Federal Funding Bill and Hurricane Hit Market at Nearly the Same Time

摘要

Two events in August 2005, one monumental and the other catastrophic, will set the pace for the nation's transportation construction industry going forward. On Aug. 10, President Bush finally signed into law the very long-awaited SAFETEA-LU, the record $286.5-billion transportation bill—the largest public works measure in U.S. history. Less than three weeks later, on Aug. 29, the Gulf Coast suffered the largest natural disaster in U.S. history when Hurricane Katrina came ashore, devastating highway and bridge infrastructure from Alabama to Louisana. Repair and replacement will run into the billions, with contracting well under way by mid-September.