel from the budget ax. Why? Because like police and fire personnel,
he argues, public works crews are often just as necessary in an emergency. "We
also are 'first responders'," says Kalynchuk, a senior consultant with Stantec
Inc., Edmonton, Alberta. "Infrastructure is just as important to our health and
safety," he adds.
Of course, winning such arguments will be an uphill climb in the current
economic climate, notes Kalynchuk. "We still expect it to be tough over-all for
our members in the United States next year," he says. In Canada, however, he
hopes that the economy has turned a corner, now that the federal government
there has repositioned itself behind new Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin,
who took office Dec. 12. Martin already has made public works funding a priority
of his administration and he has proposed a new federal fuel tax to fund more
capital improvements.
In Washington, D.C., APWA's King also points to the latest "Fiscal Survey of
States" as a leading indicator for public works prospects. Last December, the
National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State
Budget Officers (NASBO) released the findings of their 24th annual joint survey.
"While the economy has begun to show some signs of improvement, states continue
to grapple with short-term cyclical and long-term structural problems," states
the report. "Plagued by budget shortfalls for the past 3 years, states still
face uncertainty in the current fiscal year and difficult budgetary choices in
the years ahead."
According to the NGA/NASBO survey, in fiscal 2003, 32 states implemented
across-the-board budget cuts, 25 states drew down their "rainy day" emergency
funds, 16 states laid off employees, and 13 others offered early retirements to
cut payroll costs. In all, budgeted fiscal 2004 expenditures for "general fund"
spending add up to $492.2 billion, an increase of just 0.2% from fiscal 2003
levels. That amount is the smallest increase recorded since the survey was
started in 1979. Of note, the second smallest increase was the 0.6% mark logged
just last year.
Still, despite the sluggish growth, it is growth, nonetheless. And that is
enough to lift the mood of many in the industry. "Preliminary indications of
economic recovery are showing early signs of having an effect," notes Howard
Menaker, public affairs manager for Bechtel Infrastructure, the Bethesda,
Md.-based government services division of global engineering giant Bechtel
Corp., San Francisco. "The past few years have seen budget deficits and
pressures on state and local government budgets unlike any that we have seen for
decades. We are hopeful now that the upturn in the economy will be reflected in
the revenues state and local authorities have available for public works
projects."
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Of the annual avalanche of forecasts generated at the end of each year, three
measure industry activity as the value of construction put-in-place (the U.S.
Department of Commerce; FMI Corp.; and PCA) and one looks at the earlier value
of contracts awarded, but not yet put-in-place (McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge).
All four indexes predict small to moderate growth in the main public works
categories in 2004, though not enough to compensate for the market's
particularly poor performance in 2003.
Overall, McGraw-Hill predicts that total public works construction activity
nationally will increase 2% in 2005 to $80.5 billion in related contract awards.
While that amount is well below the market's recent peak of $87.6 billion in
2001, it is also more than 18% above the total logged in 1998.
"It's not surprising that public works construction has pulled back from the
steady growth of 1998-2002," says Robert A. Murray, vice president of economic
affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge, Lexington, Mass. "Tight budgets will
still be present in 2004, but it's expected that there will be less in the way
of funding dislocations coming from the states," he adds, referring to the
last-minute program deferrals sometimes forced by the balanced budget mandates.
Specifically, McGraw-Hill predicts that contract awards for highways and bridge
projects will increase 2% nationally in 2004 to reach $41.8 billion. After
dipping the past 2 years, awards for sewer and water supply work are expected to
edge upward by 0.3% to $17.7 billion this year. Of note, the strongest growth
for 2004 is expected for "other public works," which include airport- and
rail-related projects, as well as environmental contracts such as river/harbor
development. In all, McGraw-Hill predicts the category to climb a full 4% in
2004, for a total value of $21 billion.
Significantly, 2003 marked "the first current-dollar decline for this sector
(public works) since 1981," says Murray. Looking ahead, as the market rebounds
slightly, it "will continue to be restrained in 2004 by the tough fiscal climate
facing the federal and state governments," he adds.
More bullish are the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and industry analyst FMI
Corp., Raleigh, N.C., whose forecasts for 2004 both see particularly strong
growth in water supply systems and sewer-related projects. In particular, DOC is
predicting a 5.1% increase in 2004 in the value of water supply projects
put-in-place, enough to push the market total over $10 billion. FMI sees an even
stronger 6.5% rise in 2004.
