Recovery from recession is becoming stronger and broader according to the Construction Products Association which says that roads activity will grow by 15% this year.

The Association's spring forecast published on Monday also pointed out that infrastructure activity overall is set to rise 10% this year and by over 7% next year.

“We expect last year’s gains in the infrastructure sector to continue to 2017 when levels are anticipated to be 42% higher than in 2012,” said the association's economics director Dr Noble Francis.

Roads activity, he added, had previously fallen by almost 50% in two years, but is forecast to grow every year to 2017.

And he notes that rail has recently been the fastest growing infrastructure sub sector, with growth led by activity on Crossrail and the Thameslink upgrade programme.

But one major risk to the upbeat forecast is around energy, he added. “Construction and manufacturing firms have serious concerns regarding energy security and supply. Constant delays to the nuclear programme and uncertainty regarding investment in gas fired power stations only exacerbate these concerns.”

Bitumen expert Jim Christie from material producer Nynas said: “I would certainly go along with the optimism and we are definitely a lot busier than in recent years. March, however, was not terribly busy but volumes are picking up in April.”

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association's new chief executive Alastair Reisner welcomed the positive forecast, but urged caution. “We are by no means out of the woods yet and there is a lot of uncertainty around much of the forward investment,” he said. “Having said that there is a good level of activity in roads, in particular local roads.”

(Photo: Highways Agency)

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