Search results for: subsea tunnel construction

Authors: Ling Liyun

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In the field of contemporary architecture, complex forms of architectural works continue to emerge in the world, along with some new terminology emerged: digital architecture, parametric design, algorithm generation, building information modeling, CNC construction and so on. Architects gradually mastered the new skills of mathematical logic in the form of exploration, virtual simulation, and the entire design and coordination in the construction process. Digital construction technology has a greater degree in controlling construction, and ensure its accuracy, creating a series of new construction techniques. As a result, the use of digital technology is an improvement and expansion of the practice of digital architecture design revolution. We worked by reading and analyzing information about the digital architecture development process, a large number of cases, as well as architectural design and construction as a whole process. Thus current developments were introduced and discussed in our paper, such as architectural discourse, design theory, digital design models and techniques, material selecting, as well as artificial intelligence space design. Our paper also pays attention to the representative three cases of digital design and construction experiment at great length in detail to expound high-informatization, high-reliability intelligence, and high-technique in constructing a humane space to cope with the rapid development of urbanization. We concluded that the opportunities and challenges of the shift existed in architectural paradigms, such as the cooperation methods, theories, models, technologies and techniques which were currently employed in digital design research and digital praxis. We also find out that the innovative use of space can gradually change the way people learn, talk, and control information. The past two decades, digital technology radically breaks the technology constraints of industrial technical products, digests the publicity on a particular architectural style (era doctrine). People should not adapt to the machine, but in turn, it’s better to make the machine work for users.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, collaboration, digital architecture, digital design theory, material selection, space construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Ibrahim A. Alhammad, Suleiman A. Al-Otaibi, Khalid S. Al-Gahtani, Naïf Al-Otaibi, Abdulaziz A. Bubshait

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In the last decade, the use of project delivery system of design build engineering contracts is increasing in North America due to the reasons of reducing the project duration and minimizing costs. The shift from traditional approach of Design-Bid-Build to Design-Build contracts have been attributed to many factors such as evolution of the regulatory and legal frameworks governing the engineering contracts and improvement in integrating design and construction. The aforementioned practice of contracting is more appropriate in North America; yet, it may not be the case in Saudi Arabia where the traditional approach of construction contracting remains dominant. The authors believe there are number of factors related to the gaps in the level of sophistication of the engineering and management of the construction projects in both countries. A step towards improving the Saudi construction practice by adopting the new trend of construction contracting, this paper identifies the reasons why Design/Build form of contracting are not frequently utilized. A field survey, which includes the questionnaire addressing the research problem, is distributed to three main parties of the construction contracts: clients, consultants, and contractors. The analyzed collected data were statistically sufficient to finding the reasons of not adopting the new trend of good practice of deign build approach in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the reasons are: (1) lack of regulation and legal framework; (2) absence of clear criteria of the owner for the trade-off between competing contractors, (3) and lack of experience, knowledge and skill.

Keywords: design built projects, Saudi Arabia, GCC, mega projects

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Dimitrios Ntardas, Alexandros Tzanetos, Georgios Dounias

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High Voltage Substations (HVS) are the intermediate step between production of power and successfully transmitting it to clients, making them one of the most important checkpoints in power grids. Nowadays - renewable resources and consequently distributed generation are growing fast, the construction of HVS is of high importance both in terms of quality and time completion so that new energy producers can quickly and safely intergrade in power grids. The resources needed, such as machines and workers, should be carefully allocated so that the construction of a HVS is completed on time, with the lowest possible cost (e.g. not spending additional cost that were not taken into consideration, because of project delays), but in the highest quality. In addition, there are milestones and several checkpoints to be precisely achieved during construction to ensure the cost and timeline control and to ensure that the percentage of governmental funding will be granted. The management of such a demanding project is a NP-hard problem that consists of prerequisite constraints and resource limits for each task of the project. In this work, a hybrid meta-heuristic method is implemented to solve this problem. Meta-heuristics have been proven to be quite useful when dealing with high-dimensional constraint optimization problems. Hybridization of them results in boost of their performance.

