Editor’s Note

“Lighting Requirements for Nighttime Highway Construction”: Hyari and El-Rayes present the development of a practical framework for identifying the lighting requirements for nighttime highway construction activities. The framework integrates concepts and models from construction engineering and vision science to ensure the provision of adequate lighting conditions on-site that enable workers to properly see and perform their tasks safely and with satisfactory quality. A prototype of the framework is implemented to illustrate its unique capabilities.

“MAUT-Based Dispute Resolution Selection Model Prototype for International Construction Projects”: Cha, Suen, and Chan present a model for selecting the most appropriate resolution method for international project disputes that fits the nature of the dispute as well as the disputing parties’ needs. Based on quantitative data provided by forty-one experts in the field, the model consists of five components: selection factors, dispute resolution methods, utility factors, relative importance weightings, and user’s preferred weightings. The model employs the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Multi-Attribute Utility Technique to achieve its results.

“Reliability and Stability Buffering Approach: Focusing on the Issues of Errors and Changes in Concurrent Design and Construction Projects”: In order to provide a proactive mechanism to protect the planned performance of a project with a flexibly located and systemically sized buffer, Lee, Peña-Mora, and Park propose a new approach named reliability and stability buffering. For its implementation, the method is incorporated into a dynamic design and construction project model which simulates the impacts of errors and changes on design and construction performance and evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed buffers. The approach is applied to an infrastructure project in Massachusetts where its viability is proven.

“Fast-Track Urban Freeway Rehabilitation with 55-H Weekend Closures: I-710 Long Beach Case Study”: This case study by Lee, Lee, and Harvey documents the accelerated rehabilitation process, assessed traffic impacts, and compared collected productivity data of an interstate rehabilitation project in Long Beach. Compared with traditional nighttime closures, the 55-h weekend closures effectively reduced the construction duration and the overall traffic inconvenience. Noticeable improvement in the contractor’s production rates was observed as the weekend closures were repeated.

“Critical Space Analysis”: While sophisticated methods of planning and analyzing the sequence of tasks within the work breakdown structure through time exist, the problem of planning where on-site those tasks are to be executed is not well supported due to the constantly changing character of those spaces as the project progresses. Winch and North present a decision support tool for construction project planners to help them address the space-scheduling problem and present the concept of critical space analysis. This analysis forms the basis of decision support tools for marking available space, allocating tasks to spaces, and analyzing and optimizing space loading in relation to the critical path.

“Application of Dependency Structure Matrix for Activity Sequencing in Concurrent Engineering Projects”: The dependency structure matrix (DSM) has been identified as an apt tool to represent information flows between activities. However, current DSM methodology requires significant efforts from the experts to estimate information dependency attributes. Maheswari, Varghese, and Sridharan propose two concepts to reduce the estimating efforts required for the DSM methodology. The concepts are then structured into a procedure and applied to the design phase of an induced draft cooling tower project and discussed.

“Parallel Genetic Algorithms for Optimizing Resource Utilization in Large-Scale Construction Projects”: Authors Kandil and El-Rayes present the development of a parallel multiobjective genetic algorithm framework to enable an efficient and effective optimization of resource utilization in large-scale construction projects. The framework’s performance is evaluated using 183 experiments that tested various combinations of construction project sizes, numbers of parallel processors, and genetic algorithm setups. The results of these experiments illustrate the new and unique capabilities of the developed parallel genetic algorithm framework.

“Firm Performance and Information Technology Utilization in the Construction Industry”: Basing their finding on data collected from seventy-four construction firms, El-Mashaleh, O’Brien, and Minchin use regression analysis to examine the impact ofinformation technology on construction firm performance. The authors discuss the finding of their study and note that while a relationship exists between information technology and firm performance, schedule performance, and cost performance, none is found when information technology is linked to customer satisfaction, safety performance, and profitability.

“Using GPS to Measure the Impact of Construction Activities on Rural Interstates”: The impacts of interstate construction tend to cause queuing, as well as being linked to an increase in the number of accidents and fatalities that involve road-users and construction crews. Garcia, Hueschman, Abraham, and Bullock present one component of a research project conducted to evaluate possible options to improve the safety of construction work zones on interstates in Indiana. This component deals with the use of GPS to collect traffic data and to relate the traveling conditions encountered with the differing construction activities taking place.

“Prototype System for Knowledge Problem Definition”: While attitudes toward knowledge management have changed considerably, its implementation has been facing difficulties attributed to either not being able to anticipate the barriers when planning KM strategies or to using inappropriate methods and tools for implementation. Al-Ghassani, Kamara, Anumba, and Carrillo introduce a methodology for identifying KM problems within a business context to properly define the problem. The methodology is then encapsulated into a prototype software system that facilitates its deployment and provides online help facilities.

“Motivational Climate of Construction Apprentice”: Uwakweh analyzes a study of construction apprentices conducted in a Midwestern city using the expectancy model as a framework. The findings indicated a need for an improved motivational climate for apprentices, as their overall motivational score was low. The study reveals that contractors are not providing a variety of rewards to apprentices, and indicates that little is done to help the apprentice in learning and staying within the trade.

“Comparative Injury and Fatality Risk Analysis of Building Trades”: Authors Baradan and Usmen perform an analysis of sixteen building trades, based on defining risk fundamentally as the product of frequency and severity. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is used in the study, upon which it was observed that simultaneous consideration of frequency and severity gives more comprehensive results than performing risk analysis based exclusively on either frequency or severity.