The waiting went on and on as anxious construction industry and state officials watched for months for glimmers of progress in Washington on a bill that they hoped would ease the recession’s tightening grip. On Feb. 17, the long wait ended as President Obama traveled to Denver and signed what he called "the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history," the $787.2-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009. It was good news for construction, because the measure contains about $130 billion for highways, buildings and other public works. "How can you not be happy?" asks Stephen E. Sandherr, the Associated General Contractors’ CEO. "This is the most significant investment in infrastructure in my lifetime."