The latest instalment of Macromonitor's Australian Construction Outlook 2008 report forecasts the 2008/09 year to be a record for transport infrastructure before spending plateaus over the following decade.
"2008/09 looks like being the record year, with further growth not expected," report author and Macromonitor director Nigel Hatcher said.
The volume of transport infrastructure construction had doubled in real terms over the past six years, from $8 billion in 2002 to $16 billion in 2008, the report noted.
It forecasts further real growth of 15 per cent in transport infrastructure construction in 2008/09, but a fall of five per cent over the following two years.
"Australia will still need rapid improvement and expansion of infrastructure for many years to come, but we will not see an ever increasing level of investment," Hatcher said.
"Rather, the current high rate of investment will be sustained. Growth in infrastructure construction is expected to halt and probably reverse to a small extent, starting next year."
Constraints on government budgets and the capacity of the construction industry, coupled with cost increases were the main factors behind the predicted slowing in investment growth, the report said.
"At a certain stage, further increases in the amount of work being attempted will simply add to the imbalance between demand and supply of labour and other resources, accelerating cost increases," Hatcher said.
"At this point, increases in budget spending will go more to absorbing higher costs on existing projects, rather than paying for new projects."
The report predicts the major priorities for investment in the coming decade to include motorways in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the Brisbane to Melbourne freight rail corridor, and capacity increases for major ports in Queensland, Western Australia and Newcastle in New South Wales.
