Search results for: informatization construction

Authors: Natalia Rudeli, Elisabeth Viles, Adrian Santilli

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Delays in the construction industry are a global phenomenon. Many construction projects experience extensive delays exceeding the initially estimated completion time. The main purpose of this study is to identify construction projects typical behaviors in order to develop a prognosis and management tool. Being able to know a construction projects schedule tendency will enable evidence-based decision-making to allow resolutions to be made before delays occur. This study presents an innovative approach that uses Cluster Analysis Method to support predictions during Earned Value Analyses. A clustering analysis was used to predict future scheduling, Earned Value Management (EVM), and Earned Schedule (ES) principal Indexes behaviors in construction projects. The analysis was made using a database with 90 different construction projects. It was validated with additional data extracted from literature and with another 15 contrasting projects. For all projects, planned and executed schedules were collected and the EVM and ES principal indexes were calculated. A complete linkage classification method was used. In this way, the cluster analysis made considers that the distance (or similarity) between two clusters must be measured by its most disparate elements, i.e. that the distance is given by the maximum span among its components. Finally, through the use of EVM and ES Indexes and Tukey and Fisher Pairwise Comparisons, the statistical dissimilarity was verified and four clusters were obtained. It can be said that construction projects show an average delay of 35% of its planned completion time. Furthermore, four typical behaviors were found and for each of the obtained clusters, the interim milestones and the necessary rhythms of construction were identified. In general, detected typical behaviors are: (1) Projects that perform a 5% of work advance in the first two tenths and maintain a constant rhythm until completion (greater than 10% for each remaining tenth), being able to finish on the initially estimated time. (2) Projects that start with an adequate construction rate but suffer minor delays culminating with a total delay of almost 27% of the planned time. (3) Projects which start with a performance below the planned rate and end up with an average delay of 64%, and (4) projects that begin with a poor performance, suffer great delays and end up with an average delay of a 120% of the planned completion time. The obtained clusters compose a tool to identify the behavior of new construction projects by comparing their current work performance to the validated database, thus allowing the correction of initial estimations towards more accurate completion schedules.

Keywords: Cluster analysis, construction management, earned value, schedule.

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Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

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In the post COVID 19 pandemic, the demand for virtual world and digital economy accelerated and became more popular and the term Metaverse is now a hot topic in different sectors in the community and society. Digital technology development in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and networks has become more mature in recent years, the racing of the application of Metaverse in different aspects is more vigorous. Metaverse in digital architectural, engineering and construction being one of the major players in future should not be overlooked. More understanding of Metaverse which includes the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is crucial and this is important for stakeholders in the AEC industry to start early development to match with the quick development, expansion and global trend of Metaverse.

Keywords: Metaverse, internet of things, smart city, NFTs, digital economy, blockchain.

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Authors: S. Behnam Asl, H. Sadeghi Naeini, L. Sadat Ensaniat, R. Khorshidian, S. Alipour, S. Behnam Asl

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Nowadays the construction industry is growing specially among developing counties. Iran also has a critical role in these industries in terms of workers disorders. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) assign 7% of the whole diseases in the society, which make some limitations. One of the main factors, which are ended to WMSDs, is awkward posture. Steel bar bending is considered as one of the prominent performance among construction workers. In this case study we conducted to find the major tasks of bar benders and the most important related risk factors. This study was carried out among twenty workers (18-45 years) as our volunteer samples in some construction sites with less than 6 floors in two regions of Tehran municipality. The data was gathered through in depth observation, interview and questionnaire. Also postural analysis was done by OWAS. In another part of study we used NMQ for gathering some data about psychosocial effects of work related disorders. Our findings show that 64% of workers were not aware of work risks, also about 59% of workers had troubles in their wrists, hands, and especially among workers who worked in steel bar bending. In 46% cases low back pain were prevalence. Considering with gathered data and results, awkward postures and long term tasks and its duration are known as the main risk factors in WMSDs among construction workers, so work-rest schedule and also tools design should be considered to make an ergonomic condition for the mentioned workers.

Keywords: Bar benders, construction workers, musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), OWAS method.

