Use of Alternative Construction Methods

The paper describes a method of replacing machine based construction techniques with labor based methods. This is useful in areas where labor is plentiful and cheap when compared with machine running and maintenance costs. Relaxation and substitution procedures are described. Methods of comparing costs are given. A large project in Thailand is used as an example and the results are presented. Various methods of assessing results are examined, e.g., total cost, foreign spending, labor usage, employment generation. As governments and international funding agencies are giving growing emphasis to the use of local resources the technique described here is of direct relevance when assessing construction methods in developing countries and for engineers working in these countries.