Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

Construction education is not new. It was a part of the practical aspects of many early civil engineering degree programs. As early as the 1920's, specializations in construction engineering were found in a few civil engineering programs, paralleling structural engineering and other areas. However, the gradual need for more specialization than could normally be integrated in the civil engineering degree eventually led to the formation of some construction specialty degree undergraduate programs, particularly after World War II. This paper documents the historical evolution of construction education, promotes construction as a stand-alone professional engineering discipline, provides information for schools that are interested in starting an undergraduate construction engineering and management (CEM) degree program, and discusses the engineering accreditation aspects of the CEM curriculum and the role of the construction industry in the CEM curriculum development.

In the last two decades, there have been significant changes in the technical and economic conditions prevailing in the construction industry. To overcome the shortcomings of the traditional procurement methods, the construction industry has developed a large number of different procurement systems. A systematic approach for selection of the most appropriate system is now needed. This paper presents the development of the project procurement system selection model (PPSSM), which integrates the techniques of the analytic hierarchy process and Parker's judging alternative technique of value engineering into a multicriteria multiscreening system. A survey was conducted in Saudi Arabia with the aim of testing the PPSSM for effectiveness and efficiency and assisting the governmental agencies to select the most appropriate procurement system for implementation of their projects. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed. On the basis of the synthesis process of the PPSSM, Saudi public clients selected design and build as the most appropriate procurement system for their projects, with an overall priority of 0.496. The outcome of the study demonstrates the effectiveness of PPSSM in helping the client in the construction industry to choose the procurement system that fulfills the needs of the client and the project requirements.

Owners and contractors faced with the drastic consequences of a “crisis” often accomplish projects whose short schedules, tight budgets, or technical complexity require adoption of extraordinary approaches to design and construction. Crisis or “exceptional” projects occur for many reasons; industrial accidents or acts of God cause damage to crucial manufacturing capacity or changes in the economy or international markets require a rapid product to market cycle. Often, these crisis projects are completed in record time, with superior quality or within a very low budget. It is also common on exceptional projects for strategies that are designed to (say) reduce schedule, to exhibit collateral beneficial impacts on the project's cost or quality. The research reported herein, investigates 30 exceptional projects to identify and document work process changes and their impact on cost and schedule as compared to traditional projects of similar scope and complexity. Results illustrate that changing work processes and providing appropriate cultural environments can result in significant schedule reduction (35%) with no increase in project costs. Additionally, over half of the exceptional projects studied demonstrate a reduction in cost as well as a reduced schedule. Fundamentally, this paper demonstrates the efficacy of ingenious and innovative changes to existing work paradigms in response to a variety of situational requirements. Additionally, this paper includes a discussion of barriers to implementation and organizational issues surrounding situational reengineering.

Letting work to subcontractors is a very common practice in construction industry. Subcontractors help contractors overcome problems including the need of special expertise, shortage in resources, and limitation in finances. The decision to subcontract involves designating work items to be subcontracted and making assignments to subcontractors. Generally, work assignments to subcontractors can be for the total quantity of a work item or a proportion thereof. This paper presents a decision support system that makes assignments to subcontractors of the work items designated for subcontracting. Moreover, the system calculates and plots the overdraft profile based on the financial terms of the contract and project schedule. The ultimate goal of the system is to make work assignments to subcontractors under constraints economical and predict the expected profit at the end of the project. The system encompasses four basic components including project data, linear programming module, sensitivity analysis module, and financial analysis module. The sensitivity analysis adds strength and flexibility to the system by allowing the user to experiment with different scenarios. Finally, the developed system that represents a structured method for making subcontracting decisions is demonstrated through an illustrative example project.

Planning and estimating earthmoving operations rely on the ability to collect field data and analyze operations. Two recent developments have dramatically changed the methods used and the results obtained in this process. The first relates to data collection where instrumentation placed on loading and hauling units can replace stopwatches as a primary source of data. The second relates to analysis where simulation techniques can replace deterministic job studies. This paper reviews these developments and shows that data collection and analysis techniques must complement each other. The use of stopwatches may satisfy the requirements of job studies but does not satisfy those of simulation. Simulation requires knowledge of the variance associated with the activity duration. Obtaining it from a few data points collected using stopwatches is frequently statistically incomplete. Simulation requires a continuous form of data collection to support its modeling process and, hence, offers new challenges to the data collection methods. Instrumented vehicles present a viable opportunity to collect continuous field data. However, the data collected using the instrumented vehicles must be characterized in such a way to reflect the actual job conditions under which they were recorded. As a result, this research extends the concept of data collection to building an experience database. Field data and visualization techniques are presented in this paper to illustrate the concept of the experience database.

