Search results for: construction site safety

Authors: Mongezi Nene, Emma Ayesu-Koranteng, Christopher Amoah, Ayo Adeniran

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Although its use has been criticised over the years as being unencouraging, the green building concept is quickly overtaking other concepts, particularly in the construction of commercial properties. The goal of the study is to identify the variables influencing the use of green building practices when developing residential structures. A qualitative methodology, using interviews with semi-structured open-ended questions to 35 property practitioners operating residential apartments in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was used to collect primary data which were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that while respondents have a good understanding of green building principles, they are not being used in the construction of residential buildings in South Africa due to issues with green building approval procedures, the potential for tenant rent increases, the cost of materials, technical issues, contractual issues, and a lack of awareness, among others. This paper recommends among others an urgent need to implement measures by stakeholders towards enhancing the adoption of green building concepts in the construction of residential buildings as well as incentivising its construction through lowered property rates.

Keywords: Green building, residential apartments, construction, South Africa.

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Authors: Muhammad Farhan, Sayed Faruque, Amr Mohammed, Sami Osman, Omar Al-Jabari, Abdul Almojil

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Saudi Arabia in recent years has seen drastic increase in traffic related crashes. With population of over 29 million, Saudi Arabia is considered as a fast growing and emerging economy. The rapid population increase and economic growth has resulted in rapid expansion of transportation infrastructure, which has led to increase in road crashes. Saudi Ministry of Interior reported more than 7,000 people killed and 68,000 injured in 2011 ranking Saudi Arabia to be one of the worst worldwide in traffic safety. The traffic safety issues in the country also result in distress to road users and cause and economic loss exceeding 3.7 billion Euros annually. Keeping this in view, the researchers in Saudi Arabia are investigating ways to improve traffic safety conditions in the country. This paper presents a multilevel approach to collect traffic safety related data required to do traffic safety studies in the region. Two highway corridors including King Fahd Highway 39 kilometre and Gulf Cooperation Council Highway 42 kilometre long connecting the cities of Dammam and Khobar were selected as a study area. Traffic data collected included traffic counts, crash data, travel time data, and speed data. The collected data was analysed using geographic information system to evaluate any correlation. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of traffic safety related data when collected in a concerted effort.

Keywords: Crash Data, Data Collection, Traffic Safety.

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Authors: Magda M. Mohsen, Manal E. Fareed

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Background: Widespread use of chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of cancer has lead to higher health hazards among employee who handle and administer such drugs, so nurses should know how to protect themselves, their patients and their work environment against toxic effects of chemotherapy. Aim of this study was carried out to examine the effect of chemotherapy safety protocol for oncology nurses on their protective measure practices. Design: A quasi experimental research design was utilized. Setting: The study was carried out in oncology department of Menoufia university hospital and Tanta oncology treatment center. Sample: A convenience sample of forty five nurses in Tanta oncology treatment center and eighteen nurses in Menoufiya oncology department. Tools: 1. an interviewing questionnaire that covering sociodemographic data, assessment of unit and nurses' knowledge about chemotherapy. II: Obeservational check list to assess nurses' actual practices of handling and adminestration of chemotherapy. A base line data were assessed before implementing Chemotherapy Safety protocol, then Chemotherapy Safety protocol was implemented, and after 2 monthes they were assessed again. Results: reveled that 88.9% of study group I and 55.6% of study group II improved to good total knowledge scores after educating on the safety protocol, also 95.6% of study group I and 88.9% of study group II had good total practice score after educating on the safety protocol. Moreover less than half of group I (44.4%) reported that heavy workload is the most barriers for them, while the majority of group II (94.4%) had many barriers for adhering to the safety protocol such as they didn’t know the protocol, the heavy work load and inadequate equipment. Conclusions: Safety protocol for Oncology Nurses seemed to have positive effect on improving nurses' knowledge and practice. Recommendation: chemotherapy safety protocol should be instituted for all oncology nurses who are working in any oncology unit and/ or center to enhance compliance, and this protocol should be done at frequent intervals.

Keywords: Chemotherapy Safety protocol, Effect, protective measure practice.