The two indexes diverge a bit in their measure of sewer work. DOC tracks both
sewerage and waste disposal and predicts a 4.8% increase in work in 2004, to
$13.1 billion nationally. For its part, FMI only measures the value of new sewer
systems put-in-place. Its forecast calls for $10.7 billion in such work in 2004,
a rebound of 5.9% after a slight dip in 2003 of 0.6%.
DOC and FMI split more dramatically in their measure of highways and street
projects put-in-place, but both see continued strong activity in the sector. FMI
sees the market climbing 8.2% to $58.1 billion in 2004, while DOC predicts zero
growth. Even so, DOC already had highways and streets work valued at $60 billion
in 2003, so a repeat performance will still put it ahead of FMI's accelerating
pace.
Gazing even beyond 2004, PCA's senior economists Ed Sullivan and Dave Czechowski
have ventured even further out on the forecast limb. "While public construction
accounts for roughly 25% of total construction activity, it accounts for half of
all cement consumption," notes Sullivan, explaining why PCA goes into such
detail in forecasting the market through 2008. Over that period, PCA sees
highway and street work rising slowly but steadily from $47.6 billion worth of
construction put-in-place in 2004 to just below $53 billion in 2008. Meanwhile,
water supply projects are expected to inch forward each year, while sewer
systems put-in-place are projected to decline slightly. In all, PCA anticipates
the public works market holding steady in 2004, and creeping forward over the
next 4 years.
SECURITY AS WATCHWORD
Linked directly to the bottom line of virtually all these markets is the issue
of security. Post-Sept. 11, 2001, homeland security concerns remain heightened,
even if necessary federal funding has yet to reach adequate levels. As a result,
priorities are confused. For instance, while transportation hubs continue to be
a top priority for many public officials, others believe that water treatment
plants deserve more attention as potentially troublesome targets of terrorism.
As part of the Public Health and Bio-Terrorism Preparedness and Responder Act of
2002, virtually all water system facilities nationwide have to perform
vulnerability assessments by June 30, 2004, notes APWA's King.
Adds Don Distante, engineering manager of the newly expanded United Water New
York treatment plant in West Nyack, N.Y., "Security was a very significant issue
for us throughout our expansion and upgrade." In particular, access to the
fenced site was always closely monitored during construction and that level of
security will remain during operation, he says.
"These days, we are very highly scrutinized by the government," notes Bruce T.
Ketrick, president of the Association of Water Technologies, McLean, Va., and
also president of Guardian Chemical Specialties Corp., York, Pa. "Paperwork and
documentation is required for everything. Security has never been tighter."
Of concern to APWA is the tendency to have heightened security and emergency
training bypass its members. The funds now finally being released by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security "are being sent to the states for distribution,
and then to local emergency management agencies," says Brian Usher, chairman of
APWA's Emergency Management Committee and public works director for the City of
Zion, Ill., just north of Chicago. Urging fellow APWA members to get involved
locally and voice their concerns, he says that is the only sure way to avoid
"our being forgotten in the current rush to equip and train emergency
personnel."
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In general, "we've encouraged our people to be much more interactive with their
state emergency management officials," notes King.
Still, most agree that more can be done and coordination of security measures
greatly improved, especially for new or existing water supply plants. "It is a
worry, frankly," admits AGC economist Simonson, referring to unfunded security
mandates. "We are asking municipalities to take on more tasks while the
resources they need to accomplish them continue to be reduced."
TRANSPORTATION
Lost in the controversy over the fate of the federal highway re-authorization
bill, one of the largest public works projects in U.S. history reached a
climactic milestone last month on the snowy streets of Boston. On Dec. 19, 2003,
local dignitaries, engineers, designers, contractors, and officials from the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority--the Boston Pops orchestra was a late
scratch--gathered down-town to celebrate the official opening of the $14.6
billion Central Artery/Tunnel project, known affectionately as "The Big Dig."
Now open to traffic in both its north and southbound lanes, the new tunnel has
effectively submerged Boston's Central Artery highway under the city, creating
acres upon acres of valuable new real estate and green space in the heart of
downtown. Begun in 1991, the mammoth project's focus now will shift over the
next full year to demolition of the existing Central Artery above ground and
clearing the site for new development. Its Web site, www.bigdig.com, refers to
the job as "the largest, most complex and technologically challenging highway
project in American history."