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Authors: Karim Shiraazi, Zargham OstadiAsl, Vahid Sheikhloie, Ahadollah Azami, Shahin Hassanimehr

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Bridge is an architectural symbol in Iran as Badgir (wind catcher); fire temples and arch are vaults are such. Therefore, from the very old ages, construction of bridges in Iran has mixed with architecture, social customs, alms and charity and holiness. Since long ago, from Mad, Achaemenid, Parthian and Sassanid times which construction of bridges got an inseparable relation with social dependency and architecture, based on those dependency bridges and dams got holy names; as Dokhtar castle and Dokhtar bridges were constructed. This method continued even after Islam and whenever Iranians got free from political fights and the immunity of roads were established the bridge construction did also prospered. In ancient times bridge construction passes through it growing and completion process and in Sassanid time in some way it reached to the peak of art and glory; as after Islam especially during 4th. century (Arab calendar) it put behind a period of glory and in Safavid time it reached to an exceptional glory and magnificence by constructing glorious bridges on Zayandeh Roud River in Isfahan. Having a combined style and changeability into bridge barrier, some of these bridges develop into magnificent constructions. The sustainable structures, mentioned above, are constructed for various reasons as follows: connecting two sides of a river, storing water, controlling floods, using water energy to operate water windmills, making lanes of streams for farms- use, and building recreational places for people, etc. These studies carried in bridges reveals the fact that in construction and designing mentioned above, lots of technological factors have been taken into consideration such as exceeding floods in the rives, hydraulic and hydrology of the rivers and bridges, geology, foundation, structure, construction material, and adopting appropriate executing methods, all of which are being analyzed in this article.

Keywords: Hydraulic-Architectural Bridge, Sustainability, Construction

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Authors: Mamoon Mousa Atout

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The industries of construction are in continuous growth not only in Middle East rejoin but almost all over the world. For the last fifteen years, big expansion and increase of different types of projects has been observed. Many infrastructural projects have been developed, high rise buildings, big shopping malls, power sub-stations, roads, bridges, schools, universities and developing many of new cities with full and complete facilities. The growth and enlargement of the mentioned developed projects has been accomplished through many international and local contracting organizations. Senior management of these organizations depend on their qualified and experienced team whom are aware of the implications of project management, construction management, engineering management and resource management during tendering till final completion of the project. This research aims to find out why reasons of principles of construction engineering and management are necessary for contracting firms and their managers. Principles of construction management help contracting organizations to accomplish and deliver projects without delay. This can be maintained by establishing guidelines’ details for updating the adopted system of construction management that they have through qualified and experienced project managers. The research focuses on benefits of other essential skills of projects planning, monitoring and control. Defining roles and responsibilities of contractor project managers during tendering and execution is a part of the investigated factors that will be analyzed. Other skills like optimizing and utilizing the obtainable project resources to deliver the project within time, cost and quality will be also investigated to find out how these factors are affecting the performance of contracting firms, projects managers and projects. The conclusion of the research will help senior management team and the contractors project managers about the benefits of implications and benefits construction management system and its effect upon the performance and knowledge of contract values that they have, and the optimal profit margin of the firm it.

Keywords: Construction management, contracting firms, project managers, planning processes, roles and responsibilities.

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Authors: Abdullah Almusharraf, Andrew Whyte

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The sub-task pattern in terms of deviations and defects should be identified and understood in order to improve the quality of practices in construction projects. Therefore, sub-task susceptibility to exposure to deviations and defects has been evaluated and classified via six classifications proposed in this study. Thirty-four case studies of specific sub-tasks (from compression members in constructed concrete structures) were collected from seven construction projects in order to examine the study’s proposed classifications. The study revealed that the sub-task has a high sensitivity to deviation, where 91% of the cases were recorded as deviations; however, only 19% of cases were recorded as defects. Other findings were that the actual work during the execution process is a high source of deviation for this sub-task (74%), while only 26% of the source of deviation was due to both design documentation and the actual work. These findings significantly imply that the study’s proposed classifications could be used to determine the pattern of each sub-task and develop proactive actions to overcome issues of sub-task deviations and defects.

Keywords: Sub-tasks, deviations, defects, quality, construction projects.

