The U.S. construction industry should see modest gains in 2010, with the building of single-family houses, apartment buildings, highways and bridges on the rise, offsetting drops in commercial and manufacturing property, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an industry report.

The McGraw-Hill construction forecast, released Friday, indicated that while the American economy is expected to remain choppy, starts are expected to climb 11 percent to $466.2 billion, with single-family housing coming in at $162.2 billion, the paper said.

McGraw-Hill representatives were not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Biswarup Gooptu in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)