Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

The writer describes a personal view regarding construction research and the direction he believes the industry should head in order to continue to maintain a strong competitive position internationally and in the United States. Large areas of research stand ready to be penetrated and exploited. As a first step, however, a framework for study and analysis of construction operations and processes must be developed and refined. Simulation modeling represents an initial effort in this direction. This research is critical to the ability of the industry in the United States to compete and excel as leaders in the construction world of the future.

Construction planning systems have been the subject of research, development, and implementation for the last several decades. Most studies have focused on planning tools and techniques, and not on the planning process itself. This paper presents the results of a research project that examined how construction planning is actually done at the prebid and preconstruction planning stages. The data were gathered through personal in‐depth interviews conducted with experienced, competent project managers and other functionaries in leading, progressive United States construction companies. Construction planning was examined by four principal measures: the degree of involvement in the planning process; the proportion of plan issuance; the relative planning effort in various functional plans; and the formats used for issuing plans. The findings suggest that the practice of construction planning differs from what is commonly accepted and supported by the existing literature.

This paper describes the ingredients of an integrated computer‐system environment for concreting operations. The ingredients include a description of the integration process between expert system and other management software, such as data base and spreadsheet; an operational definition of concreting operations; a model of the decision‐making process; an explanation of how concreting methods and equipment selection may be presented; the factors that need to be considered; and a representation of construction expertise. These ingredients are illustrated using a prototype integrated computer system called Expert System Advisor for Concrete Placing (ESCAP), which assists in planning and controlling concrete‐placing operations. Expert knowledge acquired from planning engineers and equipment specialists was structured in a form suitable for manipulation by the system. The equipment‐selection process normally requires complex managerial decisions. These decisions have been the bases in developing the system. The system has considerable value in assisting less experienced personnel in reaching such decisions.

This paper presents a decision‐support system (DSS) that aids contractors in preparing competitive bids for building projects. The DSS uses neural networks for markup estimation that derive solutions for new bid situations based on analogy with past projects using information elicited from contractors in Canada and the United States. The neural networks were trained to generalize the projects' knowledge and thus become able to predict the outcomes of a project when fed with the contractor's assessment of various project risks. The proposed DSS is coded in a user‐friendly software called DBID. The software enables the contractor to retrain the neural networks on some of his or her past bid encounters and accordingly adapt the model to his or her own environment. In estimating the optimum markup for a new project, the uncertainty in the contractor's assessment of project risks is accounted for by a sensitivity analysis conducted using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. Such analysis produces a measure of the probability of winning at any desired level of markup. The capabilities of the present DSS are demonstrated through an example application.

Owners, engineers, and contractors used to focus on designing and building projects as a team for the mutual benefit of all parties. Over the past two decades, as project complexity has increased, deadlines tightened, and profitability declined, teamwork has fallen by the wayside. The more common buzzwords current in the construction industry today are liability avoidance, risk transfer, and claims mitigation. This trend has brought into the industry a new approach to doing business: claimsmanship; i.e., what “claims games” can be played to decrease “our exposure” during construction while increasing the exposure of the other guy. This paper discusses some 11 claims games commonly practiced by contractors on public projects—some old, some new, all currently in vogue. The paper also discusses 11 claim games being used by public owners—most new and not yet thoroughly tested.

This article presents research into automating some lift planning practices common to industrial construction contractors and owners. A detailed investigation of heavy‐lift planning methods was conducted through a series of interviews and lift studies with expert lift planners. This investigation documented a wide variety of manual and computer‐aided lift planning methods to perform similar types of planning tasks. Based on the information collected from these interviews and lift studies, a structured systems model was developed of the typical heavy‐lift planning process. This structured model is used as an architecture for the development of computer software to aid key planning tasks. An examination of major planning tasks indicates that significant reductions in direct planning costs and indirect construction heavy‐lift costs are possible through the implementation of computer‐aided planning procedures. Computer‐aided procedures would also improve the overall quality of lift planning practices through the automation of tasks which are difficult to perform and are critical to heavy‐lift planning accuracy.