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Authors: Nnadi Ezekiel Ejiofor

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The study investigates the connection between strategic leadership and project management sustainability, with an emphasis on building projects Nigeria. 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 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 project management firms (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: Sangdeok Lee, Sangwon Han, Changtaek Hyun

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Construction defects are major components that result in negative impacts on project performance including schedule delays and cost overruns. Since construction defects generally occur when a few associated causes combine, a thorough understanding of defect causality is required in order to more systematically prevent construction defects. To address this issue, this paper uses association rule mining (ARM) to quantify the causality between defect causes, and social network analysis (SNA) to find indirect causality among them. The suggested approach is validated with 350 defect instances from concrete works in 32 projects in Korea. The results show that the interrelationships revealed by the approach reflect the characteristics of the concrete task and the important causes that should be prevented.

Keywords: Causality, defect causes, social network analysis, association rule mining.

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Authors: Olatunde I. Sekunowo, Stephen I. Durowaye, Oluwashina P. Gbenebor

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Copper being one of the major intrinsic residual impurities in steel possesses the tendency to induce severe microstructural distortions if not controlled within certain limits. Hence, this paper investigates the effect of this element on the mechanical properties of construction steel with a view to ascertain its safe limits for effective control. The experiment entails collection of statistically scheduled samples of hot rolled profiles with varied copper concentrations in the range of 0.12-0.39 wt. %. From these samples were prepared standard test specimens subjected to tensile, impact, hardness and microstructural analyses. Results show a rather huge compromise in mechanical properties as the specimens demonstrated 54.3%, 74.2% and 64.9% reduction in tensile strength, impact energy and hardness respectively as copper content increases from 0.12 wt. % to 0.39 wt. %. The steel’s abysmal performance is due to the severe distortion of the microstructure occasioned by the development of incoherent complex compounds which weaken the pearlite reinforcing phase. It is concluded that the presence of copper above 0.22 wt. % is deleterious to construction steel performance.

Keywords: Construction steel, mechanical properties, processing method, trace elements.

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Authors: Sao-Jeng Chao, Wen-Cheng Chen, Wei-Humg Lu

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In order to prevent encountering unpredictable factors, geotechnical engineers always conduct numerical analysis for braced excavation design. Simulation work in advance can predict the response of subsequent excavation and thus will be designed to increase the security coefficient of construction. The parameters that are considered include geological conditions, soil properties, soil distributions, loading types, and the analysis and design methods. National Ilan University is located on the LanYang plain, mainly deposited by clayey soil and loose sand, and thus is vulnerable to external influence displacement. National Ilan University experienced a construction of braced excavation with a complete program of monitoring excavation. This study takes advantage of a one-dimensional finite element method RIDO to simulate the excavation process. The predicted results from numerical simulation analysis are compared with the monitored results of construction to explore the differences between them. Numerical simulation analysis of the excavation process can be used to analyze retaining structures for the purpose of understanding the relationship between the displacement and supporting system. The resulting deformation and stress distribution from the braced excavation cab then be understand in advance. The problems can be prevented prior to the construction process, and thus acquire all the affected important factors during design and construction.

Keywords: Excavation, numerical simulation, rido, retaining structure.

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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: 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: 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: Civil engineering, occupational health, productivity, safety climate.

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Authors: J. Šejnoha, D. Jarušková, O. Špačková, E. Novotná

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Construction of tunnels is connected with high uncertainty in the field of costs, construction period, safety and impact on surroundings. Risk management became therefore a common part of tunnel projects, especially after a set of fatal collapses occurred in 1990's. Such collapses are caused usually by combination of factors that can be divided into three main groups, i.e. unfavourable geological conditions, failures in the design and planning or failures in the execution. This paper suggests a procedure enabling quantification of the excavation risk related to extraordinary accidents using FTA and ETA tools. It will elaborate on a common process of risk analysis and enable the transfer of information and experience between particular tunnel construction projects. Further, it gives a guide for designers, management and other participants, how to deal with risk of such accidents and how to make qualified decisions based on a probabilistic approach.

Keywords: risk quantification, tunnel collapse, ETA, FTA, geotechnical risk

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Authors: Mehmet Ozcan

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This study was designed to investigate the relationship between language and children’s construction of the concept of objects, actions, and states. Participants of this study are 120 children whose ages range from 3 to 14 years. Ten children participated from each age group and 10 adults participated as normative group. Data were collected using 28 words which were identified and grouped according to the purpose of this study. Participants were asked the question “What is x?’ for each word in a reserved room. The audio recorded data were transcribed and coded. The data were analyzed primarily qualitatively but quantitatively as well to support qualitative findings. The findings reveal that younger children rely more on their perceptual experience and linguistic input while 7-year-olds and older ones rely more on instructional language in the construction of the concepts related to objects, actions and states. Adults differ from all age groups with their usage of metaphors to refer to objects. It has been noted that linguistic, perceptual and instructional experiences work in an interwoven way but each one seems to be dominant at certain ages.