Keywords: hybrid meta-heuristic methods, substation construction, resource allocation, time-cost efficiency

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Authors: Dibya Jivan Pati, Kazuhisa Iki, Riken Homma

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Unlike other metro cities of India, Bhubaneswar–the capital city of Odisha, is expected to reach 1-million-mark population by now. The demands of dwelling unit requirement mostly among urban poor belonging to Economically Weaker section (EWS) and Low Income groups (LIG) is becoming a challenge due to high housing cost and rents. As a matter of fact, it’s also noted that, with increase in population, the solid waste generation also increases subsequently affecting the environment due to inefficiency in collection of waste by local government bodies. Methods of utilizing Solid Waste - especially in form of Plastic bottles, Glass bottles and Metal cans (PGM) are now widely used as an alternative material for construction of low-cost building by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in developing countries like India to help the urban poor afford a shelter. The application of disposed plastic bottle used in construction of single dwelling significantly reduces the overall cost of construction to as much as 14% compared to traditional construction material. Therefore, considering its cost-benefit result, it’s possible to provide housing to EWS and LIGs at an affordable price. In this paper, we estimated the quantity of plastic bottles generated in Bhubaneswar which further helped to estimate the possible number of single dwelling unit that can be constructed on yearly basis so as to refrain from further housing shortage. The estimation results will be practically used for planning and managing low-cost housing business by local government and NGOs.

Keywords: construction, dwelling unit, plastic bottle, solid waste generation, groups

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Authors: Tetsuya Yabuki, Yasunori Arizumi, Tetsuhiro Shimozato, Samy Guezouli, Hiroaki Matsusita, Masayuki Tai

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The main object of this paper is to present the research results of the development of a hybrid stainless steel girder system for bridge construction undertaken at University of Ryukyu. In order to prevent the corrosion damage and reduce the fabrication costs, a hybrid stainless steel girder in bridge construction is developed, the stainless steel girder of which is stiffened and braced by structural carbon steel materials. It is verified analytically and experimentally that the ultimate strength of the hybrid stainless steel girder is equal to or greater than that of conventional carbon steel girder. The benefit of the life-cycle cost of the hybrid stainless steel girder is also shown.

Keywords: smart structure, hybrid stainless steel members, ultimate strength, steel bridge, corrosion prevention

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Authors: Xu Xiao China, Xu Lei China

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After the 1990s, the concept of urban sustainable development has been increasing attention in urban planning and urban design. High carbon city, not a sustainable city construction model, has become an important problem which restricts the sustainable development of the city. Therefore, low-carbon city construction is the urgent need to solve the problem, and China is one of the core areas of low-carbon city construction in the world. The research work of low-carbon cities were participated by the Chinese government and academic institutes on theory and practice since 2007, and nowadays it comes to a practice stage with six low-carbon pilot provinces and 36 low-carbon pilot cities identified. To achieve the low-carbon target, developing low-carbon energy, adopting non-pollution technique, constructing green buildings and adopting ecolife-style are suggest by the government. Meanwhile, besides a new standard system and a new eco-environmental status evaluation method, the government also established the Chinese urban development institute including the Low-Carbon City Group. Finally, we want to transform the modern industrial civilization into an ecological civilization and realize sustainable urban development.

Keywords: low-carbon city, China, development practice, system construction, urban sustainability

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Authors: Murat Gunduz, Mustafa Ozdemir

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In this research, a framework is to be proposed to model the safety performance in construction sites. Determinants of safety performance are to be defined through extensive literature review and a multidimensional safety performance model is to be developed. In this context, a questionnaire is to be administered to construction companies with sites. The collected data through questionnaires including linguistic terms are then to be defuzzified to get concrete numbers by using fuzzy set theory which provides strong and significant instruments for the measurement of ambiguities and provides the opportunity to meaningfully represent concepts expressed in the natural language. The validity of the proposed safety performance model, relationships between determinants of safety performance are to be analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) which is a highly strong multi variable analysis technique that makes possible the evaluation of latent structures. After validation of the model, a safety performance index assessment tool is to be proposed by the help of software. The proposed safety performance assessment tool will be based on the empirically validated theoretical model.

Keywords: Fuzzy set theory, safety performance assessment, safety index, structural equation modeling (SEM), construction sites

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Authors: Ehsan Eshtehardian, Saeed Khodaverdi

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This paper surveys the studies on construction change and reveals some of the potential future works. A full-scale investigation of change literature, including change definitions, types, causes and effects, and change management systems, is accomplished to explore some of the coming change trends. It is tried to pick up the critical works in each section to deduct a true timeline of construction changes. The findings show that leaping from best practice guides in late 1990s and generic process models in the early 2000s to very advanced modeling environments in the mid-2000s and the early 2010s have made gaps along with opportunities for change researchers in order to develop some more easy and applicable models. Another finding is that there is a compelling similarity between the change and risk prediction models. Therefore, integrating these two concepts, specifically from proactive management point of view, may lead to a synergy and help project teams avoid rework. Also, the findings show that exploitation of cause-effect relationship models, in order to facilitate the dispute resolutions, seems to be an interesting field for future works.

