INSIGHT | TRANSPORT & UTILITIES - NORTH AMERICA
Pre-planning
120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 Above: Global – Tunnel Construction Project, Projected Spending Value by Stage ($M) SOURCE: GLOBALDATA Pre-planning Planning Pre-execution Execution 2030
Planning Pre-execution
Execution
Construction complete
US
Canada 0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000
Above: North America – Tunnel Construction Project Pipeline, Value by Stage and Country ($M) SOURCE: GLOBALDATA Construction of Water and Sewerage tunnels accounts
for the second-largest proportion of global project value, at US$133.7 billion, according to GlobalData’s analysis. The Transport infrastructure sector, which includes
the Road and Railway sectors, dominates the global pipeline of tunnel works, accounting for US$933.6 billion (almost 81%) of the global project value, according to the GlobalData analysis of Q1. As noted though, in North America while having US$55billion in the pipeline by value (Railway over Road, split 78.5% to 21.5%), that gives way to Water and Sewerage. Demand for tunnel construction across the US
is expected to remain strong over the coming years, supported by ongoing and planned transport infrastructure programmes. Many active projects also focus on repairing and modernising aging systems. Examples include a bypass tunnel under construction to address leakage issues in the Delaware Aqueduct; a drainage-capacity tunneling project in Manchester, New Hampshire, to reduce overflows and improve water quality; and, a proposed Great Lakes tunnel designed to enhance energy reliability and resilience by housing pipelines for oil and natural gas liquids.
US The largest share of the project pipeline in North America is accounted by the US, recording 85.4% of the project pipeline, says GlobalData’s analysis for Q1. Much
40 | June 2026
work is underway on Water and Sewerage projects. As part of the recent developments in Transport, work on the Hudson Tunnel Project resumed in February this year, following release of US$235 million worth of funds by the federal government. As said, with the majority of the project pipeline in
North America, the US has US$105.2 billion in value of the US$123.3 billion total, which is split across the four development stages as follows according to rank: Pre-Planning (US$40.0 billion); Execution (US$34.6 billion); Pre-Execution (almost US$27.8 billion), and Planning (US$3.3 billion).
CANADA With almost US$18.1 billion, Canada has 14.6% of North America’s total project pipeline by value. This is split across development stages to a different ranking to the US, being weighted by far towards Execution whereas that pulls second place across the border; While holding second ranked place in Canada, and in a relatively small amount by value, Pre-Planning is in fact the dominant stage in the US. The pipeline value by stage in Canada, according
to rank is: Execution (US$12.7 billion); Pre-Planning (almost US$3.2 billion); Pre-Execution (almost US$1.7 billion), and Planning (US$0.5 billion). The article draws upon the full analysis in ‘Project Insight - Global Tunnel Construction Projects, Q1 2026’, available from GlobalData
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
