Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

The increasing awareness of environmental impacts from construction wastes has led to the development of waste management as an important function of construction project management. Various approaches for managing construction wastes have been developed in the existing research works and practices, and these works can be grouped largely into three areas: waste classification, waste management strategies (avoiding waste, reducing waste, reusing waste, and recycling waste), and waste disposal technologies. Nevertheless, these approaches give less attention to the management of the waste handling process on construction sites. In fact, construction wastes pass through a number of processes from generation to final disposal, and proper flow of these processes can improve waste management effectiveness. This paper examines the waste handling process during construction through mapping six cases selected in Hong Kong construction, with the assistance of the free-flow mapping presentation technique. The examination leads to developing a waste management mapping model (WMMM), which incorporates the good operations embodied in the existing practices. The WMMM provides an alterative tool assisting in planning waste management procedures on construction sites. It can serve as a vehicle for comparing the waste management practices between construction sites, thus both good practices and weak areas can be identified.

Although Six Sigma has been implemented in the manufacturing and other services industries, it is still a relatively new concept in the building industry. This paper described the Six Sigma concept as a quality initiative that may be applied in the building industry. The principles, methodology, and metrics of Six Sigma are first discussed. The implementation phases as well as the training programs required are explained. A case study of how Six Sigma was pioneered in an organization in the building industry is presented. The findings suggest that management initiative and support, relevant training, appropriate selection of pilot projects, and commitment by team members are crucial for the successful implementation of Six Sigma in the organization. The application of Six Sigma for improving the quality of internal finishes during construction is also explained. Improvement measures taken by a contractor helped to raise the sigma from 2.66σ to 3.95σ for quality of internal finishes.

A large number of problems faces the installation of pile (drilled shaft) foundations: unseen subsurface obstacles, lack of contractor experience, site planning, etc. These problems make it difficult for the estimator to assess the pile construction productivity and cost. Several techniques might be good candidates for this assessment problem. A fundamental question arises: which technique is the most appropriate to solve this assessment problem? This study focuses on answering this fundamental research question. Data were collected through designed questionnaires, site interviews, and telephone calls to experts in different construction companies. Four different techniques were listed as candidates to solve this problem: deterministic, simulation, multiple regression, and artificial neural network (ANN). They were categorized into two groups: process oriented techniques, deterministic and simulation; and data oriented techniques (DOT), regression and ANN. All techniques were used to assess productivity and cost of pile construction. Their results were compared to determine the closest assessment to real world practice. Research results show that the DOT techniques were the most appropriate whereas they had the lowest deviation from real world practice.

Project-based joint ventures (a special type of alliance) are an often-used method to form competitive organizational structures in the global market; they allow participants to quickly assemble project-needed assets on a short-term basis without substantial investment. However, published discussions of joint ventures describe mixed success and focus on factors that affect the ventures after they are formed. This paper exposes factors, which may be observed at joint venture inception, that are predictive of organizational success within the joint venture. The survey research of U.S. architecture/engineering/construction (A/E/C) firms indicates that smaller partners in a joint venture experience more market growth and are more successful. Also, a firm with strength in legitimacy (client trust) is more likely to gain in short-term income but will likely suffer some long-term market loss in comparison to its less-legitimized partners. It is further concluded that culture match among partners plays a significant role in ensuring profitable joint venture returns.

More and more state highway agencies (SHAs) have begun to consider the value of time in highway construction. The $“A\left(\mathrm{cost}\right)+B\left(\mathrm{time}\mathrm{cost}\right)+I/D(\mathrm{incentive}/\mathrm{disincentive})”$ bidding concept is designed to shorten the total contract time by allowing each contractor to bid the number of days in which the work can be accomplished, in addition to the traditional cost bid. $I/D$ are not only used to provide an incentive to the contractor for earlier completion, but also to provide a disincentive for late completion of a project. Contractors are then presented with the problem of determining the best strategy of bid estimation, including construction cost, time cost, and incentive/disincentive. SHAs are also faced with the problem of placing a maximum and/or minimum on the time bid. To provide users a useful tool to estimate project time more accurately using this advanced method, this study develops a quantified model of the price-time bidding contract. The functional relationship between the construction cost and time duration is developed based on data from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The contractor’s construction cost “A” is then combined with the road user cost and incentive/disincentive to determine the optimum low bid price and time. This optimum can then be used by the SHA to set limits on the range of acceptable time bids. Finally, several projects completed by the FDOT will be used to illustrate the validity of this model.