A joint venture of Bechtel and designer Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York, lead the
construction team that has shepherded the mega project through some chaotic and
even breath-taking moments. "One commentator here said that building this tunnel
in the middle of the city was like performing open-heart surgery on someone
while they were running a marathon," says Howard Menaker of Bechtel
Infrastructure.
Out West, Bechtel is also the lead in replacing the historic Tacoma Narrows
Bridge in Washington state. The $615 million project, which controversially is
100% state-funded, broke ground in 2002, aiming for a 2008 completion.
Stretching across Puget Sound, the bridge's main, 854-meter span will be the
longest suspension bridge built in the United States in 40 years. The existing
bridge is the same one that had replaced the infamous "Galloping Gertie," which
had undulated unto a spectacular collapse captured on film in 1940.
Overall, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) last
December predicted that the domestic highway construction market would grow 4.2%
in 2004. The group released a conditional forecast contingent upon the size of
the next 6-year installment of the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st
Century (TEA-21).
As of January, the U.S. House of Representatives was still floating a 6-year,
$375 billion highway bill, compared with the Senate's $311 billion version and
the White House's own $275 billion proposal, both also for 6 years. According to
ARTBA, passage of the House version would translate into an annual average of 7%
growth in the highway construction market per year. Should the smaller Senate
version pass, that annual growth rate would drop to 4.8%. "At long last, they
finally have these bills moving forward," says Mike Acott, president of the
National Asphalt Pavement Association, Lanham, Md.
"We saw quite a strong surge in activity in the third and fourth quarters of
2003," adds Acott, noting that the uptick was partly due to the back-log created
by adverse weather conditions in many parts of the country last summer and fall.
"At the very best, though, we see our market in 2004 as being flat," he says.
"More likely, though, it will be down a bit."
Similarly, other large transportation projects seem to be stuck in traffic in
many areas of the country. In December, the Herndon (Va.) Town Council, outside
Washington, D.C., vetoed a proposed 20% real estate tax increase to fund
construction of a new, 23-mile, $3.4 billion Metrorail extension from Tysons
Corner, Va., to Dulles International Airport. The proposal had enjoyed
high-level, bipartisan support from key players such as former Sen. Charles S.
Robb (D-Va.) and Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D). According to published
reports, however, Herndon residents persuaded town council members with a deluge
of complaints and concerns about the proposed project.
WATER SUPPLY
With security now at a premium and vulnerability assessments on every plant
manager's mind, the demands on this market have never been more pressing. "We
are looking at one of the more challenging years coming up," says a concerned
AWT president Bruce Ketrick. "People are finally coming to the realization that
water is a finite resource."
So, as the industry also grapples with record demand, shrinking operating
budgets, outsourcing, and a high turnover rate among public works personnel, it
now is paying greater attention to water reuse and recycle projects for
irrigation--and even drinking water uses. "Anything that improves the quality of
discharge," says Ketrick.
Despite the challenges, though, the market generally does seem to be picking up.
"Four or 5 months ago, I was very concerned," says Don Smith, president of the
Americas division at environmental engineer Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH),
Broomfield, Colo., which contracts for some $400 million in water/wastewater
projects each year. "Now we are seeing a lot of capital expenditures, especially
design-build activity. So things are finally beginning to break loose."
Design-build project delivery is a single-source contracting method, whereby the
owner deals with just one joint entity for all design and construction matters.
Often, "operate" and "maintain" duties also are tacked on to the contract. The
main advantage for the public owner is that the design-build arrangement most
often guarantees both price and delivery date while keeping most disputes out of
court and away from the owner and the newspapers.
"We're seeing a lot of design-build activity in California and Arizona," says
Dan McCarthy, president of Black & Veatch Water, Americas (division), Overland
Park, Mo. "A lot of markets are looking at that method very hard now."
Last December in Texas, the Houston Area Water Corp., a separate governmental
entity created by the City of Houston, awarded MWH the second phase of its
Northeast Water Purification System (NEWPS) expansion program. The $140 million,
design-build-operate-maintain project will double the new plant's capacity from
40 million to 80 million gallons per day (mgd). MWH also built the first phase.