Keywords: construction change, change management systems, dispute resolutions, change literature

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Authors: Fahad K. Alqahtani

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Nowadays construction industry is developing means to incorporate waste products in concrete to ensure sustainability. To meet the need of construction industry, a synthetic aggregate was developed using optimized technique called compression moulding press technique. The manufactured aggregate comprises mixture of plastic, waste which acts as binder, together with by-product waste which acts as fillers. The physical properties and microstructures of the inert materials and the manufactured aggregate were examined and compared with the conventional available aggregates. The outcomes suggest that the developed aggregate has potential to be used as substitution of conventional aggregate due to its less weight and water absorption. The microstructure analysis confirmed the efficiency of the manufacturing process where the final product has the same mixture of binder and filler.

Keywords: fly ash, plastic waste, quarry fine, red sand, synthetic aggregate

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Authors: R. M. Rajapaksa

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Construction industry is one of the key players in driving the economy of a country to achieve its prosperity. However, a dispute is one of the crucial factors which prevent the completion of construction contracts within the budgeted cost, scheduled time, and accepted quality. Disputes are inevitable in the construction contract. Accordingly, a study has been undertaken to identify the factors affecting contractual disputes in construction projects in Sri Lanka. The study was a mixed approach with major qualitative and minor quantitative. Qualitative study was set in the form of in-depth interviews with eighteen participants, and quantitative study was conducted using a questionnaire with twenty-four respondents from previously implemented projects by the National Water Supply & Drainage Board representing the employer, engineer and the Contractor to identify the factors affecting contractual disputes and to verify most critical factors respectively. Data analysis for qualitative and quantitative studies was carried out by means of transcribing, code & categorizeand average score methods, respectively. The study reveals that there are forty factors affecting the contractual disputes in construction contracts in Sri Lanka. The finding further illustrates that conflicting decisions by inexperience personnel in the higher position of the Employer, ambiguities resulting inadequate descriptions of the preliminary/general items in price schedule, unfair valuation and late confirmation of variations, unfair determination due to lack of experience of the Engineer/Consultant, under certification of progress payments, unfair grant of EOT & application of delay damages, unreasonable claims for variation of works, errors/discrepancies/ambiguities in the contract conditions and discrepancies & errors in designs & specifications are the most critical factors affecting contractual disputes. Finally, the study proposed remedial measures to most critical factors affecting contractual disputes.

Keywords: dispute, contractual, factors, employer, engineer, contractor, construction projects

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Authors: Qin Zhu

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Under the development concept of Park City, Tianfu Greenway system, as the basic and pre-configuration element of Chengdu Global Park construction, connects urban open space with linear and circular structures and undertakes and exerts the ecological, cultural and recreational functions of the park system. Chengdu greenway construction is in full swing. In the process of greenway planning and construction, the landscape effect of greenway on urban quality improvement is more valued, and the long-term impact of crowd experience on the sustainable development of greenway is often ignored. Therefore, it is very important to test the effectiveness of greenway construction from the perspective of users. Taking Jincheng Greenway in Chengdu as an example, this paper attempts to introduce multi-source data to construct a post-occupancy evaluation model of greenway and adopts behavior mapping method, questionnaire survey method, web text analysis and IPA analysis method to comprehensively evaluate the user 's behavior characteristics and satisfaction. According to the evaluation results, we can grasp the actual behavior rules and comprehensive needs of users so that the experience of building greenways can be fed back in time and provide guidance for the optimization and improvement of built greenways and the planning and construction of future greenways.

Keywords: multi-source data, greenway, IPA analysis, post -occupancy evaluation (POE)

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Authors: Khaled Abu Awwad, Abdussalam Shibani, Michel Ghostin

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In the last few years, building information modelling (BIM) has been acknowledged as a new technology capable of transforming the construction sector to a collaborated industry. The implementation of BIM in the United Kingdom (UK) construction sector has increased significantly in the last decade, particularly after the UK government mandated the use of BIM in all public projects by 2016. Despite this, there are many indicators that BIM implementation is the main concern for large companies, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging behind in adopting and implementing this new technology. This slow adoption of BIM leads to an uncompetitive disadvantage in public projects and possible private projects. On the other hand, there is limited research focusing on the implementation of BIM Level 2 within SMEs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to bridge this gap and provide a conceptual framework to aid SMEs in implementing BIM Level 2. This framework is a result of interpreting qualitative data obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews with BIM experts in the UK construction industry.

