Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

The Business Roundtable, an association of some 200 construction company owners, instituted a study called the Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness (CICE) project. CICE is the first industry‐wide effort to define productivity problem areas. Five major areas in which construction cost reductions are possible were identified: project management, construction technology, labor effectiveness, labor supply and training, and regulations and codes. A Task Committee on Productivity of the Construction Division of ASCE was formed to review recommendations presented in the CICE study. The Task Committee recommendations on ASCE's role in implementing solutions to construction productivity problem areas are presented.

This study investigated how the performance of construction firms during different extremes in the business cycle was impacted by a variety of the firms' characteristics. A performance index for a firm's relative market performance was devised and used with a step‐wise regression technique to model the relationships between operational variables and the performance index. Ten interviews wifh senior construction executives were conducted to guide the development of the model. The results show that a firm's relative market performance can be influenced by: Efforts in planning and control; control at firm level; effectiveness of project planning and control; efforts in marketing; effectiveness of marketing; subcontracting; long‐range planning; safety; geographic diversification; technological competence; and union/open‐shop construction. Significance varied with cycle point and size. Recommendations are made on how to improve a contractor's performance in cyclical business environments.

The crucial research needs and most promising directions for future computerized construction applications are the subjects of this article. It is a summary of the events and recommendations derived from a research workshop jointly sponsored by the University of Illinois Construction Engineering and Management Program and the National Science Foundation. The four principal theme areas of this conference were: (1) Project‐wide data base and communication systems; (2) knowledge‐based systems; (3) simulation; and (4) robotics, though many other peripheral issues were also discussed. Fifty leading representatives from industry, government and academia convened in Urbana, Illinois, to develop strategic plans for this research community to pursue over the next 5 to 10 years. Topics discussed included artificial intelligence, supercomputer simulation, autonomous robots, and project data bases that truly integrate design and construction. Though unanimous conclusions were rarely reached, enough consensus support was present to develop a strong, clear strategic plan of computerized construction research and to identify its constituent community. The participants also analyzed techniques for conducting better research studies and injecting more interdisciplinary and interuniversity cooperation into those programs.

Resource plannirtg and management is one of the most important ingredients for competitiveness and profitability in today's construction industry. In order to control costs, equipment and labor should be utilized in the most efficient way possible. This can be achieved by minimizing the total cost of leased resources under the constraint of maximum and most efficient use of owned equipment and contracted labor force. This paper presents a mixed‐integer linear programming model for the management of resources throughout the project life. Based on the Critical Path Method time analysis, the model derives the schedule for equipment rentals and transient resources, as well as the utilization scheme for owned equipment and other available resources. The model can be used as an estimating tool for multi‐project resource planning and sharing, and as a means to implement the most efficient utilization of resources throughout the duration of the whole project.

This paper documents a case study of the organizational evolution, over a ten‐year period, of a U.S. electric utility company in support of the construction of a two‐unit nuclear generation facility. A number of principles for designing an organization are summarized, and it is suggested that these be used in the organizational planning process. Seven major reorganizations are described, and these changes are compared to the organizational planning principles. The project was half complete before all key engineering and planning functions were consolidated under a single manager. It was approximately 80% complete before the authority of the project director was commensurate with his responsibilities. It is shown how the project authority structure emerged as functional but was later changed to a projectized one. After several realinements, a matrix organization was tried. A strong project structure replaced the matrix structure when the resources of the entire organization were committed to completing the project.

This article briefly reviews the ways in which leadership is conceptualized and taken into consideration in the context of construction projects. Data are presented that derive from a study of 43 site managers in England and Wales and that take Fiedler's Contingency Model as the point of departure. The results indicate that variations in leader orientation have an impact on project effectiveness and that this relationship is contingent upon a number of factors, including project length, value, and the extent of reliance on sub-contract labor. In particular, the results indicate that an emphasis on relationships in site managers' leader orientations is more likely to enhance project performance than an emphasis on tasks. The implications of these findings for the study of construction management are examined.

Construction planning and control literature reveal much effort in the recent past in the development of managerial control systems involving classical optimization techniques such as simulation, queuing theory, linear, dynamic programming, etc. Construction managers typically reach decisions in a perspective of time and in light of temporal criteria. The aforementioned techniques deal with the theoretical and computational aspects of time by static methods: Effects of one or more actions in a given interval are aggregated over time. Optimal Control Theory, a new branch of optimization, makes it possible to view the construction‐production process as a dynamic system that evolves over time. This paper presents a Continuous Optimal Control formulation of a hypothetical cut‐and‐fill job on a section of a highway. It is shown that Discrete Optimal Control framework is adequate for construction. The problem of scheduling the construction of a bridge due to Selinger is solved using this approach.

A dilemma can face design engineers if they have to choose between their perceived and actual responsibilities during construction of the project they designed. This dilemma can be particularly significant for specialized underground construction involving soild‐structure interaction. Such construction represents unique and unusual situations in which design, inspection, and construction functions cannot be separated. Two cases in which specialized construction quality control was not provided by the designer of subsurface structures are reviewed. In both cases defective construction was later discovered and the projects were abandoned. The design engineer is placed at risk when the owner does not agree to engage a knowledgeable specialist for quality control of the construction work. The engineer should identify in writing the risks the owner is electing to accept by contracting for a lower level of quality control than, in the engineer's judgment, is less than prudent for the project.

The increasing competition in the construction industry today not only calls for lower bid prices but for accurate estimates as well. Therefore, a contractor must continuousiy strive to improve his or her estimating techniques. A computer simulation which can be used to estimate the loss in efficiency that results when a dual cycle system is being started up each shift is presented. It does this by using the CYCLONE simulation model for several different simulated cases.

Linear Scheduling Methods are best suited to projects that display repetitive characteristics, but their use in the construction industry is limited. Line‐of‐Balance (LOB) is a Linear Scheduling Method that also makes use of network technology. Its benefits and shortcomings are investigated in a high‐way surface treatment project where LOB has been used experimentally. It was determined that LOB is extremely sensitive to errors in man hour, crew size, and activity duration estimates. There are also problems of a visual nature with the presentation of the diagram. On the other hand, LOB allows a better grasp of the project than any other scheduling technique because it is possible to adjust activities' rates of production. It provides a smooth and efficient flow of resources and requires less time and effort to produce than network schedules. Research to make Linear Scheduling Methods more attractive is recommended.

One of the main problems in the process of design and management of construction projects is obtaining accurate information for preliminary estimates. This information is crucial for the development of integrated systems for construction management because of the relationship between construction input data and subjects such as estimating, cost control, scheduling, resource management, etc. Existing methods for estimating input that originated in industrial engineering are inadequate for the unique conditions of the construction industry. The model described in this paper applies statistical analysis of data from past projects, and enables the user to estimate the data needed for the construction of a new project. The model is based on the following components: Project items and their quantities; inputs needed to produce those items; and factors that affect inputs of a specific project. The model equation was calculated using multiple regression techniques. The paper concludes with a case study of a construction input configuration for a concrete structure.

Planning and execution of dewatering for a deep excavation in coarse alluvium containing cobbles and boulders are discussed. A deep well dewatering system was installed and had to be supplemented with extensive sumping due to inflow from large natural springs, and seepage through a rock fill river diversion embankment. The value of a flexible dewatering plan and provision for backup power are illustrated. Important details of well design are provided. Good engineering, in the form of pumping tests, and design that considers construction requirements are shown to be ?mportant contributors to dewatering success.