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Authors: Laura Álvarez Antón, Joaquín Díaz

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The construction industry is turning towards sustainability. It is a well-known fact that sustainability is based on a balance between environmental, social and economic aspects. In order to achieve sustainability efficiently, these three criteria should be taken into account in the initial project phases, since that is when a project can be influenced most effectively. Thus the aim must be to integrate important tools like BIM and LCA at an early stage in order to make full use of their potential. With the synergies resulting from the integration of BIM and LCA, a wider approach to sustainability becomes possible, covering the three pillars of sustainability.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), Construction Industry, Design Phase, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sustainability.

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Authors: Chen Zhang, Jiwu Wang

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With China's urbanization continuing to accelerate, a amount of rural people flood into China's cities in recent years, and the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers is getting more and more serious. In 2005, the Chinese government put forward a plan for “the construction of new rural village", in order to coordinate the development of both urban and rural areas. The planning method of rural region differs sharply from that of urban areas, as same as village social structure and habits of farmer-s life, so the studies which can consider the special needs of village construction in China are absolutely essential. This paper expresses explore current situation and problems existing in the construction of China-s new rural village, such as bigger gap between urban and rural areas, excessive new construction projects, extinct traditional village style and so on. It tries to analyze the deep reason of the present situation of the village from law system, industrial structure, financial sources and planning method. Then it also provides a guide for developing policies and procedures promoting the development of china-s rural areas.

Keywords: Rural areas, village construction, physical planning, law system, financial sources, Public participation, China.

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Authors: Marco Raciti Castelli, Ernesto Benini

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This work presents a comparison between the Annual Energy Output (AEO) of two commercial vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) for a low-wind urban site: both a drag-driven and a liftdriven concepts are examined in order to be installed on top of the new Via dei Giustinelli building, Trieste (Italy). The power-curves, taken from the product specification sheets, have been matched to the wind characteristics of the selected installation site. The influence of rotor swept area and rated power on the performance of the two proposed wind turbines have been examined in detail, achieving a correlation between rotor swept area, electrical generator size and wind distribution, to be used as a guideline for the calculation of the AEO.

Keywords: Annual Energy Output, micro-generationtechnology, urban environment, Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine

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Authors: C. Wan, A. Mita

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This paper proposes a novel system for monitoring the health of underground pipelines. Some of these pipelines transport dangerous contents and any damage incurred might have catastrophic consequences. However, most of these damage are unintentional and usually a result of surrounding construction activities. In order to prevent these potential damages, monitoring systems are indispensable. This paper focuses on acoustically recognizing road cutters since they prelude most construction activities in modern cities. Acoustic recognition can be easily achieved by installing a distributed computing sensor network along the pipelines and using smart sensors to “listen" for potential threat; if there is a real threat, raise some form of alarm. For efficient pipeline monitoring, a novel monitoring approach is proposed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was studied and applied. Eigenvalues were regarded as the special signature that could characterize a sound sample, and were thus used for the feature vector for sound recognition. The denoising ability of PCA could make it robust to noise interference. One class SVM was used for classifier. On-site experiment results show that the proposed PCA and SVM based acoustic recognition system will be very effective with a low tendency for raising false alarms.

Keywords: One class SVM, pipeline monitoring system, principal component analysis, sound recognition, third party damage.

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

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The distribution, enrichment, and accumulation of zinc (Zn) in the sediments of Kaohsiung Ocean Disposal Site (KODS), Taiwan were investigated. Sediment samples from two outer disposal site stations and nine disposed stations in the KODS were collected per quarterly in 2009 and characterized for Zn, aluminum, organic matter, and grain size. Results showed that the mean Zn concentrations varied from 48 mg/kg to 456 mg/kg. Results from the enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) analyses imply that the sediments collected from the KODS can be characterized between moderate and moderately severe degree enrichment and between none and none to medium accumulation of Zn, respectively. However, results of potential ecological risk index indicate that the sediment has low ecological potential risk. The EF, Igeo, and Zn concentrations at the disposed stations were slightly higher than those at outer disposal site. This indicated that the disposed area centers may be subjected to the disposal impaction of harbor dredged sediments.

Keywords: ocean dispose; zinc; enrichment factor; potential ecological risk index.

