Has construction finally hit rock bottom? New projects are expected to swing up slightly this year, but the economic fog will not fully lift for another year or two, remarked attendees at this year’s World of Concrete.
About 55,000 people—a 16% yearly decline and the event’s lowest turnout since its 2007 peak of about 92,000—attended the annual exhibition held on Feb. 2-5. However, the thin crowd’s mood was more upbeat this year, visitors said, and exhibitors were selling more, too—a sign that the economic slump may be near the end.