This paper discusses graphical interfaces to improve equipment control in construction and facility/infrastructure maintenance environments. Most large construction and maintenance machines are difficult to control because of insufficient visual feedback to equipment operators. In many emerging applications such as hazardous waste cleaning, it is also necessary to control such equipment from a distance using teleoperation techniques. Initial evidence indicates that real-time updated graphical representation of equipment and work environments can enhance equipment control by providing better spatial perception to the equipment operator. Real-time simulation and task planning with graphical models can also ensure safe and reliable operation of equipment. However, graphical control interfaces require careful design for successful results as it is very difficult to generate exact graphical models of unstructured and dynamic environments such as construction and maintenance. Design of graphical control interfaces for construction equipment also requires knowledge in various technological areas. In this paper, design issues and principles for graphical control interfaces for construction and maintenance equipment are presented. The usefulness of graphical control interfaces is also presented through performance tests of a teleoperated clinker clearing robot for power plant maintenance.

Formal stochastic simulation study has been recognized as a remedy for the shortcomings inherent to classic critical path method (CPM) project evaluation and review technique (PERT) analysis. An accurate and efficient method of identifying critical activities is essential for conducting PERT simulation. This paper discusses the derivation of a PERT simulation model, which incorporates the discrete event modeling approach and a simplified critical activity identification method. This has been done in an attempt to overcome the limitations and enhance the computing efficiency of classic CPM/PERT analysis. A case study was conducted to validate the developed model and compare it to classic CPM/PERT analysis. The developed model showed marked enhancement in analyzing the risk of project schedule overrun and determination of activity criticality. In addition, the beta distribution and its subjective fitting methods are discussed to complement the PERT simulation model. This new solution to CPM network analysis can provide project management with a convenient tool to assess alternative scenarios based on computer simulation and risk analysis.

Strategic capital investment decisions are crucial to a business firm. The decision to invest in privately financed infrastructure projects requires careful consideration, because they are exposed to high levels of financial, political, and market risks. The project appraisal methods should incorporate analysis of these risks. A number of capital-investment decision methods can take risks into account, but each of them focuses on different factors and has its limitations. Thus, a more vigorous method is needed. A systematic classification of existing evaluation methods shows that it is possible to develop a new method—the net-present-value-at-risk (NPV-at-risk) method—by combining the weighted average cost of capital and dual risk-return methods. The evaluation of two hypothetical power projects shows that the NPV-at-risk method can provide a better decision for risk evaluation of, and investment in, privately financed infrastructure projects.

Simulation is widely applied as a practical tool for planning and analysis in many industries. However, in the case of construction processes, it has not yet emerged from the research stage into practice. The lack of confidence in selection of a probability distribution function (PDF) for an activity duration has limited the use of simulation as a practical tool for constructors. A modified β₁-β₂ plane analysis by AbouRizk and Halpin revealed that most of the construction data sets they analyzed laid in the beta region. Based on research in experimental psychology, it is recommended that the subjective information used to define beta parameters include the minimum and maximum activity durations, as well as the mode and the 75th or 25th percentiles. This paper presents a method to determine a beta PDF for use in construction simulation modeling.

The potential slowdown of the economic growth in China has led the government to increase spending in basic infrastructure such as roads, ports, and power generation facilities. There are opportunities in the infrastructure sectors for foreign investors. It is important however to identify and manage the unique or critical risks associated with investments in China's infrastructure projects. Such issues have received special attention with the closure of the Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corporation in 1998 and the subsequent confusion over government support and guarantees. This paper is based on the findings from an international survey on risk management of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects in developing countries, with emphasis on infrastructure projects in China. It discusses specifically the criticality of the political and force majeure risks. Based on the survey, the following critical risks, in descending order of criticality, are identified: Chinese Parties' reliability and creditworthiness, change in law, force majeure, delay in approval, expropriation, and corruption. The measures for mitigating each of these risks are also discussed.