Keywords: building information modelling, critical success factors, small and medium-sized enterprises, United Kingdom

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Authors: Valean Maria

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Construction and demolition waste management is a timely topic, due to the urgency of its transition to sustainability. This sector is responsible for over a third of the waste generated in the E.U., while the legislation requires a proportion of at least 70% preparation for reuse and recycle, excluding backfilling. To this end, the E.U. Commission has provided the Level(s) methodology, allowing for the standardized planning and reporting of waste quantities across all levels of the construction process, from the architecture, to the demolition, from the estimation stage, to the actual measurements at the end of the operations. We applied Level(s) for the first time to the Romanian context, a developing E.U. country in which illegal dumping of contruction waste in nature and landfills, are still common practice. We performed the desk study of the buildings’ documents, followed by field studies of the sites, and finally the insertion and calculation of statistical data of the construction and demolition waste. We learned that Romania is far from the E.U. average in terms of the initial estimations of waste, with some numbers being higher, others lower, and that the price of evacuation to landfills is significantly lower in the developing country, a possible barrier to adopting the new regulations. Finally, we found that concrete is the predominant type waste, in terms of quantity as well as cost of disposal. Further directions of research are provided, such as mapping out all of the alternative facilities in the region and the calculation of the financial costs and of the CO2 footprint, for preparing and delivering waste sustainably, for a more sound and locally adapted model of waste management.

Keywords: construction, waste, management, levels, EU

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Authors: Ali Kadivar, Kaveh Niayesh

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MVDC markets for green power generations, Navy, subsea oil and gas electrification, and transportation electrification are extending rapidly. The lack of fast and powerful DC circuit breakers (CB) is the most significant barrier to realizing the medium voltage DC (MVDC) networks. A concept of hybrid circuit breakers (HCBs) benefiting from ultrafast disconnectors (UFD) is proposed. A set of mechanical switches substitute the power electronic commutation switches to reduce the losses during normal operation in HCB. The success of current commutation in such breakers relies on the behaviour of elongated, wall constricted arcs during the opening across the contacts inside the UFD. The arc voltage dependencies on the contact speed of UFDs is discussed through multiphysics simulations contact opening speeds of 10, 20 and 40 m/s. The arc voltage at a given current increases exponentially with the contact opening velocity. An empirical equation for the dynamic arc characteristics is presented for the tested UFD, and the experimentally verfied characteristics for voltage-current are utilized for the current commutation simulation prior to apply on a 14 kV experimental setup. Different failures scenarios due to the current commutation are investigated

Keywords: MVDC breakers, DC circuit breaker, fast operating breaker, ultra-fast elongated arc

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Authors: Yu Chen, Xiaoguang Yang, Lin Lin

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Traffic engineering construction is an important infrastructure for economic and social development. In the process of construction and operation, the ability to make a correct evaluation of the project's environmental impact appears to be crucial to the rational operation of existing transportation projects, the correct development of transportation engineering construction and the adoption of corresponding measures to scientifically carry out environmental protection work. Most of the existing research work on ecological and environmental impact assessment is limited to individual aspects of the environment and less to the overall evaluation of the environmental system; in terms of research conclusions, there are more qualitative analyses from the technical and policy levels, and there is a lack of quantitative research results and quantitative and operable evaluation models. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the ecological and environmental impacts of transportation construction projects is conducted, and factors such as the accessibility of data and the reliability of calculation results are comprehensively considered to extract indicators that can reflect the essence and characteristics. The qualitative evaluation indicators were screened using the expert review method, the qualitative indicators were measured using the fuzzy statistics method, the quantitative indicators were screened using the principal component analysis method, and the quantitative indicators were measured by both literature search and calculation. An environmental impact evaluation index system with the general objective layer, sub-objective layer and indicator layer was established, dividing the environmental impact of the transportation construction project into two periods: the construction period and the operation period. On the basis of the evaluation index system, the index weights are determined using the hierarchical analysis method, and the individual indicators to be evaluated are dimensionless, eliminating the influence of the original background and meaning of the indicators. Finally, the thesis uses the above research results, combined with the actual engineering practice, to verify the correctness and operability of the evaluation method.

