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Carl Molesworth

Contract Awards Decline in Parts of the Northwest
April 28, 2008

The national slowdown in construction is beginning to reach areas of the Pacific Northwest.

The 2008 year-to-date total for publicly reported non-residential construction contracts awards in the region fell back in April, dropping to 7 percent behind the record-setting pace set last year. According to the Contract Awards Summary, to be published in the May 5 edition of Pacific Builder & Engineer, awards slowed in every state except Alaska compared to the previous month, with Idaho taking the biggest hit. Figures for the individual Northwest states are as follows:

-          Alaska: $363 million; -1%

-          Idaho: $144.7 million; -30%

-          Montana: $187.4 million; +3%

-          Oregon: $454.6 million; +32%

-          Washington: $1.5 billion; -14%

 As in March, the only two construction categories outperforming 2007 in April year-to-date were Sewer/Water ($615 million; +50%) and Marine ($143.8 million; +500%). The biggest loser was Conservation ($17 million; -60%).

 The Contract Awards Summary also tracks the number of public contracts being awarded. In this tally, contract awards were down by 3 percent in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the same period last year.

 Despite the slowing, there were a number of notable projects reported in April. Washington had the top two school construction projects, $41 million for Curtis Jr. High School in University Place and $31.1 million for the Portland Avenue Middle school in Tacoma. In addition, the demolition of an existing 68 MG concrete reservoir and construction of a 30 MG cast-in-place reinforced concrete reservoir in West Seattle will cost $23.7 million. One of the top Transportation jobs was the relocation and reconstruction of Taxiway K at Anchorage International Airport, for $19 million.

Until next time…

Posted by Carl Molesworth on April 28, 2008 | Comments (0)