Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Ndot’S Sediment Barrier Practices Using Performance Data, Michael A. Perez, Wesley N. Donald, J. Blake Whitman, Brian G. Roche

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

To protect waterways adjacent to construction projects with disturbed land, a 50 ft (15 m) vegetated buffer or equivalent sediment controls are required. However, there is little guidance on the effectiveness of vegetated buffers in removing sediment or how sediment barriers can aid shorter buffers or replace buffers. A modeling methodology was developed and used to determine the performance of 11,664 50 ft (15 m) vegetated buffer configurations with Nebraska conditions; sediment capture averaged 92.6% and ranged from 18.5% to 99.5%. To determine the performance of Nebraska Department of Transportation standard and modified sediment barrier installations, a large-scale testing methodology …

Student Solutions For Leaf Drying: A Collaborative Approach To Enhance Moringa Production In Ghana, Daniel Desoto

Construction Management

This paper expands on a project that seeks to address the need for an updated mechanical leaf drying system for local farmers in Ghana, Africa. Working with the local organization, Moringa Connect, we were able to connect and identify potential areas of improvement within the current existing system. This project involved aspects of design, fundraising, and the construction of a rotating metal hopper. This hopper was identified as a solution for a crucial pinch point currently seen in the processing of the leaves from a wet stage to the final dry product. The design and construction process had a multidisciplinary …

Lemur Enclosure, Joshua Mancio, Justin Krietzberg

Construction Management

Zoo-to-You, a local wildlife conservation zoo, proposed a project to construct a new shelter for their lemurs due to the inadequacy of protection for extreme heat or cold weather of their previous enclosure. With three lemurs in residence, the zoo sought to create a spacious and insulated shelter that would provide protection from the elements while allowing connectivity to the adjacent enclosures. Situated amidst two existing circular cages with a gap in between, the project presented unique site conditions on a concrete slab. The scope of the project encompassed estimating, design, material procurement, build-out, and owner turnover, with the objective …

Construction Software: Use, Selection, And Performance In Low-Bid Contracting, David R. Cazares

Construction Management

The qualitative research included in this study evaluates the use, selection, and perceived gaps of current construction software suits in low-bid contracting. In addition, the data aims to provide merit to the correlation between construction software use and company performance. The intended stakeholders of this study include entrepreneurs in software development and construction, along with researchers looking to gather knowledge pertaining to this niche industry. Through a Google Forms questionnaire distributed via email, participants provide insight on the current status quo. The study’s responses show clear trends in the types of software currently in use and the subsequent reasons for …

Integrated Project Delivery (Ipd): A Contractual Framework For The Egyptian Construction Industry, Sarah Hussain

Theses and Dissertations

This abstract highlight the significant findings and contributions of the study, which aimed to develop model clauses specifically tailored to the Egyptian construction industry for multi-party construction contracts. The research methodology encompassed several key components. Firstly, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to explore the various construction delivery methods prevalent in Egypt. This review provided a solid foundation for understanding the existing practices and identifying areas for improvement. The study also delved into the concept of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and its potential benefits as well as an analysis of the commonly used standard forms of contract and successful case …

Highlighting The Key Differences In Project Management When Using Mass Timber: Case Study, Kevin Krueger

Construction Management

Mass Timber or Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is structurally engineered wood designed to be used as the structural components of a building. As the Construction Industry shifts toward using more renewable materials, mass timber becomes more relevant. This paper presents a comprehensive case study focusing on the construction process innovations implemented in a recent mass timber project located in San Francisco. The project involves the construction of a secure facility for a prominent biotechnology company. This research aims to learn the innovative techniques and strategies that contributed to the successful completion of this unique project. Key stakeholders, including the project …

Synergising Bim And Real-Time Data For Improved Efficiency: An Irish Case Study, Ahmed Hassan, Ankur Mitra, Alan Hore, Mark Mulville

Conference Papers

The evolution of 3D visualisation and the Internet of Things (IoT) presents a substantial opportunity for integrating real-time data with Building Information Models (BIM) to improve its functionality and construction workflow efficiency. Integrating real-time data with BIM can enhance the digital representation of construction buildings’ physical and functional characteristics and provide recordable status of on-site operations. Nevertheless, the integration between Visualisation and IoT technologies with BIM remains in its preliminary stages and faces a myriad of technical and operational challenges. Furthermore, developing advanced solutions to facilitate this complex integration requires a considerable understanding of the viability and feasibility of merging …

