Building muscle.

In ranking the state's largest general contractors, we find their projects aren't the only things that keep going up.

People are very bullish on the construction industry in North Carolina, even for the long run," says Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University. "It's

The money is there, too. In a flurry of bond referendums, the state and counties have earmarked more than $2 billion for school construction and renovation, with more on the way. And from 1996 to 1997, state funding for highways doubled, to $392 million.

In Raleigh, retail space - which some industry watchers predicted would be overbuilt in 1997 - was at a low 4.6% vacancy rate at the start of 1998. In Mecklenburg County, 3.4 million square feet of office space was under construction, according to Cary-based Karnes Research Co. That's a record for the '90s, though Frank Warren in Karnes' Charlotte office points out that 2 million of that is in three skyscrapers the banks are building downtown.

Increased government spending is good news for Charlotte-based McDevitt Street Bovis, the South Atlantic division of parent Bovis Inc. Work on Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and private commercial projects helped land it at No. 2 on BNC's first ranking of the state's busiest general contractors. The company is managing 14 local-school projects, including three new schools. "These are pretty exciting times," says Larry Atkins, president of the South Atlantic region. McDevitt Street Bovis is bidding for a second contract to refurbish and build Mecklenburg schools. The county passed $415 million in bonds last year, and in late February it was still deciding how to split up the contracts.

North Carolina's 30 largest contractors are typically well-established - they've been working in the state an average 48 years. But only 14, less than half, are locally owned. Out-of-state U.S. companies own nine. Foreign conglomerates such as Hanson PLC own seven. Of the five largest, three answer to owners outside North Carolina.

Two-thirds listed office construction as one of their three main fields, and more than half mentioned industrial construction. Because of the boom in health-care construction, particularly hospitals, 12 cited medical facilities. Seven get a large share of their revenue from highways. Others work on projects as varied as churches and sports venues. Perhaps the most unusual projects were Rentenbach Constructors Inc.'s work on the state's first casino, Harrah's Cherokee Casino, and Miller Building Corp.'s construction of the first private prisons in the state, in Spruce Pine and Bayboro.