Infrastructure Projects Speed Up Amid COVID Slowdown

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.

In Utah, the savings weren’t just time, but more than $300 million. Salt Lake City Airport’s $4 billion terminal expansion advanced significantly this summer and hits a milestone next week with the opening of the final 20 gates of the new Concourse B. Overall construction is slated for completion by 2024.

A massive art program in the airport also kept pace including the 360-foot-long “The Canyon” immersive work by Napa-based Gordon Huether that was integrated into the structural design by HOK. This piece is being viewed as an airport branding tool, wayfinding aide and tourism booster.

Other large infrastructure projects have also moved ahead amid slower traffic and demand, as organizations seek to take advantage of appropriate timing. New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority announced thousands of feet of dilapidated rail in Queens opened a week ahead of schedule, with the full replacement of more than a mile of delay-prone track slated by year end. Last month, Los Angeles’ Transportation Authority opened a major Metro line extension seven months early, largely because of less construction workarounds with reduced ridership.

National legislators also see the opportunity of accelerated infrastructure projects during these unusual times. The US House of Representatives voted October 1 to enable incentive bonuses on expedited airport projects, though the bill’s fate is uncertain.

Given the fast-tracking of these projects, what’s the industry outlook for additional projects in coming years?

“There is an expectation that more growth will be driven by nonresidential construction over the next five to 10 years, specifically commercial and infrastructure projects. With the anticipated infrastructure funding, infrastructure contractors will likely realize good profitability on projects as they come on line,” Elaine Ervin, partner and national practice leader-construction for Moss Adams, tells GlobeSt.com. “But the pandemic has also impacted the industry’s historic labor shortages as well as the cost of building materials, which may have a negative impact on profit margins.”