starts increased 6 percent in 2017, other power generation projects including solar and wind fell 49 percent, and the amount of gas plant construction starts was negligible by recent standards. The public works project types as a group grew 10 percent in 2017, with a large share of that increase coming from 35 percent growth for the miscellaneous public works category. If miscellaneous public works is excluded, the remaining public works categories together would be up only 1 percent in 2017. The miscellaneous public works category ben- efitted from an exceptionally strong amount of new pipeline projects, totaling $21.6 billion in 2017, and including such projects as the $4.2 billion Rover natural gas pipeline located mostly in Ohio and the $3.0 billion Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline expansion located mostly in Pennsylvania. Rail mass transit construction starts, totaling $9.6 bil- lion in 2017, also lifted the miscellaneous public works category. Highway and bridge construction starts grew 7 percent in 2017, strengthening after a 9 percent decline in 2016. The top five states in 2017 ranked by the dollar amount of new highway and bridge con- struction starts, with their percent change from the previous year, were:
The environmental public works categories registered decreased ac- tivity in 2017, with river/harbor development down 2 percent, sewer construction down 10 percent, and water supply construction down 17 percent. The 3 percent increase for total construction starts at the national level in 2017 was the result of mixed behavior by geography. The Northeast climbed 17 percent, aided by strong gains for its institutional building sector and natural gas pipelines, while more moderate total construc- tion growth was reported for the South Atlantic, up 6 percent; and the West, up 3 percent. Total construction declines in 2017 were reported for the South Central, down 3 percent; and the Midwest, down 8 per- cent.
Information provided by Dodge Data & Analytics (www.construction.com).
• Texas, down 20 percent; • California, up 9 percent; • Virginia, up 180 percent; • Florida, up 23 percent; and • Pennsylvania, up 32 percent.
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