Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

Enhancements to the theory of network‐based planning techniques invented in the late 1950s, along with improved hardware and software environments, have resulted in elegant and powerful tools for planning today's construction projects. However, a fundamental limitation of these traditional planning techniques is that they are able to manipulate only the data generated by the planning process, not the knowledge used in generating the project plan. Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques provide the means to generate plans, and to reason with, and provide explanations from, stored knowledge. However, the weak methods, employing little domain knowledge, originally used in AI for planning, proved inadequate for complex real‐life problems such as project planning. As a result, more recent research adopts the knowledge engineering methodology as an efficient approach for developing planning systems. This paper highlights the limitations of existing project planning tools, illustrates the power of AI techniques in the construction planning domain through a summary and critique of previous and current research in AI planning, and concludes with a suggested approach to developing AI‐based project planning techniques for construction.

Better understanding of the components of construction technology and the ways in which they differ for different construction operations will support technological advancement and improve the competitiveness of the U.S. construction industry. This paper describes a classification system that includes the following components: material and equipment resources, construction‐applied resources, construction processes, and project requirements and constraints. The elements and the attributes of the classification provide a tool to measure technological change and analyze specific operations for potential improvement. The paper reviews the relevant background, develops the classification system, describes its use to define the technology for specific construction operations, and highlights conclusions regarding the components of construction technology and the potential for future use of the classification in both research and construction practice.

Critical attention is being given to the application of expert systems to civil and construction engineering problems. A central feature of expert systems is the ability to explain the reasoning that these systems are using. This paper provides a succinct survey of some of the explanation features commonly found in expert systems. The paper presents the logic and computer code for a C language explanation facility which was developed for use with the M.1 expert system shell. The C program is context‐sensitive and allows explanations to be nested so the user can request progressively more detailed explanations. In addition to the explanation feature, the C program will allow access to ASCII files contain a variety of information. The C program has been used in some applications to access “help,” “conclusions,” “warning,” or “assumption” files. The paper provides a demonstration of the explanation program in a simple civil engineering context.

The installation of the outfall pipeline for the Renton Effluent Transfer System presented challenges and resulted in construction innovation. Introduction of new equipment (a deepwater minisubmarine and a remotely controlled bolt‐up tool) and modification of the method of construction enabled the contractor to place large‐diameter pipe in water depths unattainable using existing construction methods. This paper describes the construction project, reviews the technology for the installation of offshore pipelines, and analyzes the process leading to product and process innovation. It compares this process with a model of innovation on the construction project and develops conclusions and practical applications based on this example of construction innovation. These conclusions emphasize the role of the owner and the importance of technical challenge. This paper is part of an ongoing investigation of mechanisms for innovation in construction.

The lack of a coordinated industry‐wide effort to provide the emerging construction technological information is one of the reasons behind the slow adoption of new technologies in the U.S. construction industry. This paper reports the results of a research project on this critical issue. The purpose of the research was to develop a formalized mechanism to identify new building technologies available for use by the construction industry and to assess the potential impact of the identified new technologies on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction program. There are many means to identify new building technologies. Information can be obtained through periodical search, code organizations, testing laboratories, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Department, advertising in trade magazines, and interviewing experts. The impact of each identified technology on the corps' construction programs was assessed in terms of the corps' five‐year plans, the Means and Dodge manuals, and building systems affected by the technology. Other assessed features were a cost benefit comparison and the risk associated to implement the technology. The findings of this research are encouraging. A generic framework has been developed, and the areas that need to be further improved have been pointed out.

Knowledge‐based systems (expert systems) are generating interest as potential aids to decision making. This paper describes the development of a system for the selection of earthmoving equipment for road construction. Knowledge for this particular domain was acquired from field practitioners such as planning engineers and equipment specialists. The development of the appropriate knowledge acquisition techniques is covered in detail together with guidance provided on suitable methods for interpreting the information gathered into a form capable of being manipulated by computer program. This latter aspect is carefully evaluated with several shells investigated for user‐friendliness, availability of hardware, software sophistication and price. The final system is fully tested both with practitioners and novices and the concept of a consultation is validated. Indeed, advice similar to that provided by the experts is achieved.