One of the nation's largest ultraviolet disinfection treatment facilities, the
plant is a key component of the city's effort to reduce its dependence on area
ground-water.
Other factors also are pointing toward increased water supply activity
nationwide, provided municipalities can find the necessary funds. Due to the
resilient strength of housing starts, "I will be revising our numbers upwards,"
says Patrick MacAuley, the economist at the DOC responsible for its annual
forecast of construction put-in-place. "Water and sewer projects, especially, as
well as housing-related roads and streets work, all are probably going to be
stronger next year than I had originally forecast," he adds.
DOC already had forecast a 5.1% increase in water supply projects in 2004,
projecting the market to climb from a value of $9.8 billion to $10.3 billion.
Robust homebuilding could prove to be a double-edged sword, however, if local
governments can't find the resources to meet demand. "The housing boom of the
last 2 years only adds to the overall strain," says AGC economist Simonson.
Simonson also notes that mandated new security standards are not being
adequately funded yet, either for new or existing water supply plants. "It is a
worry, frankly," he admits. "We are asking municipalities to take on more tasks
while the resources they need to accomplish them are being reduced."
Even so, from the contracting and engineering side of the equation, "we're still
looking at a very good year next year in this market," says Black & Veatch's
McCarthy.
WASTEWATER
Teamed with Chicago-based consulting engineer Greeley & Hansen, Black & Veatch
also is now developing a master plan for yet another expansion at Chicago's
65-year-old Stickney Water Reclamation Plant. Already the world's largest
wastewater treatment facility, Stickney has a capacity of 1200 mgd and serves
2.4 million customers across an area of 260 square miles, which includes the
heart of Chicago and 43 northern Illinois suburbs. The plan is due in 2005.
Downtown, the City's Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in December reached
a historic milestone when, after 30 years, it completed construction of the last
leg of its 110-mile Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP). Designed to handle the
area's combined sewer overflow (CSO), the massive, $3.4 billion project involves
tunnels that snake throughout region, connecting Stickney and other treatment
facilities to three reservoirs with a combined capacity of nearly 16 billion
gallons. Despite last month's celebration, however, TARP remains at least 8
years away from being in operation, as the city waits on supporting
infrastructure and plant connections to be completed throughout the area.
Aside from rising CSO demands, "new sanitary sewer overflow standards also just
came out and are now pushing the market," says Cindy Wallis-Lage, Black &
Veatch's director of wastewater process design.
Using the word "push" instead of "spark" is an appropriate way to describe the
impact of the related pressure still being exerted on the market by the EPA.
Why? Because like most other public works markets, the nation's 16,000
wastewater treatment plants now also find themselves in the regulatory vice of
unfunded mandates.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In Atlanta, for instance, mayor Shirley Franklin last fall used the occasion of
a ribbon-cutting for a new sewer tunnel in the posh suburb of Buckhead to plead
publicly for $1 billion in federal assistance for local sewer repairs. The city
already is under a federal court order to perform roughly $1.6 billion worth of
overdue sewer fixes, but the local estimate is more than $3 billion for total
sewer repair work that will be needed through 2007.
"We are not getting federal support," Franklin told The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution. "Some say to me that it is impossible for us to fund this
initiative without federal dollars."
In December, the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati announced
that it had reached a settlement with EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice,
agreeing to spend $1 billion to upgrade its troubled sewer system, which for
years has discharged raw sewage into local waters during wet weather events. The
discharges have occurred through overflow pipes in the district's sanitary
sewers as well as through outfalls built years ago.
Despite continued federal oversight, however, federal grants for such sewer work
largely dried up a decade ago. So today, cities are still scrambling to replace
those monies, even as wastewater treatment demands continue to multiply. The New
Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, for instance, had announced a $625 million
sewer upgrade and expansion plan to be completed in 2010. Officials admitted
last fall that the financing for the program is far from lined up.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
In all, EPA estimates that the national market for necessary sewer upgrades over
the next 15 years is likely half a trillion dollars. Cross-town in Washington,
D.C., the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies believes that funding
for the vast majority of those projects, as much as 90%, will likely have to
come from the cities and towns that are directly involved. As a result, EPA has
said that it fears that in little more than decade, overall water quality in the
United States could regress to mid-1970s levels.