Quality function deployment (QFD) has been in existence for almost 20 years, but it has been confined primarily to the manufacturing industry. With the continuing emphasis on quality within the construction industry, QFD may make the difference between success or failure in an ever‐increasing competitive environment. The relationships between QFD and other proven quality‐control methods, such as total quality control (TQC) and total quality management (TQM) are addressed. Two levels of quality, expected quality and exciting quality, are defined and a concept of customer relationships not generally recognized will be introduced. Although the QFD method is currently not in routine use in the construction industry, it represents an additional management tool that cannot be ignored.

Innovation in the construction industry occurs to a much greater extent than is usually recognized, and the sources of these innovations are more likely to be people working on‐site rather than manufacturers or research laboratories. Thirty‐four innovations to a single technology, the stressed‐skin panel, are examined; and it is found that the vast majority of these innovations were developed by builders rather than manufacturers. In addition, these builder innovations were significantly different from those produced by the manufacturers. The builders' innovations explicitly integrate the panel into the total building system; the manufacturers' innovations are confined to the panels themselves. A third finding is that manufacturers commercialized few of the builders' innovations—particularly avoiding those that involved connection of the panels to other systems—despite their potential for substantial improvement in the performance of the panel overall. The implications of these results is that users of technologies can be important sources of technological innovations and improvements, and the design of products can explicitly accommodate the need for changes and innovations on‐site.

The no‐dig technique has been proven in Europe and Japan as a successful means of constructing underground utilities and drainage works through densely populated areas without causing unacceptable disturbances, by eliminating the conventional open‐cut method. Although this conventional method causes detrimental impacts on traffic flow, pedestrians and motorists, as well as on the environment, it is commonly employed in Hong Kong for various utility activities. Despite this, the advanced no‐dig technique, which can tackle the problem, remains unpopular. Past records reveal that in Hong Kong the technique had only been applied to the construction and maintenance of utilities to a very limited extent. It is useful to identify the factors impeding its widespread application. This paper reviews the causes that preclude the extensive applications of no‐dig technique to utility works in Hong Kong. The prospect of promoting such a technique in the territory in the future is also investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to provide managers in multinational construction firms with a comparison between American and Honduran safety approaches, specifically, differences between the Honduran Labor Code and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act. This research involved an extensive review of the safety laws in both countries and interviews with managers in the Honduran construction industry. Several differences in the safety approaches were identified. It was discovered that the Honduran Labor Code does not protect a large percentage of the construction workforce because most workers are considered temporary. Benefit compensation is low for permanently impaired workers who are covered under the workers' compensation program. Also, worker insurance compensation costs are evenly distributed among different industries; this means that safer industries pay for accidents of high‐risk industries, and safer employers are penalized by having to pay for accidents caused by careless employers. Recommendations are provided to managers in multinational construction companies who are considering project work in Honduras and to the Honduran government for improving the labor regulations pertaining to safety. The findings of the present study may be applicable to other developing countries with similar laws related to worker safety.

Simulation of construction systems has been an active area of research in construction for the past two decades. In particular, simulation using MicroCYCLONE has gained general acceptance in academia. This paper compares MicroCYCLONE simulation with SLAM II process‐interaction simulation. A simulation model of a horizontal earth‐boring (HEB) operation was built and simulated using the two systems. Both methods yield the same results for deterministic modeling. When the model is stochastic, the mean was predicted to be the same for a 95% confidence interval based on 40 runs. Although the random number streams could not be forced to be the same in both systems, the confidence intervals for the mean time intersected, thus implying that the means were not different. The advantages of each of the systems were also highlighted. CYCLONE is easy to use and appropriate for repetitive construction operations. On the other hand, SLAM II provides elaborate tools for more sophisticated analyses. The work illustrates that a simulator can obtain the same results using MicroCYCLONE or SLAM II, thus validating the MicroCYCLONE system, since SLAM II is well‐known and established. The time required to develop a simulation model using either system depends on the familiarity with the particular system. It is, however, observed that CYCLONE models for repetitive operations that are not complex take lesser time in general. The paper also describes the construction process used in the study to provide a proper background for analysis and comparison.

