Journal of Construction Engineering and Management

This paper presents the development of a practical framework for identifying the lighting requirements for nighttime highway construction activities. The framework is named Construction Visual Requirements, “CONVISUAL,” and is designed to consider and quantify the varying lighting needs for different visual and construction tasks. The framework is developed using an original and interdisciplinary approach that integrates concepts and models from construction engineering and vision science to ensure the provision of adequate lighting conditions on site that enable workers to properly see and perform their tasks safely and with satisfactory quality. CONVISUAL determines the required illuminance level for each construction activity based on its required visual tasks and the visual capacity of construction workers. A prototype of CONVISUAL framework is implemented to illustrate its unique capabilities of (1) providing a deeper understanding of the visual requirements of nighttime construction activities; (2) specifying the required illuminance levels in a scientific and systematic approach; and (3) delivering a rational justification for the specified illuminance levels.

Disputes are common in international projects because of contractual, cultural, and legal factors. The dispute resolution methods currently adopted in international projects are varying, including litigation, arbitration, adjudication, mediation, expert-determination, dispute resolution board, and minitrial. The problem in question is on how to select the most appropriate resolution method that can fit nicely in the nature of the dispute and the disputing parties’ needs. A dispute resolution selection prototype (Model) based on the analytical hierarchy process and multiattribute utility technique (MAUT) is presented in this paper. The Model developed consists of five components: Selection factors, dispute resolution methods, utility factors, relative importance weightings, and user’s preferred weightings. These were based on the quantitative data provided by 41 experts in the field, who were barristers, arbitrators, mediators, and project managers. The Model is considered beneficial to the industry, as it provides construction professionals with a systematic and objective approach in the management of international project disputes.

This paper proposes a new buffering approach, reliability and stability buffering, as a means to reduce uncertainty caused by errors and changes, in particular, when concurrent design and construction is applied to an infrastructure project. The proposed buffering provides a proactive mechanism to protect the planned performance of a project with a flexibly located and systemically sized buffer. For its implementation, the reliability and stability buffering is incorporated into a dynamic design and construction project model, which simulates the impacts of errors and changes on design and construction performance and evaluates the effectiveness of the proposed buffers. Applying this buffering approach into the infrastructure project in Massachusetts, this paper concludes that (1) the amount of hidden errors and latent changes was reduced; (2) the flexibly located and distributed buffers helped identify the predecessors’ errors and changes in concurrent design and construction; (3) the impacts of hidden errors and changes were minimized, preventing their ripple effect on the succeeding activities; and (4) the quality of the coordination process was increased. Thus it shows great potential to protect design and construction performance against uncertainty in concurrent design and construction delivery of civil infrastructure projects. Such benefit obtained from the proposed buffering should be relevant to researchers and practitioners because it provides the base for future investigation for the strategic utilization of schedule buffers in an uncertain environment as well as the guideline for their effective use in practice.

As an asphalt concrete demonstration project implemented under the California Department of Transportation’s Long-Life Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies program, a 4.4 km stretch of Interstate-710 (I-710) in Long Beach was successfully rehabilitated during eight repeated 55-h extended weekend closures using around-the-clock construction operations and counterflow traffic. This case study documented the accelerated rehabilitation process, assessed traffic impacts, and compared collected productivity data. Compared to the productivity rates of traditional nighttime closures, the 55-h weekend closures effectively reduced the construction duration and the overall traffic inconvenience. Noticeable improvement (“learning-curve effect”) in the contractor’s production rates was observed as the weekend closures were repeated. As a result of a significant (38%) traffic demand reduction through the work zone, the traffic impact of construction closures was tolerable to the extent that traffic was in free-flow condition throughout the highway network. This case study will be useful for transportation agencies and contractors in developing integrated construction and traffic management plans for urban freeway rehabilitation projects to maximize pavement life expectancy and construction productivity while minimizing agency and road user costs.

The construction space scheduling problem has received relatively little attention from researchers and practitioners. We now have sophisticated methods of planning and analyzing the sequence of tasks within the work breakdown structure through time, but the problem of planning where on site those tasks are to be executed is not well-supported especially as those spaces are dynamic as the project progresses. We know that congestion on site reduces output and generates hazards, yet construction planners presently have to rely upon experience and intuition. The research reported here presents a decision support tool for construction project planners to help them address the space scheduling problem. After a review of recent developments in construction space scheduling, the concept of critical space analysis is presented. This forms the basis of decision support tools presented for marking up available space, allocating tasks to spaces, and analyzing and optimizing space loading in relation to the critical path—what we call space-time broking. Requirements capture and evaluation reports from construction planners suggest that the tools presented here have immediate practical relevance. The paper will, therefore, be of interest to both practitioners and researchers.

