WASHINGTON — U.S. builders cut their spending on construction projects in September, the second straight monthly decline. Much of the decrease came as government spending for schools, sewers and transportation projects tumbled — part of a broader year-long decline as infrastructure funding has become a key policy issue in the presidential election.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that total construction spending fell 0.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion. Publicly-funded construction dropped 0.9 percent to an annual rate of $270.3 billion. Over the past 12 months, government construction has slumped 7.8 percent — a decline equal to nearly $23 billion.
Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have pledged to revive infrastructure funding if elected president. By reforming the business tax code, Clinton would provide an additional $250 billion in direct funding over five years and found a new infrastructure bank with $25 billion. Trump would rely on new tax credits for infrastructure, with the campaign projecting an additional $1 trillion being spent over 10 years.
Between August and September, spending on school buildings fell 1.1 percent. Sewage and water project plunged 5.4 percent. Transportation spending fell 0.9 percent, while park-related building decreased 3.2 percent. Spending specifically on highways and roads did improve in September, although that figure has dropped over the past year.
Private construction spending, which makes up the bulk of expenditures, has been less of a drag. It slipped 0.2 percent in September as construction spending on factories, commercial spaces and utilities declined.
Gains in homebuilding offset some of this decrease. Residential construction spending has climbed 0.9 percent over the past 12 months to $453.7 billion as low mortgage rates and a solid job market has increased demand for housing.
A Superior Court judge has scheduled a hearing in the lawsuit over Dunkin' Donuts Park.
Judge David M. Sheridan scheduled the hearing for Dec. 13, following a status conference Monday with the plaintiff, Centerplan Construction Co. et al, and the defendant, the city of Hartford. The city fired Centerplan and DoNo Hartford in June, claiming they were in default of the development services agreement after they missed a May 17 deadline for handing the minor league ballpark over to the Hartford Yard Goats in anticipation of a May 31 home opener that never happened.The developers filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city in July claiming that they did not default on the development services agreement and that the city did not provide them with an opportunity to remedy the alleged default as was required in the agreement. The developers also claimed that they were unable to complete the ballpark by the deadline because of numerous costly and time consuming change orders made by the city.
The developers had also sought an injunction to prevent another party from completing the ballpark, which they said was 95 percent finished.
In September, the city announced that it had reached a takeover agreement with Arch Insurance, which is guaranteeing completion of the $71 million, publicly financed stadium and that Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. had been chosen to finish the work.
The two parties had been engaged in court-ordered mediation.
Centerplan is expected to file its offer of proof by Nov. 14. The city is expected to file its offer of proof by Dec. 5, according to court documents.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said Tuesday that "Centerplan does what Centerplan does. We are confident in the city's position and we're focused on working closely with the new contractor to get the stadium done."Centerplan officials did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Contractor Groups Sue NYC to Stop New Crane Regs
The petition filed on October 25th also notes that the crane regulations, which require crawler cranes to cease operations when wind gusts exceed 30 mph, were drafted without input from the construction industry or crane operators and owners and will not only make operations less safe, they will also severely impact project schedules and budgets and prevent the City from reaching its own affordable housing and departmental capital plan goals.
Raymond G. McGuire, of Kauff McGuire & Margolis, which is representing the petitioners in the Article 78 proceeding stated, “The New York City Department of Buildings has made an arbitrary decision based upon neither science nor mechanical engineering experience at the expense of safety, and it is indefensible. Left with no other recourse, the petitioners went to court to force New York City into a more reasoned and thoughtful crane regulatory system that will better protect the public safety of all New Yorkers and the workers on construction sites.”
The wind speed regulations are allegedly in response to a crawler crane collapse on Worth Street in lower Manhattan on February 5, 2016, although the Department of Buildings issued the regulations before its investigation into the causes of the accident was completed and a final report still has not been issued. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Agency recently found, on the other hand, that the accident was the result of operator error, not wind speeds. The contractor did not follow the appropriate procedures in laying down the crane's boom – the dangerous operation that will now be mandated when winds reach 30 mph, which they commonly do at New York building sites.
In the weeks after the incident, Mayor Bill de Blasio created a Crane Safety Technical Working Group, yet none of the members of the Working Group have ever operated, rigged, erected or dismantled a crane or worked in crane manufacturing, engineering or design, nor did these academics offer any opinion on the cause of the Worth Street crane collapse.
Commissioner Chandler and the Working Group crafted a mandate that all crawler crane operations cease when the National Weather Service predicts that winds will exceed 30 mph or when they do actually exceed 30 mph. They provided no reasoning or basis and the wind speed provision appears to be from the New York City Building Code of 1968.
William J. Smith, Jr., specialist in underwriting Nations Builders Insurance Services, Inc.'s coverage of crane manufacturers, suppliers and operators said, “Nothing in my 38 years of experience in crane and crane safety-related work justifies a uniform threshold of 30 mph. In fact, imposing a rule that crawler crane booms or jibs must be grounded whenever wind speeds reach 30 mph actually increases the risk of accidents. I have found no scientific or technical support for New York City's new restrictions on crawler crane operations.”
The group's Article 78 petition outlines in clear detail the failings of the Working Group and the Department of Buildings as they reacted to the Worth Street incident. It also compares New York's unreasonable and dangerous regulatory scheme to the commonsense approaches in other localities across the globe.