Bermuda's construction industry continued to boom during the second quarter of the year, with $40.7 million worth of new projects started during the period, the most recent statistics released by Government reveal.

This figure is almost double that recorded in the same quarter of 2003, when just $22.8 million worth of new projects were put in place. The industry however only recorded $29.6 million worth of construction starts in the first quarter of this year compared to $70.9 million in the first quarter of 2003.

The new projects that came on stream in the second quarter of 2004 include the PW Waterloo Residential Site at $20 million, building renovations at the Saltus Grammar School at $7.3 million and the Buckaroo Too Development at $5.4 million.

The Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics reports the estimated value of all construction work put in place during the second quarter of 2004 ? for both the public and private sectors ? was $49.3 million.

This represents a 23 percent increase in building activity over the same period last year when work put in place during the period was estimated at $40 million.

The report said that roughly 70 percent of all worked carried out during the 2004 quarter centred on major projects in the commercial, community and hotel sectors of the industry.

Ongoing work at large commercial building sites including the PX RE building, the Waterfront Phase 2 project and the Maxwell Roberts House in the City of Hamilton contributed to a total of $22.7 million worth of construction work during the quarter. Government estimates building activity in the hotel sector during the second quarter of 2004 was worth $2.6 million as work progressed at the former Belmont hotel site and the Cambridge Beach Resort.

Total spending on residential building for the quarter is estimated at $12.2 million. This included private sector building projects such as the two large residential developments in Warwick and the multi unit Hamptons Somers Villa in Southampton.

Nine studios, 20 one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and ten units with three bedrooms or more were completed during the quarter.

The Department of Statistics says the bulk of construction work within the public sector centred on community development projects such as Berkeley Institute Senior Secondary School, the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the Dellwood Middle School Amphitheatre.

With ongoing repairs and refurbishment being carried out from the aftermath of Hurricane Fabian, the total spending on public sector projects totalled $9.3 million during the quarter.