SAN FRANCISCO—The slowdown in the economy was an opportunity too good to miss for many large construction projects. In response, accelerated construction timetables came about with fewer people, planes and cars to work around. From San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York and elsewhere, major projects were completed weeks and months ahead of schedule.

One of the earliest projects was the replacement of an aging highway intersection near San Francisco International Airport. First slated to take three weeks, state engineers took advantage of the work-from-home mandate in April to compress the work into 10 days.

Another Bay Area freeway, Interstate 680, recently opened the final 10 miles of a record 25-mile $110 million carpool/express lane a year early. In July, Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA, announced its $68 million Science Center by SmithGroup architects and BHM Construction had accelerated by a week, due in part to COVID slowdowns, and is on pace for moving up the opening two years early, to July 2021.