In Most US Cities, Construction Work Continues as Shutdowns Loom
Date Posted: March 20, 2020
Posted In: News, Workforce,
From ConstructionDive: Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s announcement earlier this week halting all but essential construction work in the city has left contractors in other areas of the country wondering if their jurisdictions will also order a temporary stop to their projects.
While Boston, and now neighboring city, Cambridge, have been the only U.S. cities to officially stop all construction, other areas are under orders that ban nonessential services, causing some construction leaders to wonder whether their work is considered essential or not.
In Las Vegas, the Allegiant Stadium construction site is open for business, even though Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has issued a 30-day statewide closure of all nonessential businesses as of yesterday. Contractors are still on the job in New York City and Northern California, too, even though those areas are among some of the hardest hit by the virus. The shelter-in-place order announced for six San Francisco Bay area counties Monday allows all housing projects to continue — market rate, affordable and mixed-use — while commercial construction projects must temporarily shut down, according to the San Franciso Chronicle.
About 400 workers are at Gilbane’s Foxconn project jobsite in Wisconsin and in North Texas, developer Bill Cawley told The Dallas Morning News that Dallas-Forth Worth area contractors are aiming to stay on schedule with projects in process but that most new jobs have been paused for the time being due to economic uncertainty.
“I think it’s going to change day to day depending on what reality is — this could be long or short; we just have to see,” he told the newspaper.
At least one megaproject has been put on hold by owners. Construction of Bechtel’s multibillion-dollar cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, was shut down yesterday by Shell Chemicals in order to protect the safety of its 6,000 workers and the surrounding community.