Keywords: transportation construction projects, ecological and environmental impact, analysis and evaluation, indicator evaluation system

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Authors: Akaki Qatamidze

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Implementation of the project will be a step forward in terms of reliability in Georgia and the improvement of the construction and the development of construction. Completion of the project is expected to result in a complete knowledge, which is expressed in concrete and stone structures of assessing the technical condition of the processing. This method is based on a detailed examination of the structure, in order to establish the injuries and the elimination of the possibility of changing the structural scheme of the new requirements and architectural preservationists. Reinforced concrete and stone structures research project carried out in a systematic analysis of the important approach is to optimize the process of research and development of new knowledge in the neighboring areas. In addition, the problem of physical and mathematical models of rational consent, the main pillar of the physical (in-situ) data and mathematical calculation models and physical experiments are used only for the calculation model specification and verification. Reinforced concrete and stone construction defects and failures the causes of the proposed research to enhance the effectiveness of their maximum automation capabilities and expenditure of resources to reduce the recommended system analysis of the methodological concept-based approach, as modern science and technology major particularity of one, it will allow all family structures to be identified for the same work stages and procedures, which makes it possible to exclude subjectivity and addresses the problem of the optimal direction. It discussed the methodology of the project and to establish a major step forward in the construction trades and practical assistance to engineers, supervisors, and technical experts in the construction of the settlement of the problem.

Keywords: building, reinforced concrete, expertise, stone structures

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Authors: J. Koiso-Kanttila, A. Soikkeli, A. Aapaoja

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Construction in Finland is focusing increasingly on renovation instead of conventional new construction, and this trend will continue to grow in the coming years and decades. Renovation of the large number of suburban residential apartment buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s poses a particular challenge. However, renovation projects are demanding for the residents of these buildings, since they usually are uninitiated in construction issues. On the other hand, renovation projects generally apply the operating models of new construction. Nevertheless, the residents of an existing residential apartment building are some of the best experts on the site. Thus, in this research project we applied a relational model in developing and testing at case sites a planning process that employs interactive planning methods. Current residents, housing company managers, the city zoning manager, the contractor’s and prefab element supplier’s representatives, professional designers and researchers all took part in the planning. The entire interactive planning process progressed phase by phase as the participants’ and designers’ concerted discussion and ideation process, so that the end result was a renovation plan desired by the residents.

Keywords: apartment building renovation, interactive planning, project alliance, user-orientedness

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Authors: Krzysztof J. Czarnocki, F. Silveira, E. Czarnocka, K. Szaniawska

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Research background: Problems related to the occupational health and decreasing level of safety occur commonly in the construction industry. Important factor in the occupational safety in construction industry is scaffold use. All scaffolds used in construction, renovation, and demolition shall be erected, dismantled and maintained in accordance with safety procedure. Increasing demand for new construction projects unfortunately still is linked to high level of occupational accidents. Therefore, it is crucial to implement concrete actions while dealing with scaffolds and risk assessment in construction industry, the way on doing assessment and liability of assessment is critical for both construction workers and regulatory framework. Unfortunately, professionals, who tend to rely heavily on their own experience and knowledge when taking decisions regarding risk assessment, may show lack of reliability in checking the results of decisions taken. Purpose of the article: The aim was to indicate crucial parameters that could be modeling with Risk Assessment Model (RAM) use for improving both building enterprise productivity and/or developing potential and safety climate. The developed RAM could be a benefit for predicting high-risk construction activities and thus preventing accidents occurred based on a set of historical accident data. Methodology/Methods: A RAM has been developed for assessing risk levels as various construction process stages with various work trades impacting different spheres of enterprise activity. This project includes research carried out by teams of researchers on over 60 construction sites in Poland and Portugal, under which over 450 individual research cycles were carried out. The conducted research trials included variable conditions of employee exposure to harmful physical and chemical factors, variable levels of stress of employees and differences in behaviors and habits of staff. Genetic modeling tool has been used for developing the RAM. Findings and value added: Common types of trades, accidents, and accident causes have been explored, in addition to suitable risk assessment methods and criteria. We have found that the initial worker stress level is more direct predictor for developing the unsafe chain leading to the accident rather than the workload, or concentration of harmful factors at the workplace or even training frequency and management involvement.

