Members of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association sounded a note of caution in their latest workload trade survey covering the fourth quarter last year.

Although contractors’ workloads continued to rise, the increase in activity slowed compared to the previous quarter.

The strongest growth was in rail and preliminary works for housing, yet activity in local roads was down to -6% on balance.

Contractors remain positive about the future, with a balance of +58% expecting workloads to grow over the coming year. This comes despite a reduction in the rate of growth of new orders, down to +3% from +30%.

Tender prices are slowly rising, up for 36% of firms, on balance, compared with the same point last year.

CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner said: “It is good news that the infrastructure sector is growing, but today’s report indicates that growth in the sector remains fragile.

“Last year CECA’s Securing our economy: The case for infrastructure report showed that the country was losing £78bn each year due to sub-standard infrastructure.

“We will only be able to close this gap by sustaining recent growth in investment.

“It is crucial that government and industry work together to ensure we maintain momentum in delivering projects, if Britain is to achieve the shared goal of all political parties: an infrastructure-led recovery.”