Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Infrastructure spending promises boost for industry

In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) In this June 14, 2021, file photo the U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington as the House and Senate return to work. Congress is hunkered down, grinding through an eight-week stretch as the president's Democratic allies in the House and Senate try to shape his big infrastructure ideas into bills that could actually be signed into law. Perhaps not since the drafting of Obamacare more than a decade ago has Washington tried a legislative lift as heavy as this. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By DAMIAN J. TROISE / AP Business Writer 3 min read

Plans to pump money into rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure could give companies that make machinery and materials a solid foundation for growth.

Caterpillar, with its heavy machinery, and construction materials company Vulcan Materials could see years of additional business as roads and bridges are rebuilt and buildings are modernized. The benefits would be even broader, impacting Sherwin-Williams, United Rentals and others that make, sell, or rent anything used for construction.

The plans are long overdue, economists and business leaders have said, as the nation’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure age without any significant overhaul. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s roads a poor grade in its 2021 report, saying 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. Bridges, schools and much of the key infrastructure in the U.S. doesn’t score much better.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that a bipartisan agreement had been reached on a $953 billion infrastructure plan.

Details of the deal were scarce, but the pared-down plan, with $559 billion in new spending, has rare bipartisan backing and could open the door to the president’s more sweeping $4 trillion proposals later on.