Controlled insurance programs are highly efficient risk control mechanisms. With a controlled insurance program, the interest of the owner, designer, construction manager, contractors, and consultants are covered by one insurance arrangement. This paper describes the current state of practice regarding the use of owner-controlled insurance programs by transportation agencies. Departments of transportation that have used controlled insurance programs for their major projects (construction costs greater than $100 million) report that they were satisfied with the results. But contractors are cautious because, when an owner’s controlled insurance program administrator fails to perform, it is the contractor who incurs the residual consequences of increased business cost, and those consequences can extend far into the future.

A methodology for assessing the performance of building facades based on the risk of defect occurrence was developed. The methodology relies on the accurate prediction of (1) the frequency of the occurrence of various types of defects over time based on historical data (30 years); and (2) the significance of the occurrence of various types of defects to the specific performances anticipated by the users. The proposed methodology can be used for the evaluation of the maintainability and whole life performance of a building right from the planning stage.

The layout of a construction site plays a major role in the safety and productivity of operations, particularly when site space is restricted. As construction evolves, however, the site layout may need to be dynamically reorganized at various schedule intervals to accommodate operational needs. As opposed to considering only productivity issues during site planning, this paper presents a layout planning approach that considers both safety and productivity. First, safety issues on construction sites are discussed and the factors that contribute to unsafe sites are outlined. A procedure for optimum layout of temporary facilities is then developed in integration with a scheduling tool. Four aspects are considered during site-layout planning: (1) defining the safety-related temporary facilities needed on construction sites; (2) defining proper safety zones around the construction space; (3) considering safety in determining the optimum placement of temporary facilities on the site; and (4) utilizing parts of the constructed space as temporary facilities to relieve congestion on restricted sites. A case study is presented on a prototype system to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach.

In order for the construction industry to improve its poor safety performance it needs to learn from its mistakes and put the lessons learned to good use. This need calls for effective feedback mechanisms that can transmit information derived from incident investigation to be utilized in safety planning. The feedback should be at two levels; first, feedback to the Safety Management System that had failed, and second, feedback to the safety planning of future projects. The first level of feedback can be achieved by basing the investigation on an incident investigation model that explicitly identifies system failure. The second level of feedback can be achieved if both incident investigation and safety planning share the same incident causation model, such that the information from each process can be retrieved and utilized in the other process smoothly. One prerequisite to fulfill the two levels of feedback is the development of an incident causation model. In this paper, the modified loss causation model (MLCM), which is able to meet the above-mentioned purposes, will be presented. The MLCM is developed based on an extensive literature review and application on 140 actual accident cases obtained from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower, Occupational Safety Department. In this paper, the model’s application will be demonstrated through a case study, which involves codification of investigation information based on an actual incident report, and a safety planning process based on a hypothetical case.

The shortage of skilled construction workers is considered to be one of the greatest challenges facing the United States construction industry. To meet workforce demands, the industry is increasingly relying on Hispanic construction workers. The result has been a strong increase in Hispanic construction workers, especially in the Western and Southern United States where Hispanics already comprise 31 and 24% of the total construction workforce, respectively. Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Current Population Survey (CPS), this study examines relative differences in hourly wages between Hispanic and non-Hispanic construction workers. The finding suggests that Hispanic workers earn less than their non-Hispanic counterparts controlling for experience, occupation, schooling, and geographical location. The implication of the increasing size of the Hispanic construction workforce with respect to industry real wages and education needs is discussed, along with the workforce’s ability to adopt future technologies and workforce strategies.