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Authors: D. Latha, V. Sunitha, Samson Mathew

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In India, most of the pavement is laid by bituminous road and the consumption of binder is high for pavement construction and also modified binders are used to satisfy any specific pavement requirement. Since the binders are visco-elastic material which is having the mechanical properties of binder transition from viscoelastic solid to visco-elastic fluid. In this paper, two different protocols were used to measure the viscosity property of binder using a Brookfield Viscometer and there is a need to find the appropriate mixing and compaction temperatures of various types of binders which can result in complete aggregate coating and adequate field density of HMA mixtures. The aim of this work is to find the transition temperature from Non-Newtonian behavior to Newtonian behavior of the binder by adopting a steady shear protocol and the shear rate ramp protocol. The transition from non-Newtonian to Newtonian can occur through an increase of temperature and shear of the material. The test has been conducted for unmodified binder VG 30. The transition temperature was found in the unmodified binder VG is 120oC. Therefore, the application of both modified binder and unmodified binder in the pavement construction needs to be studied properly by considering temperature and traffic loading factors of the respective project site.

Keywords: Unmodified and modified binders, Brookfield Viscometer, transition temperature, steady shear, shear rate protocol.

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Authors: Bojan Korizma, Zeljko Panian

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Online auctions are not very popular in Croatia. The main reason for this is a very limited number of services which can be used by Croatian users. Until recent times, even selling through the most popular online auction site eBay wasn't possible because PayPal services could not make payment to bank or debit card accounts in Croatia. Furthermore, many foreign sellers do not offer delivery of their products to Croatia which means that large quantities of goods initially offered on such sites are not available. With that in mind, it is necessary to analyze the buying and selling habits of Croatian users and existing online auction sites, both Croatian and foreign, and create a model for new domestic site. This site will have to exploit every positive aspect of existing models and neutralize every negative perception indicated by users in the survey so that, hopefully, it would attract new users.

Keywords: online auction, eBay, safe payment, product delivery

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Authors: Viet-Hung Nguyen, Luh-Maan Chang

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Design should be viewed concurrently by three ways as transformation, flow and value generation. An innovative approach to solve design – related problems is described as the integrated product - process design. As a foundation for a formal framework consisting of organizing principles and techniques, Work Structuring has been developed to guide efforts in the integration that enhances the development of operation and process design in alignment with product design. Vietnam construction projects are facing many delays, and cost overruns caused mostly by design related problems. A better design management that integrates product and process design could resolve these problems. A questionnaire survey and in – depth interviews were used to investigate the feasibility of applying Work Structuring to construction projects in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to present the research results and to illustrate the possible problems and potential solutions when Work Structuring is implemented to construction projects in Vietnam.

Keywords: integrated product – process design, Work Structuring, construction projects, Vietnam

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Authors: Shirong Li, Huan Yan

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To help the client to select a competent agent construction enterprise (ACE), this study aims to investigate the selection standards by using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and build an evaluation mathematical model with Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). According to the outputs of literature review, four orderly levels are established within the model, taking the consideration of various agent construction models in practice. Then, the process of applying FAHP and GRA is discussed in detailed. Finally, through a case study, this paper illustrates how to apply these methods in getting the weights of each standard and the final assessment result.

Keywords: agent construction enterprise, agent constructionmodel, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, grey relational analysis

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Authors: Mamoon Mousa Atout

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Projects managers in construction industry usually face a difficult organizational environment especially if the project is unique. The organization lacks the processes to practice construction management correctly, and the executive’s technical managers who have lack of experience in playing their role and responsibilities correctly. Project managers need to adopt best practices that allow them to do things effectively to make sure that the project can be delivered without any delay even though the executive’s technical managers should follow a certain process to avoid any factor might cause any delay during the project life cycle. The purpose of the paper is to examine the awareness level of projects managers about construction management processes, tools, techniques and implications to complete projects on time. The outcome and the results of the study are prepared based on the designed questionnaires and interviews conducted with many project managers. The method used in this paper is a quantitative study. A survey with a sample of 100 respondents was prepared and distributed in a construction company in Dubai, which includes nine questions to examine the level of their awareness. This research will also identify the necessary benefits of processes of construction management that has to be adopted by projects managers to mitigate the maximum potential problems which might cause any delay to the project life cycle.

Keywords: Construction Methodology, Design Process, Project Managers, Scheduling and Resource Planning.

