Highway, Street & Bridge Construction Contractors Industry Profile

Companies in this industry construct highways, streets, roads, airport runways, sidewalks, and bridges. Major companies include AECOM, Bechtel, Granite Construction, and Kiewit (all based in the US), as well as Bouygues Construction and VINCI (both based in France), China Communications Construction Company (China), and Webuild (Italy).

Other than the US, China, India, and Brazil are among the countries with the largest roadway systems, according to Largest.org. As economies grow in these countries, highway systems and related infrastructure also will expand. China, for example, plans to spend more than $1 trillion on roads through its "Belt and Road" initiative, according to the 2017 NBC News report.

The US highway, street, and bridge construction industry includes about 10,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $115 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is largely driven by the availability of government road building funds, population growth, and the need to replace or repair aging infrastructure. The profitability of individual companies depends on operating efficiencies and the ability to correctly estimate costs. Big companies have the resources and engineering skills necessary for large construction jobs. Small companies can compete effectively by bidding for smaller projects or by working as subcontractors on large projects. The US industry is highly fragmented, according to ConstructConnect.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

New street and highway construction can involve complicated engineering and skilled operations like earthmoving, grading, and bridge, curb, sidewalk, and water ...