A concrete batch plant is an important element in any concrete construction process, whether it is working as a central mixing plant onsite or is offsite supplying ready mixed concrete to a project. This study tackles the problem of optimizing plant production to maximize profit and, if possible, revenue. A linear programming model has been designed to optimize the plant operation. The maximum production rate for each type of concrete can be obtained by solving the model under the given constraints. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to provide management with a flexible range of prices per cubic yard (cubic meter) and material storage limits. In addition, a model has been designed to determine the optimal number of transit mixers based upon the required quantity of concrete. A chart has been developed to determine the quantities of concrete ingredient materials required daily to organize the available storage space and to plan their delivery.

This paper describes the major stages and component steps leading to the realization of the technical and commercial potential of a new construction technology. It encompasses a process of innovation and invention, which is generically applicable to any construction innovation. A case illustration of a new asphalt compaction technology is also described within each stage to provide a “real life” example. Motivation for the new technology came from the fact that existing, conventional rollers can cause serious damage to the compacted asphalt mat at the time of construction. This damage is in the form of construction cracks, often termed “roller checking,” which can result in accelerated, in-service deterioration. The new technology originally termed the “Asphalt Multi Integrated Roller” (AMIR), overcomes the problems of current rollers through stiffness compatibility with the asphalt mix and a different geometry than conventional rollers. Commercial realization of the technology has been achieved through a new generation of AMIR, termed “HIPAC.” The paper also provides background on the issues of concern to pavement engineers, including limitations of current compaction methods. It explains in functional terms the unique difference provided by the new technology. As well, it describes the major hurdles that were overcome to achieve commercial realization.

A successful capital facility project requires effective usage of practices to satisfy the expected high level of project objectives. To provide an effective practice usage plan, the impacts of implementing practices need to be quantified and better methods or tools for practice usage plan and control are also required. Despite a number of efforts at quantifying the impact of practice usage, little interest has been shown in developing the tools and techniques for improved implementation of practice use. This paper develops performance prediction models for project cost and schedule performance using predictive discriminant function analysis (DFA). The models are integrated into an automated and practical software program named the $\mathrm{DFA}$ program that helps deliver effective and dynamic project planning. The $\mathrm{DFA}$ program has a user-friendly interface that project managers or field engineers can easily apply to their projects to predict cost and schedule performance and to allow for improvement where possible. An overall project performance improvement process using the $\mathrm{DFA}$ program application is provided.

This paper describes a collaborative effort by industry, government, and academia to evaluate the use of design/information technology (D/IT) and to relate the degree of use to project performance. A detailed statistical analysis of 297 projects in the Construction Industry Institute database is used to produce baseline measures of performance and D/IT use. The relationship between these measures is used to assess the economic value of using the technologies. A set of projects that excelled in the use of D/IT and that scored high on performance measures is then examined. These exemplary projects provide a basis for further in-depth analyses through on-site interviews with key project representatives. The results of this study establish that projects benefit from D/IT use. Both owners and contractors can expect construction cost savings of approximately 4% by increasing the use of D/IT. For owners there is clear evidence of schedule compression as well. Although the statistical analyses do not support schedule compression benefits for contractors, findings from the on-site interviews provide anecdotal support.

Four-dimensional (4D) models link three-dimensional geometrical models with construction schedule data. The visual link between the schedule and construction site conditions is capable of facilitating decision making during both the planning and construction stages. The emphases of these 4D developments have often been placed at the level of construction components. Practical features assisting site management are at times lacking in the following areas: (1) generation of site usage layouts; (2) estimation of quantities of construction materials; and (3) cost evaluation. In order to pinpoint these deficiencies, the objective of this work is to enable visual study of the effects of job progress on the logistics and resource schedules. This paper presents a 4D visualization model that is intended both to help construction managers plan day-to-day activities more efficiently in a broader and more practical site management context and to thereby add to our knowledge and understanding of the relevance of modern computer graphics to the responsibilities of the construction site manager. A brief site trial of the software is described at the conclusion of the paper.

Time and cost are related on projects. Project managers are frequently required to make time-cost trade-offs. With the complexity of large projects and the schedule impact of time-cost modifications, decisions on time-cost optimization are usually done on a hit or miss basis. This technical note presents an innovative technique that can be used to automate and optimize the time-cost trade-off process. The technique is based on “maximum flow–minimal cut” theory. The method is an improvement over current practice.