Highway Construction Costs Increase - Brief Article

Public Roads, Nov, 1999

FHWA announced that highway construction costs increased 9.7 percent in the second quarter of 1999 compared to the last quarter of 1998, and increased 14.2 percent compared to the second quarter a year ago.

The second quarter results raised FHWA's composite index for highway construction costs to 143.4 percent of the 1987 base index (1987 average costs are equal to 100 percent).

The index was raised in the second quarter because of increases in the unit prices for bituminous concrete, reinforcing steel, common excavation, portland cement concrete, and structural concrete. The unit price for structural steel was lower for the second-quarter index.