International Information Management And Bim Best Practice Report, Ted Mckenna, Davitt Lamon

Reports

In order to inform the Digital Leadership and Cultural Change pillar of the Build Digital, a study of international best practice in digital adoption within the built environment sector globally was undertaken and is presented here-in. In order to identify key learnings for Ireland in the context of digital transformation, eight countries were included in this study, namely, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. These countries were selected for various reasons, including the level of digital maturity, the scale of the built environment sector and geographic spread. Key data for each country is included …

Sustainability And Circular Economy Horizon Scan And Needs Analysis, Sadaf Dalirazar, Mark Kelly, Derek Sinnott, James O'Donnell

Reports

The construction industry plays a crucial role in addressing the climate crisis as it is the largest global consumer of raw materials and contributes significantly to global energy consumption and emissions. Considering the world’s continuous population growth and the imperative to address infrastructure and housing demands the construction sector needs to adopt further sustainable strategies in its activities to reduce the pressure on natural resources. In addition, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is responsible for generating substantial amount of waste known as Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW), which is projected to increase due to the future construction developments. …

Digital Construction Annual Survey 2022 Report, Davitt Lamon, Ted Mckenna

Reports

The Annual Survey 2022 was conducted to assess the state of digital transformation in the Irish construction and built environment sector. This report presents the analysis of survey data, with a focus on implications for the Build Digital project and Build Digital’s five pillars: Digital Leadership & Cultural Change, Digital Standards, Digital Education & Training, Digital Procurement, and Sustainability & Circular Economy. Key findings from the survey indicated that a significant number of organisations have started their digital transformation journey, with many identifying themselves as proactive and possessing a clear business-focused strategy. However, a considerable cohort of respondents are keen …

Industry Colloquium Report, Robert Moore

Reports

In the ever-evolving landscape of the construction industry, digital transformation has emerged as a pivotal force reshaping the way projects are conceived, executed, and delivered. This transformation, fuelled by cutting-edge technology and innovative practices, holds the promise of greater efficiency, sustainability, and collaboration within the construction sector.

This report offers a comprehensive summary of the Build Digital Project colloquium. It provides actionable insights and recommendations for clients, supply chain partners, and for prioritisation within the Build Digital Project pillars. As the industry partners seek to build a more efficient, sustainable, and collaborative construction sector, understanding and harnessing the invaluable insights …

Skills Matter – Up-Skilling Across Construction Stakeholders For Emerging Roles, Avril Behan, Paul Mccormack, Barry Mcauley

Conference Papers

The EU’s Climate Target Plan To 2030 (European Union 2020b) of achieving at least 55% reduction in Green House Gas emissions from 1990 levels, delivering towards a climate-neutral economy by 2050, requires systems-level change in the way we design, construct, and operate our built assets. Funding initiatives, such as co-ordinated by BUILD UP Skills, aim to deliver upskilling to the market but targets set by the European Skills Agenda may not be reached at current achievement levels. This paper presents the results of one completed and the progress of one ongoing Horizon 2020 funded project, BIMcert and ARISE, respectively. Learning …

The Current State Of Practice Of Building Information Modeling, Kevin P. Brooks

Masters Theses

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become extremely prominent in the construction industry in the past twenty years. It serves as a digital repository that can, when used to its fullest potential, combine all aspects of designing, building, and managing a structure in one place, alongside all the data produced in those processes. The construction industry has to date struggled to increase productivity alongside similar fields, such as the manufacturing industry, though the construction industry generally has far more stakeholders on one project than the manufacturing industry. Further, building designs are becoming more complex while project schedules are becoming tighter. As …

Construction Semantics And Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (Gpt) Language Models, Ankur Mitra, Ahmed Hassan, Mark Mulville

Articles

The article explores the impact of ChatGPT, a powerful language model developed by OpenAI, on the construction industry. ChatGPT, with its ability to provide contextually accurate responses to a wide range of queries, has the potential to enhance safety, scheduling, and knowledge dissemination in construction. While it shows promise in tasks like hazard recognition and project scheduling, the article emphasizes the need for cautious optimism and human oversight. The construction industry could benefit from ChatGPT's digital assistance to boost productivity and address skills shortages, but it is essential to recognize the value of human expertise alongside AI advancements.