Keywords: safety climate, occupational health, civil engineering, productivity

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Authors: Piotr-Robert Lazik, Lena Teichmann, Harald Garrecht

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Many concrete technologists are looking for a solution to replace fly ashes as a component that occurs as a major component of many types of concrete. The importance of such a component is clear -it saves cement and reduces the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere that occurs during cement production. For example, the amount of cement in ultrahigh strength concrete (UHPC) is approximately 700-800 kg/m³ in normal concrete up to 350 kg/m³. For this reason, it is easy to follow that the use of components like fly ashes or wood ashes protect the environment. The newest investigations carried out at the University of Stuttgart have clearly shown that the use of wood ashes with appropriate pre-treatment in concrete has a positive effect. German-wide, there are hundreds of tons of wood ashes, which can be used in a wide range of construction materials. The strengths of the concrete with different types of cement and with wood ashes have given the same or, in some cases, better results than those with the use of fly ashes. There are many areas in building construction, where the clays of wood ashes can be used as a by-product. This does not only require a strength test but also, for example, an examination of structural-physical parameters. Especially the heat and moisture characteristics have an important role in times of energy-efficient construction. These are therefore determined and then compared with the characteristics of the concretes with fly ashes. The University of Stuttgart has decided to investigate the buildings' physical properties of different types of concrete with wood ashes to find their application in construction. After the examination of the buildings' physical properties in combination with strength tests, it is possible to determine in which field of civil engineering, this type of concrete can be used.

Keywords: fly ashes, wood ashes, structural-physical parameters, UHPC

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Authors: Zakari Mustapha, Clinto Aigbavboa, Wellinton Didi Thwala

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Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues has been a major challenge to the Ghanaian government. The purpose of the study was to examine OHS practices in Ghana. The study looked at various views from different scholars about OHS practices in order to achieve the objective of the study. Literature review was conducted on OHS in Ghana. Findings from the study shows Ministry of Roads and Transport (MRT) and Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH) are two government ministries in charge of construction and implementation of the construction sector policy. The Factories, Offices and Shops Act 1970, Act 328 and the Mining Regulations 1970 LI 665 are the two major edicts. The study presents a strong background on OHS practices in Ghana and contribute to the body of knowledge on the solution to the current trends and challenges of OHS in the construction sector.

Keywords: ILO convention, OHS challenges, OHS practices, OHS improvement

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Authors: Shah Nister Kabir

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This study examines the construction of the controversy surrounding the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, as it appeared in three New Zealand newspapers; the Otago Daily Times (ODT), the New Zealand Herald (NZH) and the Press. It discursively argues that these mainstream newspapers promote the Orientalist perception of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West in their news frame, but, in most cases, the perceived clash was not apparent in editorials. This study also argues that the uniformity in news frame conflicts with editorials’ construction of the issue. Furthermore, while the construction of the issue in news frame and editorials in the Press remained similar, the other two newspapers—the ODT and NZH—both contradict their own news frame in their editorials and contradict the editorials appearing in the Press.

Keywords: clash of culture, discourse, Islam, media agenda, New Zealand, orientalism, the West

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Authors: Keyao Li, Sai On Cheung

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Incorporation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism has been the main feature of current trend of construction project dispute resolution (CPDR). ADR approaches have been identified as efficient mechanisms and are suitable alternatives to litigation and arbitration. Moreover, the use of ADR in this multi-tiered dispute resolution process often leads to repeated evaluations of a same dispute. Multi-tiered CPDR may become a breeding ground for cognitive biases. When completed knowledge is not available at the early tier of construction dispute resolution, disputing parties may form preconception of the dispute matter or the counterpart. This preconception would influence their information processing in the subsequent tier. Disputing parties tend to search and interpret further information in a self-defensive way to confirm their early positions. Their imbalanced information collection would boost their confidence in the held assessments. Their attitudes would be hardened and difficult to compromise. The occurrence of cognitive bias, therefore, impedes efficient dispute settlement. This study aims to explore ways to minimize bias in CPDR. Based on a comprehensive literature review, three types of bias minimizing approaches were collected: strategy-based, attitude-based and process-based. These approaches were further operationalized into bias minimizing measures. To verify the usefulness and practicability of these bias minimizing measures, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten CPDR third party neutral professionals. All of the interviewees have at least twenty years of experience in facilitating settlement of construction dispute. The usefulness, as well as the implications of the bias minimizing measures, were validated and suggested by these experts. There are few studies on cognitive bias in construction management in general and in CPDR in particular. This study would be the first of its type to enhance the efficiency of construction dispute resolution by highlighting strategies to minimize the biases therein.