Keywords: Cognition, concept construction, first language acquisition, language, thought.

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Authors: Essa Alenazi, Zulfikar Adamu

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is not an exception in relying on the growth of its construction industry to support rapid population growth. However, its need for infrastructure development is constrained by low productivity levels and cost overruns caused by factors such as delays to project completion. Delays in delivering a construction project are a global issue and while theories such as Optimism Bias have been used to explain such delays, in KSA, client-related causes of delays are also significant. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework-based approach to explore how the country’s construction industry can manage and reduce delays in construction projects through building information modelling (BIM) in order to mitigate the cost consequences of such delays.  It comprehensively and systematically reviewed the global literature on the subject and identified gaps, critical delay factors and the specific benefits that BIM can deliver for the delay management.  A case study comprising of nine hospital projects that have experienced delay and cost overruns was also carried out. Five critical delay factors related to the clients were identified as candidates that can be mitigated through BIM’s benefits. These factors are: Ineffective planning and scheduling of the project; changes during construction by the client; delay in progress payment; slowness in decision making by the client; and poor communication between clients and other stakeholders. In addition, data from the case study projects strongly suggest that optimism bias is present in many of the hospital projects. Further validation via key stakeholder interviews and documentations are planned.

Keywords: BIM, client perspective, delay management, optimism bias, public sector projects.

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Authors: Yasmeen A. S. Essawy, Khaled Nassar

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With the rapid increase of complexity in the building industry, professionals in the A/E/C industry were forced to adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) in order to enhance the communication between the different project stakeholders throughout the project life cycle and create a semantic object-oriented building model that can support geometric-topological analysis of building elements during design and construction. This paper presents a model that extracts topological relationships and geometrical properties of building elements from an existing fully designed BIM, and maps this information into a directed acyclic Elemental Graph Data Model (EGDM). The model incorporates BIM-based search algorithms for automatic deduction of geometrical data and topological relationships for each building element type. Using graph search algorithms, such as Depth First Search (DFS) and topological sortings, all possible construction sequences can be generated and compared against production and construction rules to generate an optimized construction sequence and its associated schedule. The model is implemented in a C# platform.

Keywords: Building information modeling, elemental graph data model, geometric and topological data models, and graph theory.

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Authors: Sophia Hayes, Kenny L. Liang, Sahil Sharma, Austin Shema, Mahmoud Bader, Mohamed Elbarkouky

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Despite being one of the most significant economic contributors of the country, Canada’s construction industry is lagging behind other sectors when it comes to labor productivity improvements. The construction industry is very collaborative as a general contractor, will hire trade contractors to perform most of a project’s work; meaning low productivity from one contractor can have a domino effect on the shared success of a project. To address this issue and encourage trade contractors to improve their productivity tracking methods, an investigative study was done on the productivity views and tracking methods of various trade contractors. Additionally, an in-depth review was done on four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry: cost codes, benchmarking, the job productivity measurement (JPM) standard, and WorkFace Planning (WFP). The four tracking methods were used as a baseline in comparing the trade contractors’ responses, determining gaps within their current tracking methods, and for making improvement recommendations. 15 interviews were conducted with different trades to analyze how contractors value productivity. The results of these analyses indicated that there seem to be gaps within the construction industry when it comes to an understanding of the purpose and value in productivity tracking. The trade contractors also shared their current productivity tracking systems; which were then compared to the four standard tracking methods used in the construction industry. Gaps were identified in their various tracking methods and using a framework; recommendations were made based on the type of trade on how to improve how they track productivity.

Keywords: Trade contractors’ productivity, productivity tracking, cost codes, benchmarking, job productivity measurement, JPM, workface planning WFP.

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Authors: Argaw T. Gurmu, Muhammad N. Mahmood

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The objective of this research is to identify the architecture and construction management students’ learning challenges of the building measurement. This research used the survey data obtained collected from the students who completed the building measurement unit. NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used to identify relevant themes. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed the major learning difficulties such as inadequacy of practice questions for the examination, inability to work as a team, lack of detailed understanding of the prerequisite units, insufficiency of the time allocated for tutorials and incompatibility of lecture and tutorial schedules. The output of this research can be used as a basis for improving the teaching and learning activities in construction measurement units.

