Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Skill Sets Of Students In Comparison To Their Preferred Route After College, Shay O'Laughlin

Construction Management

Many of the superintendents and project managers today come out of higher education instead of coming up through the trades. This creates a large need for universities to produce both quality superintendents and project managers to run jobs efficiently and effectively in the future. This research paper focuses on the skillsets of construction management students at Cal Poly in relation to their anticipated career path, to see if students are choosing their path based on the skills, they have self-assessed or another factor. The hypothesis is that students are tending to not choose their route based on skills but instead …

Second Language Advantages To The Construction Industry, Heilam Wu

Construction Management

The university is well known for its prowess in construction management. It is essential for construction management students to learn additional skills. The current trend in construction management predicts its expansion across international borders. A construction manager will have an added advantage working abroad if they can communicate using different languages. Knowledge of foreign languages is advantageous as it increases the chance of securing job opportunities and sharing effectively with others. However, this can only be attained by encouraging more students to learn to integrate their skills with at least one or two foreign languages. It is, therefore, essential to …

Pouring Concrete Benches For The Amphitheater At Slo Botanical Garden, Makenna Paige Gitchell

Construction Management

This paper will outline the logistics and construction processes for the construction of ten concrete benches for a new amphitheater area at the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden. These benches will provide stadium-style seating for around forty guests that the botanical garden staff can utilize for special events, tours and outdoor classes. The overall project team was composed of 6 students broken out into a preconstruction (Anthony Masarweh, Sydnee Greer and Devon Barthmaier) and a construction team (Makenna Gitchell, Brandon Keefer, and Kyler Cruz). As part of the construction team, we were responsible for coordinating material deliveries, building the formwork, …

Adapting To California Wildfires: Keys To Rebuilding In High Fire Risk Locations, Sebastian Dante Froman

Construction Management

A rise in California wildfires has led to a significant increase in the number of acres and structures destroyed annually. The Tubbs Fire, known as one of California’s most destructive fires, affected parts of Northern California in October 2017. In an effort to reduce the damage caused by wildfires, it is vital that houses are constructed so that they are more fire resistant, specifically in areas that are at high risk of wildfires. This paper will look at the reconstruction of Santa Rosa after the Tubbs Fire to see what building methods are being used by contractors. This was investigated …

City Farm Slo - Walk-In Produce Coolbot Cooler, Connor Morinini

Construction Management

This paper describes the planning, financing, and construction of a commercial sized refrigerator for a non-profit urban farm in San Luis Obispo, CA, called City Farm SLO. Construction of the project occurred over a nine-month period from September of 2020 to May of 2021. The project involved building a Tuffshed, site grading, framing a room inside the Tuffshed, hanging a door, installing electricity inside the room, insulating the interior, painting the exterior, installing an air conditioner, and wiring the Coolbot to the air conditioner. The project was built to allow the non-profit organization to begin storing their agricultural crops in …

Outsourcing Vdc Workflows, Kyle K. Bresnahan

Construction Management

In an increasingly demanding world for infrastructure, technological methods have been found to assist construction project's. As innovative construction methods are constantly increasing, so is the demand for technological needs within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To ensure technological adoption, many countries have started to mandate higher levels of building information modeling (BIM) documentation beyond the 2D construction documents traditionally required throughout construction review and permitting. Some companies have capitalized on this change to the extent of making BIM their primary business. These companies focus solely on virtual design and construction (VDC) and determine whether clients lacking this …

Workers Head Protection Preferences In Construction, Matthew R. Langbehn

Construction Management

Head injuries are one of the most common ways workers are injured on a construction site, but head protection has not evolved over the last few decades. A new style of head protection, a safety helmet is being introduced to better protect workers, but the new style has not been widely adopted. A survey was conducted to determine workers preferences when choosing head protection and 31 responses were collected. 68% of the respondents currently wear a safety helmet, but 60% of the respondents would choose a traditional helmet if given the choice. 73% workers with more than 5 years of …

Implementation Of A 4d Schedule As A Project Communication Tool, Jared Jacobs

Construction Management

This report details the project that was completed to produce a preliminary 4D Schedule for the Alma Clark Glass Residence Hall on Western Washington University’s campus. A 4D schedule combines the 3D model of the building and the project schedule and ultimately shows the sequence of construction. The main objective of this project is to explore areas for improved communication strategies within the project team. A 4D schedule provides an added dimension of communication that has the potential, if delivered effectively, to clearly define construction milestones and sequences for an owner to understand. The goal of this project is to …

City Farm Slo - Walk-In Produce Coolbot Cooler, Connor Morinini

Construction Management

This paper describes the planning, financing, and construction of a commercial sized refrigerator for a non-profit urban farm in San Luis Obispo, CA, called City Farm SLO. Construction of the project occurred over a nine-month period from September of 2020 to May of 2021. The project involved building a Tuffshed, site grading, framing a room inside the Tuffshed, hanging a door, installing electricity inside the room, insulating the interior, painting the exterior, installing an air conditioner, and wiring the Coolbot to the air conditioner. The project was built to allow the non-profit organization to begin storing their agricultural crops in …

