Private-sector projects are still dead in the water. When things turn around for materials companies like VMC, I'll be more confident in a legitimate recovery.
One interesting part of their commentary was about the difficulties small localities have in spending such enormous amounts of stimulus:
“Since May of last year, highway construction awards have been buoyed by stimulus-related funding. ThroughDecember 2009, the Federal Highway Administration reported approximately $15 billion of stimulus-related highway projects under construction with $5.6 billion of these stimulus funds having been paid to contractors for work performed. During this same period, Vulcan-served states lagged the rest of the country in awarding and starting stimulus-related highway construction projects. These differences in awarding projects and spending patterns are due in part to the types of projects planned and to the proportion sub-allocated to Metropolitan Planning Organizations less accustomed to implementing a large number of projects. The above-average increase in our states in fourth quarter contract awards for highways provides some encouragement that construction activity in our states should improve in 2010."
Copyright 2010 AlphaNinja
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