In December, EPA postponed the release of its much-anticipated report on the
volume, frequency, impacts, and costs associated with sewer overflows, which had
been due to Congress Dec. 15, 2003. Now, the agency says that the study will be
delivered later this spring, after it has completed some additional analyses and
incorporated the results into its final report.
SOLID WASTE
As fixed on TEA-21 as most are in the transportation field, those in the solid
waste management industry are just as anxious about the delayed federal energy
bill, which at press time, was still lacking enough votes in the Senate.
Similarly, outgoing California Gov. Gray Davis (D) had signed an 11th hour used
computer recycling measure that his successor, Gov. Schwarzennegger (R), last
month put on hold for 6 months.
"Our folks are optimistic about 2004 and 2005," says John H. Skinner, executive
director and chief executive officer of the 7000-member Solid Waste Association
of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Md. Some three quarters of SWANA's
membership come from local government agencies, with the rest made up of
consultants and suppliers. "We expect the energy bill to pass early next year,"
adds Skinner.
Most attractive in the pending legislation are provisions that would give tax
credits to promote waste-to-energy use at landfills across the United States.
"There are currently 350 landfills involved in the program," he says. "These tax
credits could more than double that number over the next 5 years."
Noting that industry attendance has been down at recent SWANA shows, Skinner
acknowledges that the current climate has been a difficult one for members. He
points out that the many state deficits across the nation have had an adverse
impact on a variety of progressive solid waste initiatives. "For instance, in a
lot of places, funding for local recycling programs are the first thing to go
when budgets get tight," he says. "It's understandable, but it's still
shortsighted."
Looking ahead, Skinner notes two significant ongoing developments to watch that
he thinks could have a broader impact in 2004 and beyond. First, he says, there
appears to be a growing concern in the market today about disposing of all the
televisions, computers, and cell phones that are now flooding landfills. This
summer, if California unfreezes its new recycling law, it would permit the state
to levy a $6 to $10 fee on every new computer sold to go into a fund that would
fuel computer recycling programs. So far, even most computer manufacturers have
voiced their support for the measure. "If this does well in California, it could
very well spread throughout the rest of the country," says Skinner.
Finally, Michigan Rep. John Dingell (D) has introduced legislation that would
require EPA to enforce a prohibition already on its books, limiting the
transport of solid waste from Canada into the United States. "We're watching
this case very carefully," notes Skinner. "Granted, it involves an international
border, but this could just be the beginning of a much wider debate. Especially
as more states consider banning neighboring states from dumping solid waste
within their borders."
Value of Construction Put-in-Place Billions of dollars Highways and streets DOC
FMI 2002 60.6 54.8 2003 60.0 53.7 2004 60.0 0.0% 58.1 8.2% Sewerage and waste
disposal 2002 12.0 10.2 2003 12.5 10.2 2004 13.1 4.8% 10.8 5.9% Water supply
2002 9.3 7.6 2003 9.8 7.8 2004 10.3 5.1% 8.3 6.5% Note: Table made from bar
graph. Public Works Contract Awards Percent change Billions of dollars 2000 5%
77.8 2001 7% 83.5 2002 5% 87.6 2003 -10% 78.9 2004 2% 80.5 Note: Table made from
bar graph. Public Works Construction Contract Awards Highways and bridges
Percent change Billions of dollars 2002 43.5 2003 2.0% 41.0 2004 2.0% 41.8
Sewers and water supply 2002 20.0 2003 0.3% 17.6 2004 0.3% 17.7 Other public
works 2002 24.2 2003 4.0% 20.2 2004 4.0% 21.0 Note: Table made from bar graph.
This article first appeared in our January 2004 issue.
---- INDEX REFERENCES ----
NEWS SUBJECT: (Corporate/Industrial News (CCAT); Environmental Protection Agency
(USA) (GEPA); Political/General News (GCAT); Independent Agencies/Regulatory
Bodies (GINDA); Politics/International Relations (GPIR); Domestic Politics (GPOL))
INDUSTRY: (Management Consulting (I83951); Business/Consumer Services (IBCS);
Business Consultancy (ICNSL); Construction/Real Estate (ICRE);
Accounting/Consulting (IACC))
Language: EN
OTHER INDEXING: United; States; Trade; Magazine/Journal; Government and Law;
Business consultants; FMI Corp.
Word Count: 5076
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