Industry Finishes Strong in 2023
The construction economy ended last year on a strong note, with the Dodge Momentum Index rising by 3% in December after seeing a 1% drop in November, according to Dodge Construction Network. Measuring the value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, the DMI serves as a leading indicator of future construction spending.
The DMI tracked 23 projects valued at $100 million or more and six projects valued at more than $400 million entering planning in December. Health-care and public building projects drove spending in the institutional sector, while hotel and data-center projects were strong in the commercial space.
“While ongoing labor and construction cost issues will persist in 2024,” says Sarah Martin, Dodge Construction Network’s associate director of forecasting, “a substantive amount of projects are sitting in the planning queue and will support construction spending going into 2025.”
Guilty Plea in Crash That Killed 6 Construction Workers
A driver who was involved in a high-speed crash that killed six construction workers on a Maryland highway last year has pleaded guilty to six counts of manslaughter.
Malachi Brown was traveling at more than 100 mph on March 22, 2023, when he collided with another car while changing lanes on Interstate 695. The collision pushed the other vehicle into an active work zone on I-695’s center median, where it plowed into the workers.
Five of the victims worked for Gaithersburg, Maryland–based Concrete General Inc., while the sixth was with Sparks, Maryland–based KCI Technologies Inc. They were working on I-695’s ongoing congestion-management project.
Sentencing for Brown is pending. The driver of the second car, Lisa Lea, is scheduled for trial in April; police say she was driving under the influence and also driving over 100 mph.