Development Of The New Hasslein Caed Collaborative, Catie Dines

Construction Management

This paper outlines the development and execution of the new Hasslein CAED Collaborative student competition which engages students of all five majors in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design in a Request for Proposal style competition. CAED houses students studying Architecture, Architectural Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Construction Management, and Landscape Architecture. There is little opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration within the CAED, despite our future career paths being heavily intertwined. This competition followed research by Greta Stout, class of 2022, on the benefits and support of interdisciplinary collaboration at Cal Poly SLO in CAED. The competition is named after …

Creating A Demolition Estimate Lab Assignment, Alex Domine

Construction Management

This senior project aims to create a Demolition Estimate Lab as part of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo's Demolition Topics Course, with the goal of enhancing construction education through practical experience in estimating demolition costs. The Lab will be equipped with industry-standard tools and software to simulate diverse demolition scenarios, covering site preparation, equipment requirements, waste disposal, labor needs, and environmental considerations. The project methodology entails extensive research and the integration of interactive learning activities. This initiative is expected to yield several benefits for students. Firstly, it will lead to improved learning outcomes by providing hands-on experience in estimating demolition …

Construction Panel Discussion At San Luis Obispo High School, Jake T. Ornellas

Construction Management

The senior project idea for conducting a panel discussion presentation at San Luis Obispo (SLO) High School during a tutorial period was completed by Jake Ornellas and Morgan Conway. This paper provides details on the entire process of reserving a tutorial session at SLO High School, contacting and coordinating with trade representatives and university faculty, and executing the group panel discussion. The purpose of the project was to share and inform local high school students with the information regarding what careers in the different construction industry branches look like and what opportunities are there. The goal of this project was …

City Farm Of Slo Animal Feed Shed, Jacob Ryan Pizzifred

Construction Management

The City Farm of SLO is a local nonprofit for San Luis Obispo that functions as an education center for individuals looking to live more sustainably. This organization teaches different aspects of farming such as planting crops, taking care of them, how to care for a wide variety of farm animals, and maintain the health of the farm. To achieve all these objectives, facilities must be in place to ensure the correct number of materials are available. One lacking feature of this farm is the space to store animal feed. Before this project the food was stored outside subject to …

The Importance Of Implementing Safety Programs For Spanish-Only Workers In Mep, Izak J. Lozano

Construction Management

Hispanics make up 30% of the construction workers, the highest percentage of any non-Hispanic minority group. Unfortunately, evidence also suggests Hispanic and Latino workers with limited to no English language skills are not receiving an adequate amount of safety training which is a growing concern. A lack of safety training and language barriers on the jobsite are seen as the cause for Hispanic workers having 41.6% higher injuries and non-fatal injuries in construction as compared to non-Hispanics in 2020. Three contractors were interviewed about their safety training programs for Spanish-only workers to find what strategies were found to be effective. …

Tehachapi Mountain Trail Association – Trail Bridge Construction, Michael Bowman

Construction Management

The Tehachapi Mountain Trail Association is a nonprofit organization which operates 32 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails year-round. The 650-acre property is located in the foothills above Tehachapi, CA and offers local residents and enthusiasts from around the area an area to exercise and enjoy nature. TMTA is able to operate through yearly memberships that allow the association to hold insurance as well as continue to maintain and build new trails year-round. After completing a separate project for TMTA in Winter 2022 for CM 420 Construction Service Learning, the President, Brandon Griffiths approached me with the idea of …

City Farm Slo Garden For All Accessible Planter Beds, Allison C. Wild

Construction Management

This paper outlines the design, coordination, and construction efforts to build the Accessible Planter Boxes for the City Farm SLO’s Garden for All. The Garden for All was a concept created by the City Farm SLO staff to meet the need for an accessible learning space for students. The full design for the Garden for All also included mobile benches and tables, a shade structure, and decomposed granite pathways that were completed by other students. This project included the construction of 6 raised planter beds of differing heights and designs. Each planter bed was approximately 10 feet long and varied …

Case Study: Uplifting The Interest Of Santa Maria High School Students Into The Construction Industry, Juan Zacarias Jr

Construction Management

The central coast of California, has not been a historically proclaimed region that produces large construction projects. The area is well known for other industries, such as the agriculture industry. It is an area that continues to grow interest and persuade these high school students into. Over the years, construction has been growing in the area and can be perceived through the development projects happening in the Central Coast region. Various general contractors have made a move into the central coast looking into expanding their company. This can potentially generate various employment opportunities. This qualitative case study aims to examine …

