Construction resumes on the ELB

Contractors have slowly returned to the Engineering Lab Building job site.

In line with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Executive Order, many new protocols have been put in place to keep workers safe. These include adding hand sanitizer stations and establishing a single point of entry to the jobsite, where a daily questionnaire and temperature screening is completed for each worker and visitor.

Many workplace practices have also been modified to comply with the latest CDC guidelines. This includes staggering start times to avoid a logjam at the checkpoint, adjusting work practices to facilitate social distancing, and requiring breaks and lunches to be taken in worker vehicles instead of in groups within the building.

ELB Project Manager Emily Hamilton says the team is bringing contractors back to the site slowly to work out any kinks in the new protocols. “So far, with about half of our pre-COVID workforce on site, things are going smoothly, and the number of workers onsite will increase in the coming days.” Over the next few weeks, they’ll be revising the project schedule, working through the changing landscape of the pandemic, and targeting an opening date in Winter ‘21.