Keywords: Building measurement, construction management, learning challenges, evaluate survey.

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

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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.

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Authors: Mujahid S. Alharbi

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The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue for Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies, but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: Building, construction, management, project, standardization.

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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: Wang Qiaowei, Gao Yujiang

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With the economic growth and rapid urbanization after the reform and openness, some of China's fast-growing cities have demolished former dwellings and built modern residential quarters. The blind, incomplete reference to western modern cities and the one-off construction lacking feedback mechanism have intensified such phenomenon, causing the citizen gradually expanded their living scale with the popularization of car traffic, and the peer-to-peer lifestyle gradually settled. The construction of large-scale commercial centers has caused obstacles to small business around the residential areas, leading to space for residents' interaction has been compressed. At the same time, the advocated Central Business District (CBD) model even leads to the unsatisfactory reconstruction of many historical blocks such as the Hangzhou Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Street. However, the popularity of historical spaces such as Wuzhen and Hongcun also indicates the collective memory and needs of the street space for Chinese residents. The evolution of Shanghai TianZiFang also proves the importance of the motivation of space participants in space construction in the context of the “top-down” construction model in China. In fact, there are frequent occurrences of “reconstruction”, which may redefine the space, in various residential areas. If these activities can be selectively controlled and encouraged, it will be beneficial to activate the public space as well as the residents’ intercourse, so that the traditional Chinese street space can be reconstructed in the context of modern cities.

Keywords: Rapid urbanization, traditional street space, space re-construction, bottom-up design.

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Authors: S. Dorbani, F. Kharchi, F. Salem, K. Arroudj, N. Chioukh

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The need for thermal comfort of buildings, with the aim of saving energy, has always generated a big interest during the development of methods, to improve the mode of construction. In the present paper, which is concerned by the valorization of locally abundant materials, mixtures of plaster and dune sand have been studied. To point out the thermal performances of these mixtures, a comparative study has been established between this product and the two materials most commonly used in construction, the concrete and hollow brick. The results showed that optimal mixture is made with 1/3 plaster and 2/3 dune sand. This mortar achieved significant increases in the mechanical strengths, which allow it to be used as a carrier element for buildings, of up to two levels. The element obtained offers an acceptable thermal insulation, with a decrease the outer-wall construction thickness.

Keywords: Local materials, mortar, plaster, dune sand, compaction, mechanical performance, thermal performance.

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Authors: Shang-Hsin Ou, Yang-Chun Lin, Ke-Hao Cheng

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The year 2021 marked a historic drought in Taiwan, posing unprecedented challenges due to record-low rainfall and inadequate reservoir storage. The central region experienced water scarcity, leading to the implementation of "Groundwater Utilization at Construction Sites" for drought-resilient livelihood water supply. This study focuses on the establishment process of temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites in Taichung City, serving as a reference for future emergency response and the utilization of construction site groundwater. To identify suitable sites for groundwater reuse projects, site selection operations were carried out based on relevant water quality regulations and assessment principles. Subsequently, the planning and design of temporary water treatment plants were conducted, considering the water quality, quantity, and on-site conditions of groundwater wells associated with construction projects. The study consolidates the major water treatment facilities at each site and addresses encountered challenges during the establishment process. Practical insights gained from operating temporary groundwater treatment plants are presented, including improvements related to stable water quality, water quantity, equipment operation, and hydraulic control. In light of possible future droughts, this study provides an outlook and recommendations to expedite and improve the setup of groundwater treatment plants at construction sites. This includes considering on-site water abstraction, treatment, and distribution conditions. The study aims to provide concise guidelines for setting up and managing temporary groundwater treatment plants at construction sites, drawing insights from Taichung City's establishment process. It offers recommendations for addressing challenges like water quality, quantity, equipment operation, and regulation compliance. By sharing these insights, it aims to aid regions facing similar emergencies, ensuring sustainable water supply and societal stability amidst water shortages and droughts.

Keywords: Drought resilience, groundwater treatment, construction site, water supply.