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Authors: Y. Gholipour

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In this paper, supply policy and procurement of shared resources in some kinds of concurrent construction projects are investigated. This could be oriented to the problems of holding construction companies who involve in different projects concurrently and they have to supply limited resources to several projects as well as prevent delays to any project. Limits on transportation vehicles and storage facilities for potential construction materials and also the available resources (such as cash or manpower) are some of the examples which affect considerably on management of all projects over all. The research includes investigation of some real multi-storey buildings during their execution periods and surveying the history of the activities. It is shown that the common resource demand variation curve of the projects may be expanded or displaced to achieve an optimum distribution scheme. Of course, it may cause some delay to some projects, but it has minimum influence on whole execution period of all projects and its influence on procurement cost of the projects is considerable. These observations on investigation of some multistorey building which are built in Iran will be presented in this paper.

Keywords: Construction Management, Supply Management, Resources Sharing, Multi-Project, Resource Procurement.

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Authors: Miklos Taliga

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In the present case study we examined the development and testing methods of systems that contain safety-critical elements in different industrial fields. Consequentially, we observed the classical object-oriented development and testing environment, as both medical technology and automobile industry approaches the development of safety critical elements that way. Subsequently, we examined model-based development. We introduce the quality parameters that define development and testing. While taking modern agile methodology (scrum) into consideration, we examined whether and to what extent the methodologies we found fit into this environment.

Keywords: Safety-critical elements, quality management, unit verification, model base testing, agile methods, scrum, metamodel, object-oriented programming, field specific modelling, sprint, user story, UML Standard.

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Authors: N. Rugthaicharoencheep, A. Charlangsut, B. Ainsuk, A. Phayomhom

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This paper presents the significant factor and give some suggestion that should know before design. The main objective of this paper is guide the first step for someone who attends to design of grounding system before study in details later. The overview of grounding system can protect damage from fault such as can save a human life and power system equipment. The unsafe conditions have three cases. Case 1) maximum touch voltage exceeds the safety criteria. In this case, the conductor compression ratio of the ground gird should be first adjusted to have optimal spacing of ground grid conductors. If it still over limit, earth resistivity should be consider afterward. Case 2) maximum step voltage exceeds the safety criteria. In this case, increasing the number of ground grid conductors around the boundary can solve this problem. Case 3) both of maximum touch and step voltage exceed the safety criteria. In this case, follow the solutions explained in case 1 and case 2. Another suggestion, vary depth of ground grid until maximum step and touch voltage do not exceed the safety criteria.

Keywords: Grounding System, Touch Voltage, Step Voltage, Safety Criteria.

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Authors: Noor M. Abdulfattah, Ahmed M. Khalafallah, Nabil A. Kartam

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Despite the evident benefits of building information modeling (BIM) to the construction industry, it faces significant implementation challenges in the State of Kuwait. This study investigates the awareness of construction stakeholders of BIM implementation challenges, and identifies various solutions to overcome these challenges. Specifically, the main objectives of this study are to: (1) characterize the barriers that deter utilization of BIM, (2) examine the awareness of engineers, architects, and construction stakeholders of these barriers, and (3) identify practical solutions to facilitate BIM utilization. A questionnaire survey was designed to collect data on the aforementioned objectives from local companies and senior BIM experts. It was found that engineers are highly aware of BIM implementation barriers. In addition, it was concluded from the questionnaire that the biggest barrier is the lack of BIM training. Based on expert feedback, the study concluded with a number of recommendations on how to overcome the barriers of BIM utilization. This should prove useful to the construction industry stakeholders and can lead to significant changes to design and construction practices.

Keywords: Building information modeling, construction, challenges, information technology.

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Authors: Noratiqah Mohd Ariff, Abdul Aziz Jemain, Mohd Aftar Abu Bakar

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The construction of Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves is one of the most common and useful tools in order to design hydraulic structures and to provide a mathematical relationship between rainfall characteristics. IDF curves, especially those in Peninsular Malaysia, are often built using moving windows of rainfalls. However, these windows do not represent the actual rainfall events since the duration of rainfalls is usually prefixed. Hence, instead of using moving windows, this study aims to find regionalized distributions for IDF curves of extreme rainfalls based on storm events. Homogeneity test is performed on annual maximum of storm intensities to identify homogeneous regions of storms in Peninsular Malaysia. The L-moment method is then used to regionalized Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution of these annual maximums and subsequently. IDF curves are constructed using the regional distributions. The differences between the IDF curves obtained and IDF curves found using at-site GEV distributions are observed through the computation of the coefficient of variation of root mean square error, mean percentage difference and the coefficient of determination. The small differences implied that the construction of IDF curves could be simplified by finding a general probability distribution of each region. This will also help in constructing IDF curves for sites with no rainfall station.

