Continuing protests in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have impacted construction in several major cities around the U.S., including fires set at job sites and city-mandated project shutdowns. Some contractors have voluntarily shuttered sites or implemented greater security measures.

The city of Chicago indefinitely closed construction at all downtown work sites on May 29. In addition, some roads have been closed “out of an abundance of caution and to protect the health and safety of all Chicago residents,” said the city Dept. of Transportation in a statement. Chicago agencies “will continue to enforce closures for the time being while assessing when to reopen,” the statement continued.

由于持续的抗议活动，CTA和METRA通勤火车也无限期地停止。

芝加哥的一位发言人Dept. of Buildings said that, to ensure that essential workers have access to the central business district and Loop area, the city communicated directly with essential industries, organizations and businesses that workers with vehicles can gain access at multiple established checkpoints. But, while construction was considered essential infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic closures, it is not considered essential during the current public safety closure due to the protests.

“当我们第一次听到[5月31日]时，将允许在这些检查站重新回来，我们认为这很棒，”芝加哥相关总承包商董事会主席迈克尔·梅格（Michael Meagher）说。“然后我们听说这只会是第一响应者，医务人员和其他人，而建设将不会继续，我们开始了安全地关闭所有站点的过程。”

Meagher, who is also president of James McHugh Construction Co., said construction leaders are in contact with Chicago Commissioner of Buildings Judy Frydland and are hoping they can reopen their job sites soon. At 6 AM CST on June 2, the Dept. of Buildings reopened construction sites in the central business district and advised workers to bring company identification with them in order to gain admittance at the designated checkpoints.

Meagher补充说，在芝加哥的工作地点尚未造成损害。

The California Associated General Contractors chapter says some jobsites in the state have elected to shut down, while others are closing because they have not been deemed exempt from curfew orders, says CEO Peter Tateishi. “Because construction remained essential during the COVID crisis, projects were able to continue. We are, however, hearing from companies who are closing administrative offices and returning to remote-work for staff,” he says.

Multiple Fires

在上周开始抗议活动的明尼阿波利斯，一个六层楼的低收入住房项目于5月27日晚上被烧毁。reportedthe $30-million project by St. Paul developer Wellington Management Inc. was set to complete next spring. Continuing acts of “arson, rioting, looting, and damaging public and private property” led state Gov. Tim Walz (D) to extend overnight curfews until June 3, he said in a statement.

Fire crews In downtown Columbus, Ohio, responded to a three-alarm fire early on Sunday, May 31, at the The Residences at Topiary Park, a mixed-use development with 64 residential units and ground-level retail that was scheduled to complete this summer. City Fire Chief Steve Martin said the cause of the fire was suspicious and under investigation, but he said fire crews started fighting the blaze at the center of the unoccupied four-story building and estimated damages at around $25 million.

Martin said the previous night, firefighters responded to six blazes in the same area, which was the scene of large protests. At another apartment construction site, he says a construction waste dumpster and pallets of roofing materials were set on fire. It remained contained within a staging area, adjacent to the structure.

在5月31日晚些时候在白宫外的拉斐特广场（Lafayette Square）加剧的华盛顿特区，根据D.C. Fire and EMS部门的说法，美国商会外部装修项目地点附近发生了大火。set to complete next spring, aims to renovate the historic building’s exterior envelope. The fire originated in an alley at the base of the scaffolding, in or near a construction dumpster, says Vito Maggiolo, department public information officer. The fire was able to spread upward through a trash chute just above the dumpster. “That’s why the fire burned as quickly as it did because of that large plastic chute,” Maggiolo says.

Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire before it spread beyond the exterior scaffolding, he said. The alley is shared by the historic Hay-Adams hotel and an office building tcompleted by Clark Construction in 2019. Neither of those buildings suffered fire damage as a result of the scaffolding blaze, Maggiolo says.

添加了安全性

抗议区的建筑工地已经在新的Covid-19方案下工作，他们正在采取额外的措施，为抗议期间可能的损害做准备。戴维斯建筑公司（Davis Construction）于6月1日在华盛顿特区拥有多个活跃的建筑工地，并于6月1日向其项目站点发送了有关保护站点和设备的沟通。

环境健康与安全副总裁戴夫·钱德勒（Dave Chandler）表示，在所有地点都在进行审计，并且已经为每个地点建立了特定地点的通信计划。管理层还确保了所有安全摄像机的运行正常。周边围栏和入口都得到了保护，以及工具，起重机，提升机和办公室。诸如易燃液体和垃圾箱之类的危险正在消除或有限。钱德勒说，船员也被告知不要干扰示威者。

在纽约市，在周末之前开始抢劫曼哈顿下城的商店和中城，促使承包商呼吁增加安全性，乘员赛车安装登机板和其他障碍。现在，木板覆盖了整个梅西百货公司和帝国大厦地面的窗户，在苹果计算机旗舰店，蒂法尼和其他高端第五大街零售地点也安装了额外的保护。

STO Building Group Chairman James Donaghey said protesters had been striking the Apple store temporary barricade with bats, according to security guard reports, and there was "minor damage" to its Macy's project site in Brooklyn.

With some protections breached and more looting in the evening of June 1, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and city Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered an 11pm to 5am city curfew extended to June 2 and starting at 8pm. The city's first curfew since the 1940s, according to NBC, It exempts essential workers. Cuomo urged protestors in peaceful demonstrations to take COVID-19 precautions to avoid a city infection rate spike that could jeopardize its planned June 8 phase-one reopening.

In Seattle, "public projects along the waterfront and most other sites did a careful job buttoning up before the protests to avoid potential damage,” says Julie Moore, supervisor for Seattle’s joint information center. “We have heard that some large jobsites that typically work over the weekend stopped Saturday afternoon/evening and have since resumed.”'

这个故事在7点钟CST更新以反映reopening of construction in Chicago's central business district.