Texas & Southeast

April Another Poor Month for Georgia Contracts

The value of new Georgia construction contracts fell by 15% in April, for a $814.5-million total, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast.

All categories of construction fell for the month, though the nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure projects, suffered the most. The value of that category’s total starts was estimated at $127.1 million for April, or 47% below the same period of a year ago. Nonresidential contracts fell 2% compared to last April, with roughly $389 million in new work. The residential category experienced a 6% lower volume of contracts in April, with about $298.4 million in new work.

For the year-to-date, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates the value of Georgia contracts at just over $3 billion, or 25% below the year-ago pace of nearly $4.1 billion.

The nonbuilding category has declined by the greatest percentage, with its year-to-date total of $496 million equaling a 49% reduction in contract activity. New nonresidential contracts are estimated at nearly $1.4 billion through April, or about 24% lower than last year’s pace of more than $1.8 billion. Residential is down 7% compared to a year ago, with nearly $1.2 billion in new contracts so far.

Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.