Establish Concrete Placing Rates Using Quality Control Records from Hong Kong Building Construction Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 130, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper focuses on the topic of data collection as appropriate for the productivity study of ready mixed concrete placing methods. Classification and description of various concrete placing methods are given. The normally available quality control (QC) records for 462 concrete pours from five ongoing Hong Kong building construction projects were captured into a database, representing a total of 6,833 truckmixer trips out of two major concrete plants in Hong Kong. By querying the database, the placing rates for particular placing methods were established, and validated by comparison with existing industry benchmarks. One promising observation is that in general the Hong Kong construction sites may now be more efficient in processing truckmixers than they were a decade ago. The normal concreting QC records, routinely accumulated on site in a mandatory and standardized fashion, include the timing and quantity data as needed because of the time-sensitive nature of freshly mixed concrete. Data of this type is a better and more convenient alternative to collection by direct observation and measurement. The concreting placing rates for the various placing methods derived from the database are found to be potentially of direct value for assisting concrete plant and site managers in estimating the progress of work and attaining better coordination in concrete supply and placing between concrete suppliers and site contractors. They also serve as performance yardsticks for benchmarking the state of the Hong Kong concreting industry as time goes by and indeed, and most usefully, for comparison with other large cities if similar records are obtained for processing from those cities.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Anson, M., Tang, S. L., and Ying, K. C.(2002). “Measurement of the performance of ready mixed concreting resources as data for system simulation.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 20, 237–250.
Anson, M., and Wang, S. Q.(1994). “Hong Kong performance yardsticks for concrete placing during building construction.” Trans. Hong Kong Inst. Eng., 1(1), 1–18.
Anson, M., and Wang, S. Q.(1998). “Performance of concrete placing in Hong Kong buildings.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 124(2), 116–124.
American Society for Testing and Materials C94 (ASTM). (2000). Committee C9, “Standard specification for ready-mixed concrete.” Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 04.02, published annually.
Chan, D. W., and Kumaraswamy, M. M.(1995). “A study of the factors affecting construction durations in Hong Kong.” Constr. Manage. Econom., 13, 319–333.
Halpin, D., and Woodhead, R. (1998). Construction management, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Kannan, G., and Vorster, M.(2000). “Development of an experiencedatabase for truck loading operatioins.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 126(3), 201–209.
Lu, M. (2001). “Productivity studies using advanced ANN models.” PhD thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta., Canada.
Lu, M.(2002). “Enhancing project evaluation and review technique simulation through artificial neural network-based input modeling.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 128(5), 438–445.
Lu, M., Anson, M., Tang, S. L., and Ying, K. C.(2003). “HKCONSIM: A practical simulation solution to planning concrete plant operations in Hong Kong.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 129(5), 547–554.
Mass, G. R. (1998). “Chapter 21: Methods and equipment.” Concrete construction handbook, 4th Ed., J. A. Dobrowolski, ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Oglesby, C. H., Parker, H. W., and Howell, G. A. (1989). Productivity improvement in construction, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Peurifoy, R. L., and Schexnayder, C. J. (2002). Construction planning, equipment, and methods, 6th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Portas, J., and AbouRizk, S.(1997). “Neural network model for estimating construction productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 123(4), 399–410.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 1, 2002
Accepted: Jan 13, 2003
Published online: Mar 15, 2004
Published in print: Apr 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.