Highway Construction Costs Grow for 11th Straight Quarter

FHWA data shows a 23.9 percent rise in costs in the last year.

1 minute read

April 5, 2024, 5:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Concrete highway overpasses under construction, view from below

Lev Kropotov / Freeway construction

New data from the Federal Highway Administration reveals a 23.9 percent increase in highway construction costs in the last year, caused by “the combination of higher asphalt and oil prices, an increase in demand and employment in highway construction, and a steady decline in the number of bids on highway projects.”

As Jeff Davis explains in an article for the Eno Center for Transportation, the FHWA has lost buying power, getting less “bang for the buck” on projects. “This was the 11th straight quarter of cost increases. The July-September 2023 NHCCI of 3.456 is a 69 percent increase in highway construction costs since the October-December 2020 quarter.”

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 in Eno Center for Transportation

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