The dependency structure matrix (DSM) has been identified as an apt tool to represent information flows between activities. Using this representation, information dependency attributes can be organized and analyzed in a structured manner to identify activity groups and sequences for concurrent execution. Current DSM methodology requires significant efforts from the experts to estimate information dependency attributes. The methodology can be more widely used if the estimating efforts are reduced. This paper proposes two concepts to reduce the estimating efforts required for the DSM methodology. The first concept reduces the number of information dependency ratings required and the second concept reduces the effort to estimate the rating. The proposed concepts are structured into a procedure. This procedure is applied to the design phase of an induced draft cooling tower (IDCT) project and discussed. The paper also discusses the shortcomings and future directions of the present approach and concludes that the present approach is applicable in IDCT projects and can be extended to other types of projects.

This paper presents the development of a parallel multiobjective genetic algorithm framework to enable an efficient and effective optimization of resource utilization in large-scale construction projects. The framework incorporates a multiobjective optimization module, a global parallel genetic algorithm module, a coarse-grained parallel genetic algorithm module, and a performance evaluation module. The framework is implemented on a cluster of 50 parallel processors and its performance was evaluated using 183 experiments that tested various combinations of construction project sizes, numbers of parallel processors and genetic algorithm setups. The results of these experiments illustrate the new and unique capabilities of the developed parallel genetic algorithm framework in: (1) Enabling an efficient and effective optimization of large-scale construction projects; (2) achieving significant computational time savings by distributing the genetic algorithm computations over a cluster of parallel processors; and (3) requiring a limited and feasible number of parallel processors/computers that can be readily available in construction engineering and management offices.

This paper, which is written to both researchers and practitioners, examines the impact of information technology (IT) on construction firm performance. Based on data collected from 74 construction firms, regression analysis is used to test the relationship between performance and IT. Analysis provides empirical evidence that IT is positively associated with firm performance, schedule performance, and cost performance. Firm performance is a composite score of several metrics of performance: schedule performance, cost performance, customer satisfaction, safety performance, and profit. The regression analysis shows that for every $1\text{unit}$ increase in IT utilization, there is an increase of about 2, 5, and 3% in firm performance, schedule performance, and cost performance, respectively. No relationship is found between IT use and customer satisfaction, safety performance, and profitability.

The presence of construction work zones on interstates impacts the traveling conditions encountered by motorists. These changes not only affect the traveling public, but also the workers that perform the construction. The impacts of the work being performed also tend to cause queuing. In addition, these periods of construction operations have been linked to an increase in the number of accidents and fatalities that involve road-users and construction crews. A research project was undertaken to evaluate possible options to improve the safety of construction work zones on interstates in the state of Indiana. One component of this project dealt with the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to collect traffic data and to relate the traveling conditions encountered with the differing construction activities taking place. This paper describes the GPS study conducted in three different rural work zones on Interstate 65 in Indiana. Multiple runs were conducted at each location to analyze the impact of traveling conditions to changes in lane restrictions during construction periods on traveling conditions.

Attitudes to knowledge management (KM) have changed considerably as organizations are now realizing its benefits. Implementation, however, has been facing serious difficulties attributed either to not being able to anticipate the barriers when planning KM strategies or to using inappropriate methods and tools for implementation. These difficulties are more critical in construction due to the fragmented nature of the industry. This paper suggests that proper definition of a KM problem at the early stages of developing the KM initiatives will result in better control over the KM barriers. A methodology for identifying KM problems within a business context is then introduced. The methodology is encapsulated into a prototype software system, which facilitates its deployment in organizations and provides online help facilities. The methodology, development, operation, and evaluation of the prototype are described. The paper concludes that the prototype offers considerable potential for delivering a clarified KM problem and a distilled set of issues for an organization to address. This represents a significant first step in any KM initiative.

A survey of construction apprentices was conducted in a midwestern city using the expectancy model as a framework. The findings indicated a need for an improved motivational climate for apprentices. Their overall motivational score was low. The study suggests that contractors are not providing a variety of rewards to apprentices. It also indicates that little is done to help the apprentice in learning and staying in the trade. As a result, it provides researchers with a starting point in studying how to maintain a balanced motivational climate for an apprentice.

Occupational injury and fatality risk analysis was performed on 16 building trades in the study reported herein. The approach was based on defining risk fundamentally as the product of probability (frequency) and severity, and using the risk plane concept to evaluate and rank the trades in terms of nonfatal injury rates. A parameter named index of relative risk was then used for fatality rate based ranking, and the results separately obtained from these analyses were integrated into a combined risk score for arriving at final rankings. Bureau of Labor Statistics data was used in the study. The risk analysis methodology included both frequency and severity considerations associated with nonfatal injuries. It was observed that simultaneous consideration of frequency and severity gives more comprehensive results than performing risk analysis based exclusively on either frequency or severity. The findings of the study indicated that ironworkers and roofers were the highest risk trades. The information derived from the methodology presented in this paper should be particularly valuable for risk managers, legal and liability experts, and project managers.