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Authors: Tugce Ercan

Abstract:

This research study aims to identify the impact of two factors –growth and competitive strategies- on a set of building production innovation strategies. It was conducted a questionery survey to collect data from construction professionals and it was asked them the importance level of predicted innovation strategies for corporate strategies. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was employed to see the main and interaction effects of corporate strategies on building innovation strategies. The results indicate that growth strategies such as entering in a new a market or new project types has a greater effect on innovation strategies rather than competitive strategies such as cost leadership or differentiation strategies. However the interaction effect of competitive strategies and growth strategies on innovation strategies is much bigger than the only effect of competitive strategies. It was also analyzed the descriptive statistics of innovation strategies for different competitive and growth strategy types.

Keywords: competitive strategy, growth strategy, innovation, construction company, MANOVA

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Authors: Iruka C. Anugwo, Winston M. Shakantu

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to uncover the basic business-forces that necessitated the survival and sustainable performance of the medium scale contractors in the South African construction market. This study is essential as it set to contribute towards long-term strategic solutions for combating the incessant failure of start-ups construction organizations within South African. The study used a qualitative research methodology; as the most appropriate approach to elicit and understand, and uncover the phenomena that are basic business-forces for the active contractors in the market. The study also adopted a phenomenological study approach; and in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 medium scale contractors in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, between months of August to October 2015. This allowed for an in-depth understanding of the critical and basic business-forces that influenced their survival and performance beyond the first five years of business operation. Findings of the study showed that for potential contractors (startups), to survival in the competitive business environment such as construction industry, they must possess the basic business-forces. These forces are educational knowledge in construction and business management related disciplines, adequate industrial experiences, competencies and capabilities to delivery excellent services and products as well as embracing the spirit of entrepreneurship. Convincingly, it can be concluded that the strategic approach to minimize the endless failure of startups construction businesses; the potential construction contractors must endeavoring to access and acquire the basic educationally knowledge, training and qualification; need to acquire industrial experiences in collaboration with required competencies, capabilities and entrepreneurship acumen. Without these basic business-forces as been discovered in this study, the majority of the contractors gaining entrance in the market will find it difficult to develop and grow a competitive and sustainable construction organization in South Africa.

Keywords: Basic business-forces, medium scale contractors, South Africa, sustainable organisations.

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Authors: Ifeyinwa E. Achumba, Djamel Azzi, Rinat Khusainov

Abstract:

There are three approaches to complete Bayesian Network (BN) model construction: total expert-centred, total datacentred, and semi data-centred. These three approaches constitute the basis of the empirical investigation undertaken and reported in this paper. The objective is to determine, amongst these three approaches, which is the optimal approach for the construction of a BN-based model for the performance assessment of students- laboratory work in a virtual electronic laboratory environment. BN models were constructed using all three approaches, with respect to the focus domain, and compared using a set of optimality criteria. In addition, the impact of the size and source of the training, on the performance of total data-centred and semi data-centred models was investigated. The results of the investigation provide additional insight for BN model constructors and contribute to literature providing supportive evidence for the conceptual feasibility and efficiency of structure and parameter learning from data. In addition, the results highlight other interesting themes.

Keywords: Bayesian networks, model construction, parameterlearning, structure learning, performance index, model comparison.

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Authors: Yun-Yao Chi, Chieh-Kai Tsai, Dai-Ling Li

Abstract:

In this paper, a method of fast 3D topography modeling using the high-resolution camera images is studied based on the characteristics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system for low altitude aerial photogrammetry and the need of three dimensional (3D) urban landscape modeling. Firstly, the existing high-resolution digital camera with special design of overlap images is designed by reconstructing and analyzing the auto-flying paths of UAVs, which improves the self-calibration function to achieve the high precision imaging by software, and further increased the resolution of the imaging system. Secondly, several-angle images including vertical images and oblique images gotten by the UAV system are used for the detail measure of urban land surfaces and the texture extraction. Finally, the aerial photography and 3D topography construction are both developed in campus of Chang-Jung University and in Guerin district area in Tainan, Taiwan, provide authentication model for construction of 3D topography based on combined UAV-based camera images from system. The results demonstrated that the UAV system for low altitude aerial photogrammetry can be used in the construction of 3D topography production, and the technology solution in this paper offers a new, fast, and technical plan for the 3D expression of the city landscape, fine modeling and visualization.

Keywords: 3D, topography, UAV, images.

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