In modeling for simulation, the proper representation of crucial real‐world variables is of prime importance. This paper describes the creation of a model that allows simulation of the construction process to be conducted in a simple fashion, in the field, and in a way that is oriented to the attributes of the specific resources available for the process. The developed model uses resources and their attributes as variables. This allows for consideration of resources of different sizes for the same work task, calculation of running task durations during simulation, rule‐based release of resources from queues, and maintenance of detailed statistics on each type and size of resource used in the system. Experimentation with established equipment mixes and conditions as shown in published handbooks for earthwork processes has verified the capability of the system to predict production rates for differing equipment mixes and site conditions.

It has been found that back injuries represent one of the largest segments of worker injuries in the U.S. Only the common cold accounts for more lost work days. It impacts not only the health of individuals, it is also a huge economic burden to the industry due to medical cost, benefits, lost productivity, and absenteeism. However, the complexity and its cumulative nature make this injury difficult to understand, much less to propose preventive steps based on scientific analyses. This paper provides an overview of regulations and prevention methods used today. The major part of the paper presents a detailed discussion of possible causes of back injuries in construction. Statistical data from insurance companies, the Construction Safety Association of Ontario, and a national survey is used to pinpoint critical tasks and motions, as well as common catalysts of this type of injury. In addition, sectors of the industry that indicate a higher occurrence of injuries involving the back are being identified. Based on these findings, a technological approach to the problem of back injuries seems to be the only viable process to improve the situation. It is felt that, due to the special characteristics of this industry, a concentrated and industry‐specific effort is needed to reduce the hazards and risks of injuring the human spine.

Goal setting is one of the motivational techniques used in manufacturing and service industries to improve the productivity of the workforce, and previous studies have shown that goal setting can result in up to 20% increase in productivity. However, this technique has not been applied to construction projects due to the inherent characteristics of the construction industry and difficulties in implementing the technique at construction sites. To study the applicability of goal setting in construction, three experiments were performed over a period of 14 months. In all three experiments, the groups with a goal outperformed the groups without a goal. This increased performance is shown by higher expected profits at each experimental site. Comparison of all three experiments allows conclusions to be advanced that: (1) Goal setting induced increased productivity of unionized groups with a goal; and (2) short‐term goals resulted in higher productivity than long‐term goals.

The paper describes a novel strategy for damping of payload motion for various kinds of cranes used in construction, i.e., mobile cranes, boom or tower cranes and so forth, which can be implemented on existing equipment. Most research in this area concentrates on controlling the velocity and accelerations to eliminate inertial forces. However, it is almost impossible to realistically model the effects of wind, slippage of tires, or settlement of supports, etc. The research proposes an approach to control the swaying of the payload, regardless of the cause. The control strategy is based on applying periodic balancing forces and moments to the cable to damp out oscillations as and when detected. A feedback control system applied to the cable has the potential of providing an inexpensive and easily implemented solution. This is achieved by decoupling the payload and cable system from the structural members of the crane during the development of the control strategy. Effective control of the payload will improve safety, productivity and timeliness for a number of material handling operations.

Historically, haul‐unit speeds have been determined using alignment charts provided by equipment manufacturers. This paper presents a performance equation and outlines a procedure for determining the equation coefficients that determine speeds for off‐road haul units. The primary advantage of a performance equation is that it is the ideal algorithm for incorporation into a program for computing haul‐unit cycle times for any set of conditions likely to be encountered in the field. The performance equation shares advantages that are inherent when using an equation to determine numerical results. Some additional very desirable features are: (1) The performance equation will take advantage of the power of computers and hand‐held programmable calculators; (2) the data can be stored electronically (this type of storage is compact and data is available immediately); (3) calculations for speeds are very fast compared to determining speeds from alignment chart measurements; (4) significant amounts of time will be saved when using the equation in computer programs; (5) calculations are accurate and reliable; and (6) using an equation eliminates the use of performance handbook alignment charts.