Construction Industry News: Dec 1, 2017

Wall Street's Signs for the Construction Industry in 2018

Wall Street analysts offered a broad scope of engineering and construction market trends for 2018, based on new research and recent reports gleaned from public company executives.

Brent Thielman, senior vice president and senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson, on Nov. 15 said the October results of its monthly survey of U.S. transportation-department bids in 43 states show that the $42-billion bid value total, representing about 14,300 projects, rose 21% from the same month in 2016.

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Elon Musk's tunneling company wants to dig through L.A.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has famously complained about the traffic he faces on his commute from his Bel-Air home to his office in Hawthorne, near Los Angeles International Airport.

His solution? An alternate transportation system that could whisk commuters from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside in a matter of minutes through a tunnel parallel to the 405 Freeway.

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NASBO State Expenditure Report

The NASB report has developed into a definitive baseline for the analysis of state spending. This edition of the report includes data from actual fiscal 2015, actual fiscal 2016, and estimated fiscal 2017. Expenditures reflected in this report represent more than 99 per cent of total state spending.

Full report.

Deal Reached to Rebuild Arlington Memorial Bridge in D.C.

Federal officials and lawmakers have worked out a deal to fund and rebuild the landmark, but deteriorating, Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C., using design-build to cut 18 months from the schedule and $35 million from an earlier cost estimate. 

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Construction Should Follow Silicon Valley’s Example to Attract Next Generation Hires

The root of the industry’s labor shortage goes back to the Great Recession of late 2007 to June, 2009 when nearly two million people exited the construction industry. Many companies used the slowdown as a chance to retool, but the harsh reality is that many workers didn’t return. That, coupled with the imminent retirement of 20% of an aging construction industry workforce over the next 10 years, means the industry is facing a major workforce and skills gap.  

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New CA law requires contractors to assume subs' unpaid wages

California contractors acting as direct contractors on private construction projects will be financially responsible for any wages, fringe benefits and union contributions left unpaid by subcontractors and their sub-tiers, per a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, JD Supra reported. The law encompasses all private contracts entered into starting Jan. 1.

Full report