The contracting of services within the military is a growing field of opportunity for prospective contractors. With the added attention given to the Office of Management and Budget's A‐76 Commercial Activities policy, many contractable services previously performed by government forces are now being accomplished by private companies. Contractors accustomed to performing construction‐related work may not be aware that service contracts contain added requirements. As in all government contracts, contractors deal frequently with representatives who do not have the actual authority to obligate the government, but this problem can be more pronounced in the services‐related field. Additionally, each branch of the military approaches service contracting in a slightly varied form with their own contracting guidelines. As the federal budget constraints increase, the military will assuredly devote more attention to the management of their contracts while concurrently relying on free enterprise to provide needed services within A‐76 policy guidelines.

The rolling resistance (RR) of vehicles operating off‐road is, despite its significance, an uncertain factor in haul‐time and productivity estimates. The rule‐of‐thumb formula used for estimating the RR consistently underestimates the RR of free‐rolling (nondriven) tires. The RR of driven tires is shown to vary considerably with the applied torque; at high torque (in low gears) it may be several times greater than the RR of free‐rolling tires. This increase of the RR may result in a decrease in productivity, or at worst, in the immobilization of off‐road vehicles. The use of an analytical tire‐soil interaction model is a rational method of estimating the RR of both free‐rolling and driven tires and, by summation, the total RR of wheeled off‐road vehicles. Performance data sets consisting of rimpull and RR values for various values of slip, obtained from this model, present a realistic simulation of the interaction between vehicle and soil. Their use in conjunction with rimpull‐speed relations supplied by manufacturers improves haul‐time calculations and allows the performance of unbiased comparative analyses of various candidate vehicles for a variety of routing and soil conditions.

The IBM Tower in Atlanta, Georgia, is an extraordinary construction project with fascinating architectural, engineering, and construction innovation and practice. The building was constructed using a concrete slipform core with structured steel floor framing, composite exterior columns, and granite skin with insulated gray tinted glass. A team approach has resulted in a maximum amount of quality construction being accomplished in minimum time, and the project being completed within a tightly controlled schedule. A three‐phase value engineering study was conducted for this project. In Phase I, eleven floor framing systems and eight wind framing systems (which in combinations gave forty‐two possible schemes for the structure) were developed. In Phase II, pricing information of structural steel was developed. In Phase III, a typical floor and columns, and wind‐resisting elements for the entire height were designed. Using this information, the unit cost of structure and the total construction time were estimated. This paper provides an overview of the IBM Tower, value engineering results, and slipformed core construction used in this project.

Construction of an automobile assembly plant with 3,000,000‐sq ft $(280\text{,}000‐m^2)$ plan area required excavation of more than 2,700,000 cu yd $\left(2\text{,}000\text{,}000m^3\right)$ of soil and rock, and placement of more than 1,700,000 cu yd $\left(1\text{,}300\text{,}000m^3\right)$ of fill. Footings on rock and piers drilled through soil‐rock fill were used to support column loads. Shale‐limestone bedrock was excavated by blasting. Processed rock yielded sufficient fines to provide some cohesion to the fill. Fill performance was evaluated by field plate loading tests. Settlements of fill and underlying residual soils were monitored during construction. Construction was completed successfully within a compressed schedule. Plate load tests provided important data on soil‐rock fill compressibility. Settlement readings confirmed laboratory and field test results, and verified predictions of settlement magnitude. Rate of settlement greatly exceeded estimated rates. Pier drilling through the soil‐rock fill was accomplished without liners, with no significant ravelling of fill material.

The results of a study of small- to medium-sized construction firms designed to determine their perceptions concerning construction productivity is presented. The functions that were viewed as having high potential for productivity improvement include supervision (73%), labor contracts (62%), labor relations (68%), planning (53%), scheduling (53%), and communications (55%). The findings also suggest that between 1981 and 1986 the problem of low productivity has been substantially reduced for small/medium contractors. In addition, a decrease in the productivity improvement potential of OSHA was detected.