The booming construction industry maintained its strength through the first three quarters of 2003, with more than $120 million worth of work put in place.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics also revealed that through the first nine months of the year, new projects worth more than $119 million were started, compared to $149 million in the same period in 2002.

Residential construction was the single largest contributor to the industry in the first nine months of 2003, continuing a trend begun in 2002 when more than $72 million worth of housing construction was completed for the full year.

In 2003, 51.6 million worth of residential construction was completed through the first nine months of the year compared to $61.3 million in the first nine months of 2002.

In 2000 and 2001, commercial building led the way with $113.8 million worth of construction compared to 83.3 million of residential construction over the two-year period.

Through 2002 and the first nine months of 2003, residential construction has accounted for $112.9 million of construction while commercial buildings have accounted for $50.5 million.

For the third quarter of 2003, the Bulletin said that major residential developments such as the Belmont condominium project in Warwick and the Strawberry Hill and Huntley condominium projects in Paget contributed to the $17.2 million worth of residential construction.

Work on the PXRE Building and the new Appleby Spurling & Kempe building in Hamilton contributed to the $11.4 million worth of commercial construction work completed in the period.

Very little tourism related construction took place in the first nine months of the year, with just $3.4 million put in place ? a change from the Hotel Concessions Act-related construction boomlet that saw $15.6 million worth of work completed in the same period in 2002 and $18.2 million in 2001.

However, major renovations necessitated by damage from Hurricane Fabian to hotel properties are likely to show up in the fourth quarter of 2003 ? as is repair work to homes and commercial properties.

The value of new projects started in the third quarter of 2003 was $25.3 million compared to $16.5 million in the same period in 2003.

For the first nine months of 2003, projects with a total value of $119 million were started compared to $149.1 million worth of new projects started in the same period in 2002.