Slow January For Construction Contract Awards

Similar to results posted in December, the volume of construction contract awards in the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota continued to lag behind totals posted in previous years, according to statistics compiled by the staff of Construction Bulletin magazine, New Hope, Minn. (See

January's construction contract award totals amounted to $294.1 million, slightly less than the $299.3 million reported in the previous month.

However, the $294.1 million total for January of 2005 was 13-percent below the $338.2 million in awards recorded in the same month of 2004. In fact, it was the lowest January total reported in the Tri-State Region since 2002.

The January 2004 total would even had been lower if it were not for a resurgence in contract awards for privately financed building projects.

Five major private building projects in the region helped push the January total for awards in this category to $152.4 million, or a 24-percent increase when compared with the $122.8 million in awards reported in the same month of 2004.

Private Building Projects

• $42 million for a 350,000-square-foot hotel and water park construction project in Bloomington, Minn. General contractor — Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Minneapolis.

• A $25-million, 129-unit, 10-building townhouse construction project on South Pleasant Avenue in Minneapolis. General contractor — Weis Builders Inc., Minneapolis.

• $11 million for construction of two dormitory units at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. Construction manager — Oscar J. Boldt Construction Company, Cloquet, Minn.

• A $7.5-million, 93,000-square-foot Courtyard by Marriott hotel construction project in Rochester, Minn. General contractor — Tech Builders, Minneapolis.

• $7 million for construction of a 96,000-square-foot Kohl's department store in Bismarck. General contractor — J.E. Dunn Construction, North Central Division, Minneapolis.

The decline in construction contract awards for publicly financed building projects in Minnesota and the Dakotas continued into January.

For the month, the volume of contract awards for public building projects amounted to $107.2 million, or a 35-percent decrease when compared to the $164.8 million in awards recorded in the three states on January of 2004.

The Tri-State Region's decline in the volume of construction contract awards for public building projects started last August and has continued through January of this year.

A pair of significant public building projects headed the list of January contract awards, but others fell below historical standards for the category.

Public Building Projects

• $19 million for a 123,000-square-foot, two-story elementary school building for Independent School District No. 624, White Bear Lake, Minn. Construction manager — Kraus-Anderson Construction Company, Circle Pines, Minn.

• A $17-million, 170,000-square-foot middle school construction project in Fargo. General contractor — Minko Construction, Fargo.

• $4.2 million for construction of a 32,000-square-foot human services building for Lake County in Two Harbors, Minn. General contractor — Merrimac Construction, East Bethel, Minn.

January traditionally is not a strong month for road and bridge construction contract awards in the three states, and this January proved to be no exception.

The January 2005 volume of construction contract awards for road and bridge projects in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota amounted to $15.2 million, or a 22-percent decrease from the $19.6 million in awards posted in the same month of the previous year.

Road And Bridge Projects

• $2.4 million for a reclamation, bituminous milling, bituminous overlay, and culvert repair project on Minn. Hwy. 72 in Beltrami and Lake of the Woods counties. General contractor — Hardrives Inc., Rogers, Minn.

• A $1.5-million bituminous milling and surfacing and turn-lane improvement project on U.S. Hwy. 23 near Paynesville, Minn. General contractor — Bauerly Brothers Company, Sauk Rapids, Minn.

• $1.5 million for a concrete rehabilitation and bituminous resurfacing project on I-90 in Rock County, Minn. General contractor — Buffalo Bituminous, Buffalo, Minn.

• A $1.2-million bituminous overlay, culvert rehabilitation and turn-lane improvement project on Minn. 19 near Morton, Minn. General contractor — Duininck Brothers Inc., Prinsburg, Minn.

• $1.1 million for a bituminous milling, surfacing and turn-lane improvement project on U.S. Hwy. 2 in Cass County, Minn. General contractor — Hawkinson Construction Company, Grand Rapids, Minn.

In the category of sewer and water projects, the volume of construction contract awards in the Tri-State Region this January amounted to $13.7 million, or 15-percent below the $16.2 million in awards reported in the same month of 2004.

This January's total of contract awards for sewer and water projects in Minnesota and the Dakotas would have even been lower had it not been for a $4.2-million contract award to the firm of S.R. Weidema Inc. for a water and sewage treatment plant construction project in Wyoming, Minn.

The miscellaneous category, which encompasses light and power, dams, rivers, and airport projects, also experienced a decline this January when compared to totals reported in the same month of 2004.

The January volume of construction contract awards for miscellaneous projects in the region amounted to only $5.6 million, down a significant 62 percent when compared with the $14.8 million in awards recorded in this category in the corresponding month of 2004.

As usual, Minnesota led the way with $240.4 million in construction contract awards this January. However, the $240.4 million in awards was a 17-percent decline when compared with the $289.9 million in awards reported in January of 2004.

This January's award total in Minnesota was the lowest since January of 2002 when $236.3 million in awards was reported.

The award total picture this January was brightened by a strong increase in construction contract awards in North Dakota with $31.5 million in contract awards, up a significant 192 percent when compared with the $10.8 million in awards reported in the state during the same month of 2004.

However, results from South Dakota were not as encouraging.

The volume of construction contract awards for South Dakota this January totaled $22.2 million, or a 41-percent decrease when compared with the $30.7 million in awards reported in the state for the same month of 2004.