It has been a little over two and a half years since the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provided a much-needed boost to the highway construction sector. In that same time, inflation has erased the boost it sought to provide.
In March, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) updated its quarterly index of highway construction costs. This showed that the National Highway Cost Index (NHCCI) increased by 6% in the July-September 2023 quarter over the previous April-June 2023 quarter. This was the 11th straight quarter of cost increases. The July-September 2023 NHCCI reflects a 69% increase in highway construction costs since the October-December 2020 quarter.