Keywords: IDF curves, L-moments, regionalization, storm events.

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Authors: P. Ahern, D. Collery

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The implementation of lean thinking in the manufacturing industry revolutionized the traditional approach to large-scale production through the process of identifying the waste in each task and putting in place mitigation measures to eliminate the waste in all its forms. The Irish construction industry, however, has been much slower to adopt the principles of lean, opting instead to stick with the traditional approach to construction project delivery which is inherently wasteful. Lean thinking holds the potential to revolutionize the construction industry in a similar manner to the adoption of lean manufacturing. Lean principles present opportunities for reduced project duration, reduced project cost, improved quality, and elimination of re-works and non-value-added activities. This research has been designed to accumulate research data through available literature, electronic surveys, and interviews. The results show an industry reluctant to accept change and an undefined path to successful lean construction implementation.

Keywords: Barriers, lean construction, lean implementation, lean manufacturing, lean philosophy.

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Authors: F. H. Abanda, B. Kamsu-Foguem, J. H. M. Tah

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Construction cost estimation is one of the most important aspects of construction project design. For generations, the process of cost estimating has been manual, time-consuming and error-prone. This has partly led to most cost estimates to be unclear and riddled with inaccuracies that at times lead to over- or underestimation of construction cost. The development of standard set of measurement rules that are understandable by all those involved in a construction project, have not totally solved the challenges. Emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies can exploit standard measurement methods to automate cost estimation process and improve accuracies. This requires standard measurement methods to be structured in ontological and machine readable format; so that BIM software packages can easily read them. Most standard measurement methods are still text-based in textbooks and require manual editing into tables or Spreadsheet during cost estimation. The aim of this study is to explore the development of an ontology based on New Rules of Measurement (NRM) commonly used in the UK for cost estimation. The methodology adopted is Methontology, one of the most widely used ontology engineering methodologies. The challenges in this exploratory study are also reported and recommendations for future studies proposed.

Keywords: BIM, Construction projects, Cost estimation, NRM, Ontology.

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Authors: Olayinka Omotosho, Anthony Amori

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Cassava peels and bamboo waste materials discarded from construction are two sources of waste that could constitute serious menace where they exist in large quantities and inadequately handled. The study examined the physicochemical characteristics of activated carbon materials derived from cassava peels and bamboo waste materials discarded from construction site. Both materials were subjected to carbonization and chemical activation using zinc chloride. Results show that the chemical activation of the materials had a more effect on pore formation in cassava peels than in bamboo materials. Bamboo material exhibited a reverse trend for zinc and sulphate ion decontamination efficiencies as the value of zinc chloride impregnation varied unlike cassava peel carbon biomass which exhibited a more consistent result of decontamination efficiency for the seven contaminants tested. Although waste bamboo biomass exhibited higher adsorption intensity as indicated by values of decontamination for most of the contaminants tested, the cassava peel carbon biomass showed a more balanced adsorption level.

Keywords: Zinc chloride, cassava peels, activated carbon, bamboo waste, SEM.

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Authors: Mohammadamin Zanganeh, Vahid Khalajzadeh

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The problems associated with wind predictions of WAsP model in complex terrain are already the target of several studies in the last decade. In this paper, the influence of surrounding orography on accuracy of wind data analysis of a train is investigated. For the case study, a site with complex surrounding orography is considered. This site is located in Manjil, one of the windiest cities of Iran. For having precise evaluation of wind regime in the site, one-year wind data measurements from two metrological masts are used. To validate the obtained results from WAsP, the cross prediction between each mast is performed. The analysis reveals that WAsP model can estimate the wind speed behavior accurately. In addition, results show that this software can be used for predicting the wind regime in flat sites with complex surrounding orography.