Keywords: bias, construction project dispute resolution, minimization, multi-tiered, semi-structured interview

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Authors: Joanna Fidelus-Orzechowska, Dominika Wronska-Walach, Jaroslaw Cebulski

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Mountain areas are very often exposed to numerous transformations connected with the development of tourist infrastructure. In mountain areas in Poland ski tourism is very popular, so agricultural areas are often transformed into tourist areas. The construction of new ski runs can change the direction and rate of slope development. The main aim of this research was to determine geomorphological and hydrological changes within slopes caused by ski run constructions. The study was conducted in the Remiaszów catchment in the Inner Polish Carpathians (southern Poland). The mean elevation of the catchment is 859 m a.s.l. and the maximum is 946 m a.s.l. The surface area of the catchment is 1.16 km2, of which 16.8% is the area of the two studied ski runs. The studied ski runs were constructed in 2014 and 2015. In order to determine the relief transformations connected with new ski run construction high resolution LIDAR data was analyzed. The general relief changes in the studied catchment were determined on the basis of ALS (Airborne Laser Scanning ) data obtained before (2013) and after (2016) ski run construction. Based on the two sets of ALS data a digital elevation models of differences (DoDs) was created, which made it possible to determine the quantitative relief changes in the entire studied catchment. Additionally, cross and longitudinal profiles were calculated within slopes where new ski runs were built. Detailed data on relief changes within selected test surfaces was obtained based on TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning). Hydrological changes within the analyzed catchment were determined based on the convergence and divergence index. The study shows that the construction of the new ski runs caused significant geomorphological and hydrological changes in the entire studied catchment. However, the most important changes were identified within the ski slopes. After the construction of ski runs the entire catchment area lowered about 0.02 m. Hydrological changes in the studied catchment mainly led to the interruption of surface runoff pathways and changes in runoff direction and geometry.

Keywords: hydrological changes, mountain areas, relief transformations, ski run construction

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Authors: Toral Khalpada, Kanhai Joshi

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Generally, constructions of structures built in India are indeterminate structures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the application of a structure that is proved to be non-economical. The testing practice involves the application of different types of loads on both, determinate and indeterminate structure by computing it on a software system named Staad and also inspecting them practically on the construction site, analyzing the most efficient structure and diagnosing the utilization of the structure which is not so beneficial as compared to other. Redundant structures (indeterminate structure) are found to be more reasonable. All types of loads were applied on the beams of both determinate and indeterminate structures parallelly on the software and the same was done on the site practically which proved that maximum stresses in statically indeterminate structures are generally lower than those in comparable determinate structures. These structures are found to have higher stiffness resulting in lesser deformations so indeterminate structures are economical and are better than determinate structures to use for construction. On the other hand, statically determinate structures have the benefit of not producing stresses because of temperature changes. Therefore, our study tells that indeterminate structure is more beneficial but determinate structure also has used as it can be used in many areas; it can be used for the construction of two hinged arch bridges where two supports are sufficient and where there is no need for expensive indeterminate structure. Further investigation is needed to contrive more implementation of the determinate structure.

Keywords: construction, determinate structure, indeterminate structure, stress

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Authors: Anderson dos Santos Ananias, Matheus Yuji Shigueoka, Roberto Saverio Souza Costa

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Soil and water conservation can be conceptualized as a combination of management and use methods, which have the function of protecting them against deterioration induced by anthropogenic or natural factors. Thus, the objective of this research was to evaluate the rural extension work in soil conservation carried out at Sítio do Alto in Jaboticabal-SP, through the analysis of planimetric data (latitude and longitude coordinates) and altimetric differences of the empirically constructed terraces by the rural producer and with technical guidance from CATI (Coordination of Integral Technical Assistance). A data collection procedure was carried out in the field, with GPS L1/L2, before the construction of five (5) terraces technically level and after their construction. The results showed that the greatest differences were found on terrace one (1), with a maximum latitude difference of 57 meters, the longitude of 23 m, and altitude of 2 m. These results corroborate the observations in the field, in which the presence of a great erosion caused by the incorrect construction of terrace 1 was verified rainwater to the side of the rural property, where the largest erosion furrows with the beginning of gully formation were found.

