American Concrete Pavement Association President and CEO Gerald Voigt says that 2018 was just the start of what he calls a “strong rebound” for the concrete pavement market, issuing a forecast for the largest market volume increase in the last six years.
The association is projecting 56.2 million square yards Voigt annnounced during a press conference at World of Concrete 2019 in Las Vegas. That would represent an increase of 7 percent over the 2018 volume of 52.5 million square yards, which was a 10-percent increase over 2017.
The ACPA projection is assembled from several sources, Voigt says, including “carefully analyzed state bid tabs and data provided or corroborated by executive directors/presidents of ACPA’s 20 chapters around the country.”
Though the association’s projection applies only to state highway department projects, Voigt says municipal and county road projects have historically followed the trend line of state departments.
Voigt says the concrete pavement market has stabilized and is emerging from a period where public agencies deferred on major capital improvement projects in favor of pavement preservation due to uncertainty about federal funding for highways.
“Capital improvements have been hammered…with the lack of a robust federal funding plan,” Voigt says, noting that on average, federal funding represents 45 percent of a state’s investment in roads and bridges.
However, Voigt says that many of the funding challenges that have plagued the industry are being addressed at the state level. “A solid and continued use” of concrete pavement overlay technology has also bolstered the industry, accounting for just under 12 percent of the total market since 2010. “We anticipate this trend will continue in the years ahead,” Voigt says.