Keywords: Complex terrain, Meteorological mast, WAsPmodel, Wind prediction

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Authors: Rushi Tan, Yilun Xu, Xiaohui Wang

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The restrained construction zoning, an important part in the urban master plan, is a necessary planning tool to control the city sprawl, to guarantee the reservation implementation of the various types of protective elements, and to realize the storage of the essential urban spatial resources. Simultaneously, owing to the diverse constitutes of restrained construction area and the various stakeholders involved in, its planning requires an overall consideration of all elements from the perspective of coordination+, balance and practicability to deal with the problems and conflicts in this process. Taking Yangzijin Ecological Restrained Construction Area in Yangzhou as an example, this study analyzes all the potential actors, agencies and stakeholders in this restrained construction area, as well as the relevant conflicts between each other. Besides, this study tries to build up a planning procedure based on the framework of governance theory, and proposes a possible planning method that combines "rigidity" and "flexibility" to protect the ecological limitation boundary, to take every interest into account, and to promote economic development in a harmonious society.

Keywords: Restrained construction area, governance, stakeholder, flexible stratagem, China.

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Authors: M. A. Stoian, D. M. Cocarta, A. Badea

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The main sources of soil pollution due to petroleum contaminants are industrial processes involve crude oil. Soil polluted with crude oil is toxic for plants, animals, and humans. Human exposure to the contaminated soil occurs through different exposure pathways: Soil ingestion, diet, inhalation, and dermal contact. The present study research is focused on soil contamination with heavy metals as a consequence of soil pollution with petroleum products. Human exposure pathways considered are: Accidentally ingestion of contaminated soil and dermal contact. The purpose of the paper is to identify the human health risk (carcinogenic risk) from soil contaminated with heavy metals. The human exposure and risk were evaluated for five contaminants of concern of the eleven which were identified in soil. Two soil samples were collected from a bioremediation platform from Muntenia Region of Romania. The soil deposited on the bioremediation platform was contaminated through extraction and oil processing. For the research work, two average soil samples from two different plots were analyzed: The first one was slightly contaminated with petroleum products (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in soil was 1420 mg/kg_d.w.), while the second one was highly contaminated (TPH in soil was 24306 mg/kg_d.w.). In order to evaluate risks posed by heavy metals due soil pollution with petroleum products, five metals known as carcinogenic were investigated: Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium^VI (Cr^VI), Nickel (Ni), and Lead (Pb). Results of the chemical analysis performed on samples collected from the contaminated soil evidence soil contamination with heavy metals as following: As in Site 1 = 6.96 mg/kg_d.w; As in Site 2 = 11.62 mg/kg_d.w, Cd in Site 1 = 0.9 mg/kg_d.w; Cd in Site 2 = 1 mg/kg_d.w; Cr^VI was 0.1 mg/kg_d.w for both sites; Ni in Site 1 = 37.00 mg/kg_d.w; Ni in Site 2 = 42.46 mg/kg_d.w; Pb in Site 1 = 34.67 mg/kg_d.w; Pb in Site 2 = 120.44 mg/kg_d.w. The concentrations for these metals exceed the normal values established in the Romanian regulation, but are smaller than the alert level for a less sensitive use of soil (industrial). Although, the concentrations do not exceed the thresholds, the next step was to assess the human health risk posed by soil contamination with these heavy metals. Results for risk were compared with the acceptable one (10^-6, according to World Human Organization). As, expected, the highest risk was identified for the soil with a higher degree of contamination: Individual Risk (IR) was 1.11×10^-5 compared with 8.61×10^-6. 

Keywords: Carcinogenic risk, heavy metals, human health risk assessment, soil pollution.

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Authors: M. Kargar, A. Isazadeh, F. Fartash, T. Saderi

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In this paper we suggest a method for setting electronic credits for the customers. In this method banks and market-sites help each other to make doing large shopping through internet so easy. By developing this system, the people who have less money to buy most of the things they want, become able to buy all of them just through a credit. This credit is given by market-sites through a banking control on it. The method suggested can stop being imprisoned because of banking debts.

Keywords: E-Business, E-Credit, Market-site, Buy-site, Bank, E-Commerce.

