As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act moves past the 18-month point, some of its key construction programs have nearly all their funds awarded or under contract. As sectors—for example, highways and wastewater treatment—dry up as sources of future ARRA work, a few other programs, such as high-speed rail, are in their early implementation stages and still present prospects for design and construction firms in months to come.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s latest monthly ARRA update, released on Aug. 26, shows that of the $38 billion ARRA allocated for highway, transit and wastewater-treatment programs under the committee’s jurisdiction, $34.1 billion, or 90%, was under contract as of July 31. That figure represents an uptick from the $33.4 billion under contract on June 30.