A recent IBIS World Report on the Bridge & Elevated Construction industry in the U.S. for Nov. 2021 found that, while the Bridge and Elevated Highway construction industry revenue is expected to fall in 2021, overall revenue is projected to grow over the next five years through 2026.

Report highlights that signatory contractors need to know:

  • The Bridge and Elevated Highway Construction industry has stagnated with funding unable to keep up with inflation and the lack of a comprehensive infrastructure bill.
  • Federal spending has enabled demand for industry services to rebound, though this has been insufficient to keep up with inflation.
  • With the revenue from prior projects realized and an expected increase in state and local government funding, industry revenue is projected to grow over the five years to 2026.

Read on for an executive summary of the report from IBIS World:

The Bridge and Elevated Highway Construction industry has stagnated with funding unable to keep up with inflation and the lack of a comprehensive infrastructure bill. Temporary federal government stimulus spending has helped bridge the gap created by the weakness of state and local funding. However, despite more recent funding trends via federal discretionary grants, this has still been insufficient to incur industry revenue growth. Overall, revenue is expected to decline at an annualized rate of 0.1% to $15.0 billion over the five years to 2021, including a decrease of 0.4% in 2021 as state and local funding falls from prior highs exhibited due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in 2020.


Federal spending has enabled demand for industry services to rebound, though this has been insufficient to keep up with inflation. In 2019, Congress has made available $5.6 billion to be distributed over nine rounds of National Infrastructure Investments to fund industry-related projects. This discretionary grant program, the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD), was previously known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant program, which expired in 2016. In 2019 and 2020, an estimated$1.0 billion has been made available specifically for surface transportation projects, which is expected to boost industry revenue performance. However, the coronavirus pandemic hampered the industry in 2020 with large stoppages in work for the first two quarters. Overall, it is likely that demand has become be pent-up, since the nation is in drastic need of an infrastructure overhaul.


With the revenue from prior projects realized and an expected increase in state and local government funding, industry revenue is projected to grow over the five years to 2026. The industry will likely be supported by continued discretionary grant funding, with $1.0 billion being made available in 2021 via the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary fund, which replaced the BUILD program recently this year. Long-term, albeit discretionary, funding, low interest rates, replacements and repairs of deficient structures and rising demand from a larger population is ultimately expected to spur industry revenue growth. As a result, industry revenue is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 0.7% to $15.6 billion over the five years to 2026.

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