Keywords: GPS, mechanical pratice, surface runoff, erosion

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Authors: Xinyu Gong, Zhilin Li, Xintao Liu

Abstract:

Maps are a means of communication. Cartographic language involves established theories of natural language for understanding maps. “Cartographic words’, or “map symbols”, are crucial elements of cartographic language. Personalized mapping is increasingly popular, with growing demands for customized map-making by the general public. Automated symbol-making and customization play a key role in personalized mapping. However, formal representations for the automated construction of map symbols are still lacking. In natural language, the process of word and sentence construction can be formalized. Through the analogy between natural language and graphical language, formal representations of natural language construction can be used as a reference for constructing cartographic language. We selected Chinese character structures (i.e., S

Keywords: personalized mapping, Chinese character, cartographic language, map symbols

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Authors: Nnadi Ezekiel Ejiofor

Abstract:

In Enugu, Nigeria, this study investigates the connection between strategic leadership and project management sustainability, with an emphasis on building projects in the State. The study set out to accomplish two specific goals: first, it sought to establish a link between creative project management and resource efficiency in construction projects in Enugu State, Nigeria; and second, it sought to establish a link between innovative thinking and waste minimization in those same projects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from 45 registered construction enterprises in the study area as part of the study's descriptive research approach. Due to the nonparametric nature of the data, Spearman Rank Order Correlation was used to evaluate the acquired data. The findings demonstrate that creative project management had a significant positive impact on resource efficiency in construction projects carried out by architecture firms in Enugu State, Nigeria (r =.849; p.001), and that innovative thinking had a significant impact on waste reduction in those same projects (r =.849; p.001). It was determined that strategic leadership had a significant impact on the sustainability of project management, and it was thus advised that project managers should foresee, prepare for, and effectively communicate present and future developments to project staff in order to ensure that the objective of sustainable initiatives, such as recycling and reuse, is implemented in construction projects.

Keywords: construction, project management, strategic leadership, sustainability, waste reduction

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Authors: Akhmad F. K. Khitam, Yi Tai, Hsin-Yun Lee

Abstract:

In the modern research of construction management, the goals of scheduling are not only to finish the project within the limited duration, but also to improve the impact of people and environment. Especially for the impact to the pedestrian and vehicles, the considerable social cost should be estimated in the total performance of a construction project. However, the site environment has many differences between projects. These interactions affect the requirement and goal of scheduling. It is difficult for schedule planners to quantify these interactions. Therefore, this study use 3D dynamic simulation technology to plan the schedule of the construction engineering projects that affect the current space users (i.e., the pedestrians and vehicles). The proposed model can help the project manager find out the optimal schedule to minimize the inconvenience brought to the space users. Besides, a roadwork project and a building renovation project were analyzed for the practical situation of engineering and operations. Then this study integrates the proper optimization algorithms and computer technology to establish a decision support model. The proposed model can generate a near-optimal schedule solution for project planners.

Keywords: scheduling, simulation, optimization, pedestrian and vehicle behavior

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Authors: Mengxia Jin, Yongqiang Chen, Wenqian Wang, Yu Wang

Abstract:

The complexity and specificity of construction projects have made common opportunism phenomenon, and contractual governance for opportunism has been a topic of considerable ongoing research. Based on TCE, the research distinguishes control and coordination as different functions of the contract to investigate their complexity separately. And in a nuanced way, the dimensionality of contractual control is examined. Through the analysis of motivation and capability of strong or weak form opportunism, the framework focuses on the relationship between the complexity of above contractual dimensions and different types of opportunistic behavior and attempts to verify the possible explanatory mechanism. The explanatory power of the research model is evaluated in the light of empirical evidence from questionnaires. We collect data from Chinese companies in the construction industry, and the data collection is still in progress. The findings will speak to the debate surrounding the effects of contract complexity on opportunistic behavior. This nuanced research will derive implications for research on the role of contractual mechanisms in dealing with inter-organizational opportunism and offer suggestions for curbing contract parties’ opportunistic behavior in construction projects.

Keywords: contractual complexity, contractual control, contractual coordinatio, opportunistic behavior

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: M. Pieńko, A. Robak, E. Błazik-Borowa, J. Szer

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of analysis of 100 full-scale scaffolding structures in terms of compliance with legal acts and safety of use. In 2016 and 2017, authors examined scaffolds in Poland located at buildings which were at construction or renovation stage. The basic elements affecting the safety of scaffolding use such as anchors, supports, platforms, guardrails and toe-boards have been taken into account. All of these elements were checked in each of considered scaffolding. Based on the analyzed scaffoldings, the most common errors concerning assembly process and use of scaffolding were collected. Legal acts on the scaffoldings are not always clear, and this causes many issues. In practice, people realize how dangerous the use of incomplete scaffolds is only when the accident occurs. Despite the fact that the scaffolding should ensure the safety of its users, most accidents on construction sites are caused by fall from a height.

Keywords: façade scaffolds, load capacity, practice, safety of people

Procedia PDF Downloads 403