U.S. concrete prices have held relatively steady in the past year compared with the rival road-building substance asphalt, industry observers said.

Road projects one would assume would be paved over might, instead, be poured, as the cost of a basic raw material for asphalt has fallen victim to rising oil prices.

Petroleum-based liquid asphalt may be scraped out of the bottom of barrels after the rest of the crude oil has been removed, but the price is still going up, the St. Louise Post-Dispatch reported Monday.

Asphalt priced at $39 a ton a year ago, is now priced at $59 a ton, the report said.

A yard of concrete, equal to two tons of asphalt, has averaged $75 a yard over the past year, the report said.