Work is underway on a $6.8-million barrier around the state Capitol in Sacramento?EUR??,,????'??+a braid of beefy concrete planters and bulky steel posts designed to thwart attacks without turning the public building into a fortress.

Temporary chain-link fences circled the building in March. Wounds scarred the lawns. Jackhammers rang and backhoes growled, racing to finish by August.

The security retrofit at California’s statehouse reflects what’s taking place at government buildings across the United States. Since 2001, all 50 statehouses have stepped up security in one way or another, adding barriers, metal detectors and surveillance cameras.

Even as the world grew more treacherous, lawmakers resisted the entreaties. They feared a fence would be seen as a physical and psychological barrier to “the people’s building.”

The reluctance began to dissolve in early 2001, when a suicidal trucker named Mike Bowers barreled up 11th Street and aimed his 18-wheeler into the Capitol’s south entrance, sending flames shooting up the ornate portico. Repairs cost about $19 million, but it might have been worse: The truck’s cargo was only evaporated milk.