CIRB: Year-to-Date California Construction Volume Up 11.4 Percent.

BURBANK, Calif. -- With heavy construction leading the way in August, California's statewide construction activity for the first eight months of 2004 is up 11.4 percent from the corresponding period last year, totaling $52.18 billion.

According to statistical data gathered monthly by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), all construction sectors are up, year-to-date, with the exception of public buildings construction (government-owned) which is down 4.4 percent in spite of school construction, which by itself is up 11.1 percent or $388.6 million from the year-ago period.

Heavy construction in the first eight months totals $5.54 billion, up 8.9 percent or $452.6 million more from last year. The largest project in August is a $67.8 million freeway project in San Diego County. In addition, a $1.39 billion suspension bridge project in San Francisco is pending. The bid was opened in May but there is no contract award as of yet.

Total construction activity for the month of August is $6.64 billion, up 5.2 percent from July and up 10.4 percent from August 2003. All construction sectors were up in August.

Ben Bartolotto, Director of CIRB, says the overall trend thus far in 2004 indicates that private building construction is up, with monthly fluctuations determined by large projects, while public government-owned building construction is declining with the exception of school construction.

Private building construction, residential and nonresidential, in August, totals $5.37 billion, up 6.0 percent from July and up 21.3 percent from August 2003. Year-to-date, private building activity totals $40.38 billion, up 14.7 percent from the year-ago period. Of that total, private nonresidential building, by itself, totals $10.44 billion, up 12.0 percent or $1.12 billion from last year. Director Bartolotto says more than 80 percent of that increase is in Southern California with sizable gains also found in the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions.

"The increase in private nonresidential building in August, up 8.8 percent, is due mainly to an increase in the dollar value of large projects," said Bartolotto. The dollar volume of the largest private nonresidential building projects in August is $287.8 million, up from $179.0 million in July and up from $140.8 million in August 2003. Included in the August total for Los Angeles County is a $96.0 million office building in Century City.

CIRB is forecasting total nonresidential building to increase by 7.1 percent in 2004, to $14.89 billion. The increase follows three years of substantial decline.