The contractor engaged in construction on real estate being improved or further improved by construction of a building of any type or by expansion or alterations to an existing building, or the contractor dealing with real estate onto which a building is to be moved or from which a building is to be removed or demolished is declared responsible for any and all damage to or nuisance upon the paving, curb, gutter, sidewalk, parkway, trees, water mains, sewer mains, or other public property and public improvements whether the damage or nuisance arises, purposefully or accidentally, directly or indirectly, from the construction, expansion, alteration, moving or demolishing operations associated with the real estate. The contractor is declared responsible for damage and nuisance done to public property and improvements whether done by himself directly or by his contractor, or by his contractor's subcontractors, or by his suppliers, or by suppliers to the contractors or subcontractors. Responsibility by the contractor shall extend from the initial land clearing operations through the excavation, construction, and final grading operations, and shall include the laying of connections to water mains and sewer mains and the planting of trees and shrubs.
('69 Code, § 6-52)