Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Infrastructure stocks rose after the collapse yesterday of a 40-year-old Minneapolis bridge, drawing investors who anticipate U.S. funding of the renovation of bridges and roads, analysts said.

``This unfortunate incident in Minnesota is raising awareness on some of the civil infrastructure stocks,'' said Steven Fisher, an analyst at UBS securities. ``It certainly raises awareness to the need for spending in our country on improving our highways and bridges and transit systems.''

He said companies including Aecom Technology Corp., Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Fluor Corp. and URS Corp. may benefit.

Aecom shares rose $1.10, or 4.4 percent, to $26.40 as of 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Jacobs rose $1.89, or 3.1 percent, to $63.02. Fluor rose $5.97, or 5.2 percent, to $120.79. URS rose $1.89, or 3.9 percent, to $50.12.

Fisher said the U.S. civil infrastructure market is starting to grow, citing initiatives including $265 billion of U.S. highway funding passed in 2005, $20 billion in California bonds in November and other state bond issues.

An estimated $1.6 trillion is needed over the next five years to bring the country's infrastructure to good condition, according to a report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Fragile Infrastructure

``Along with the steam-pipe incident in New York, these kinds of incidents raise awareness of the fragility of our infrastructure,'' said Andy Kaplowitz, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Inc. ``Once the public becomes cognizant, it raises pressure on government to act.''

Kaplowitz said spending on infrastructure has been ``slow but steady'' in recent years after lagging for the last 20 years. He said a number of closely held regional companies stand to benefit, while there's ``only a handful'' of publicly traded companies.

He noted the same companies Fisher had and added Washington Group International Inc., Granite Construction Inc. and Quanta Services.

Washington Group's shares rose $1.53, or 1.9 percent, to $81.33. Granite Construction rose $1.66, or 2.7 percent, to $64.26. Quanta fell 4 cents to $27.16.

Both analysts said stocks related to U.S. infrastructure construction have been volatile in recent weeks and share price changes may reflect second-quarter earnings reports.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Randall in New York at trandall6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 2, 2007 17:05 EDT