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Authors: Jann-Eike Saathoff, Kirill Alexander Schmoor, Martin Achmus, Mauricio Terceros

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By using partial factors of safety, uncertainties due to the inherent variability of the soil properties and loads are taken into account in the geotechnical design process. According to the reliability index concept in Eurocode-0 in conjunction with Eurocode-7 a minimum safety level of β = 3.8 for reliability class RC2 shall be established. The reliability of the system depends heavily on the choice of the prespecified safety factor and the choice of the characteristic soil properties. The safety factors stated in the standards are mainly based on experience. However, no general accepted method for the calculation of a characteristic value within the current design practice exists. In this study, a laterally loaded monopile is investigated and the influence of the chosen quantile values of the deterministic system, calculated with p-y springs, will be presented. Monopiles are the most common foundation concepts for offshore wind energy converters. Based on the calculations for non-cohesive soils, a recommendation for an appropriate quantile value for the necessary safety level according to the standards for a deterministic design is given.

Keywords: Asymptotic sampling, characteristic value, monopile foundation, probabilistic design, quantile values.

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Authors: Aik Heng Lee, Hamid Nikraz, Yung Tse Hung

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Decomposition processes take place in landfill generate leachates that can be categorized mainly of acetogenic and methanogenic in nature. BOD:COD ratio computed in this study for a landfill site over a 3 years duration revealed as a good indicator to identify acetogenic leachate from methanogenic leachate. Correlation relationships to predict pollutant level taking into consideration of climatic condition are derived.

Keywords: Acetogenic Leachate, Methanogenic Leachate, BOD:COD Ratio.

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Authors: Shu-Hui Jan, Hui-Ping Tserng, Shih-Ping Ho

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Construction project control attempts to obtain real-time as-built schedule information and to eliminate project delays by effectively enhancing dynamic schedule control and management. Suitable platforms for enhancing an as-built schedule visually during the construction phase are necessary and important for general contractors. As the application of building information modeling (BIM) becomes more common, schedule management integrated with the BIM approach becomes essential to enhance visual construction management implementation for the general contractor during the construction phase. To enhance visualization of the updated as-built schedule for the general contractor, this study presents a novel system called the Construction BIM-assisted Schedule Management (ConBIM-SM) system for general contractors in Taiwan. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a web ConBIM-SM system for the general contractor to enhance visual as-built schedule information sharing and efficiency in tracking construction as-built schedule. Finally, the ConBIM-SM system is applied to a case study of a commerce building project in Taiwan to verify its efficacy and demonstrate its effectiveness during the construction phase. The advantages of the ConBIM-SM system lie in improved project control and management efficiency for general contractors, and in providing BIM-assisted as-built schedule tracking and management, to access the most current as-built schedule information through a web browser. The case study results show that the ConBIM-SM system is an effective visual as-built schedule management platform integrated with the BIM approach for general contractors in a construction project.

Keywords: BIM, Building information modeling, construction schedule management, as-built schedule management, BIM schedule updating mechanism.

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Authors: Chris Landorf, Stephen Ward

Abstract:

This paper addresses a virtual environment approach to work integrated learning for students in construction-related disciplines. The virtual approach provides a safe and pedagogically rigorous environment where students can apply theoretical knowledge in a simulated real-world context. The paper describes the development of a 4-dimensional digital construction environment and associated learning activities funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching. The environment was trialled with over 1,300 students and evaluated through questionnaires, observational studies and coursework analysis. Results demonstrate a positive impact on students’ technical learning and collaboration skills, but there is need for further research in relation to critical thinking skills and work-readiness.

Keywords: Architectural education, construction industry, digital learning environments, immersive learning.

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Authors: Amer A. Dheedan

Abstract:

Operational safety of critical systems, such as nuclear power plants, industrial chemical processes and means of transportation, is a major concern for system engineers and operators. A means to assure that is on-line safety monitors that deliver three safety tasks; fault detection and diagnosis, alarm annunciation and fault controlling. While current monitors deliver these tasks, benefits and limitations in their approaches have at the same time been highlighted. Drawing from those benefits, this paper develops a distributed monitor based on semi-independent agents, i.e. a multiagent system, and monitoring knowledge derived from a safety assessment model of the monitored system. Agents are deployed hierarchically and provided with knowledge portions and collaboration protocols to reason and integrate over the operational conditions of the components of the monitored system. The monitor aims to address limitations arising from the large-scale, complicated behaviour and distributed nature of monitored systems and deliver the aforementioned three monitoring tasks effectively.

Keywords: Alarm annunciation, fault controlling, fault detection and diagnosis

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