CLIPBOARD : Construction Industry’s Shining Light

Although both home building and non-residential construction have hit the skids in Orange County, there is one element of the industry that has made gains this year. So-called heavy construction--streets, highways, bridges and the like--is enjoying at least a mini-boom.

As measured by the value of building permits issued for such projects, the county total is 10% higher during the first eight months of 1991 than for the comparable period last year. This compares quite favorably to residential and non-residential building valuations, both of which are off about 25% compared to last year.

If there is a dark spot in this it is that Orange County, despite this increase, lags behind the rest of the region in terms of change from last year. Among the six counties that make up urban Southern California, only San Bernardino had a smaller increase for the first eight months of the year. Orange County’s jump was, however, slightly larger than the statewide figure.

Here’s how local fortunes in heavy construction compare with the rest of the region:

County 1990 1991 % Change Los Angeles $650,160 $732,047 +12.6 Orange 431,657 475,120 +10.1 Riverside 153,069 267,119 +74.5 San Bernardino 467,480 507,945 +8.7 San Diego 212,334 342,554 +61.3 Ventura 43,227 95,763 +121.5 Six-county region 1,957,927 2,420,548 +23.6 STATEWIDE $3,676,793 $3,977,216 +8.2

Note: Totals are listed in thousands of dollars Source: Construction Industry Research Board