Idaho gets bargain basement road work
Interesting silver lining news of the day. With materials costs down — and contractors vying for work — the costs of Idaho highway projects are down significantly.
“That’s a sign of the competitive times,” Mark Dunham, executive director of the Idaho Association of General Contractors, told the Idaho Business Review. “These companies are doing whatever they can to keep their people employed. Construction has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.”
Skepticism about economic stimulus aside, this is pretty strong evidence that the projects are giving a boost to an economic sector badly in need of one.
More reading on the topic from the Spokane Spokesman-Review's Betsy Russell from and from the Idaho Business Review's Dani Grigg.
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Costs are down maybe but be vigilant for other cut-rate things?
ITD projects have been known for their share of really troubling accidents lately.
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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.
Thank you for hollering.
DPW Building Projects also
Not only road work, of the dozen DPW building projects our company has bid on this year - all but one has come in under budget. These budgets were established 2 to 4 years ago when material and labor (and last year gas) prices were high. The dilemma now is establishing budgets for projects 2 to 3 years down the road - are costs going to rebound quickly or is it going to be a more measured?
Times really suck for the proletariats
In a “right to work” state like Idaho the one third cut in costs associated with the lower bids will likely be at the expense of the laboring class.