Construction Panel Discussion At San Luis Obispo High School, Morgan P. Conway

Construction Management

Jake Ornellas and Morgan Conway conducted a panel discussion during the “tutorial” session on Monday, May 22, 2023, in the San Luis Obispo High School theater with three guest speakers, asking them questions about their respective organizations, then opening the floor for students to ask questions. Jake Ornellas and Morgan Conway also distributed flyers to students which included information about the organizations discussed and a survey to gauge student interest. This project was designed to expose high school students to opportunities they have in the construction industry as well as to create a connection between Cal Poly Construction Management and …

Integration Of Autonomous Equipment In The Heavy Civil Industry, Jack Ryan Gutierrez

Construction Management

The heavy civil industry plays a pivotal role in shaping the infrastructure landscape, with construction equipment serving as the backbone of any project. In an industry that is constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency, productivity, and safety, autonomous construction equipment has emerged as an innovative solution to help improve these factors on a heavy civil project. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth look at the current state of new technology involving autonomous construction equipment, and how prevalent it is in today's heavy civil industry. Qualitative interviews that were completed with a project manager, superintendent, and …

Dg Pathway For City Farm Slo, Kieran Barker

Construction Management

City Farm SLO is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to empower the next generation to live healthier, more prosperous lives through sustainable agriculture and farm-based education. Located in San Luis Obispo on the outskirts of San Luis Ranch, City Farm SLO’s latest project known as “A Garden for All” aims to create a fully accessible garden that can serve all the students in the community they serve. A key part of this project is the pathway connecting the various garden elements which were previously not accessible to wheelchairs and susceptible to water damage and flooding during rain …

Storage Shed Construction For Local Charity, Veda Maisie Guillermo

Construction Management

This paper presents a project of the successful construction of a storage shed for Taproot Charities, a non-profit organization based in Templeton, California that aims to support young women furthering their education in Uganda. The project aimed to provide a storage solution for the organization's supplies and materials. The planning phase considered the available donated materials to determine the shed's dimensions and design features. This paper highlights the methods and materials used to build a storage shed and emphasizes the importance of communication during the construction process. During the construction process there were several weather-related project schedule setbacks which were …

Integrating Steel Slag Aggregates Into Asphalt Paving By Harmonizing Availability, Quality, Economics, And The Environment, Timothy R. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides guidance on how to balance matters related to the environmental stewardship, market sources, origin and uses, material properties, performance, and economic impact of using slag materials in pavements. The literature on this topic provides numerous references on the use of slag materials for specific applications, and this thesis aims to make use of those references along with other data from the author to describe slag materials from a holistic perspective and provide some suggestions for balancing several factors that impact optimal use of this resource within pavement structures. Discussion is given to the increased importance of recycling …

Personal Protective Equipment Usage And Injury Type, Nathan Giannini

Construction Management

Workers in the construction industry have many injuries both minor and life-altering. The industry suffers from injuries of all kinds such as falls, electrocution, and being struck by flying objects. To protect against this, workers wear certain types of personal protective equipment (PPE) on construction sites as a last line of defense. The equipment available such as hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, respirators, and hearing protection either protects against acute injuries (those that occur instantly) or chronic injuries (those that occur over time). This study investigates whether the type of injury that PPE protects against, acute or chronic, affects the …

The Influence Of The Addition Of Recycled Asphalt Shingles On The Compressive Strength Of Concrete, William E. Webb

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) as an additive on the compressive strength of concrete. This was accomplished by designing a concrete mix and creating 4” by 8” cylindrical test specimens containing 0, 5, 10, and 15 percent RAS by weight. The compressive strength was measured through axial loading until failure utilizing a compression testing apparatus. With these results, a relationship between the content of RAS and compressive strength was able to be developed, giving insight as to how RAS could be used in concrete mixes in the future. This study …

Highway 17 Wildlife Crossing, Taryn Chisholm, Seema Singh, Justin Uyeno

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Highway 17 is an essential corridor for people to commute between the Bay Area and the Santa Cruz regions, but this highway also creates a barrier between wildlife territories, fragmenting their habitats and stranding animal populations on either side. The lack of crossing infrastructure along Highway 17 forces wildlife to attempt to cross the highway into oncoming traffic, causing wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) which endangers the lives of motorists and animals alike. In order to address this problem, the team designed a precast, concrete culvert crossing underneath Highway 17 to provide a safer passageway to increase habitat connectivity as well as …