Meta-Network Analysis Of Complex Construction Systems: Improving Project Efficiency Using Novel Computer-Based Analytic Methodology, Ethan Cummiskey

Honors Scholar Theses

The objective of this study is to build upon the framework of a meta-network approach to assessing vulnerabilities in construction projects. By viewing these complex environments as configurations of various nodes and links, it is possible to show the relationship between each entity in the project and the overall completion that is achieved from these connections. To expand upon previous studies, the vulnerabilities measured from this approach will be used to optimize the current network to eliminate any shortcoming in the project model. By investigating the congruence of different agents on the project, resources and informational nodes can be supplied …

An Innovative Seeder For Sowing Non-Loose Seeds Of Saxaul And Cherkez, E.T. Farmonov

Irrigation and Melioration

The main reasons for the absence of a seeder for mechanized sowing of non-loose seeds of fodder plants in deserts are analyzed in the article. The author has developed a technology for sowing non-loose seeds (saxaul and cherkez), which prevents clogging, crushing and breakage in the seeder hopper, and provides for uniform and stable sowing at a set rate and shallow depth over the entire field area without reducing the biological germination. An innovative seeder with a universal sowing unit is recommended. Field tests of the innovative seeder with the proposed universal sowing unit were conducted in February 2020, as …

Applications Of Biomimicry In Construction And Architecture: A Bibliometric Analysis, Mugdha Praveen Kshirsagar Mrs, Sanjay Kantrao Kulkarni Dr, Ankush Kumar Meena Mr, Danby Caetano D’Costa Mr, Sushant Sunil Bhavsar Mr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Biomimicry can be considered to be a way of connecting the environment created by man to the natural world. Biomimicry is a science that, as a model, a measure and a tutor, looks to nature. Via site work, construction and everyday operations, biomimicry can be used to enhance the way the built environment is constructed. The main objective of this paper is to perform a bibliometric study of biomimicry-related literature in order to discover the growth of biomimicry as an architectural method in recent years. The time frame considered for this survey is between 1990 and 2020. The findings, however, …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On A Commercial Construction Company: A Case Study, Dylan Reynolds

Construction Management

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 resulted in many states issuing stay-at-home orders and closing businesses. In some states, construction was deemed essential and allowed to remain open. Dempsey Construction, Inc. is a Southern California commercial construction company that was permitted to continue operation with the exception of a brief lockdown in March and April of 2020. Despite being permitted to remain open, the company had to face many direct and indirect challenges resulting from the worldwide pandemic. In addition to schedule adjustments, daily cleaning on jobsites and in the office, and increased material prices and lead times, Dempsey …

Case Study: Infection Control On The Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Emergency Room Expansion And Remodel Project, Daniel E. Romero

Construction Management

California hospital and healthcare projects typically involve California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Department (OSHPD) which is governed by the state of California and the Fire Marshal. Along with OHSPD as the governing organization, healthcare and hospital projects often must incorporate infection control practices. The Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Emergency Room Expansions and Remodel project incorporated infectious control practices. Qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews of the project management team along with primary and secondary sources. The tools and practices used on this project included negative air machines, temporary walls with sound barriers, zip walls with fire rated …

Common Issues Of Compliance With Personal Protective Equipment For Construction Workers, Alexandra N. Gattuso

Construction Management

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is an essential component to the safety of workers on construction jobsites. Construction is ranked one of the most dangerous industries to work in, with the highest reports of fatal work injuries. For this reason, it is required that construction employees wear PPE to keep them safe during work. Despite this requirement, many workers neglect to wear PPE, exposing themselves to high risk of injury and death. A survey was conducted on thirty-three (33) construction workers in California to gain a better understanding of issues with PPE and reasons for non-compliance. The survey found that only …

Residential Bathroom And Tile Shower Addition During Covid-19 Quarantine, Joseph Szillinsky

Construction Management

This paper outlines the design and construction of a new code compliant bathroom including: a low profile shower pan, ceramic-tile shower enclosure, and new plumbing piping and fixtures. One of the main objectives was to complete the new shower which would be easily accessible and maintenance free in order to support a local elderly couple. The selection of this project took place during the COVID-19 pandemic approximately nine months after California issued the first mandatory statewide Stay-at-Home Order. During the early design and development stages an opportunity to collaborate with a local trades-person was identified as well as the need …

Bilingual Training Course For Redwood Residential Fence Company, Adriana Bernabe Martinez

Construction Management

The Hispanic population has been increasing in the US over the past twenty years, and made up 42.9% of the construction workforce in 2018 (Data USA, n.d.). Because of this population increase, it’s expected that 1 in 4 persons will be of Hispanic descent by the year 2050 (Canales, 2009). Due to this increase, many language barriers exist that can create serious issues in construction. Language barriers cause productivity to decrease and increase concerns for the workers’ safety. Although OSHA trainings are available in Spanish, the opportunity to take these courses vary from company to company and it is rare …

Understanding Sub-Contractor Selection Factors In Thebuilding Construction Industry For The Southeastern United States, Dhaval Gajjar, Cayla Anderson

The Professional Constructor

The primary entities within building construction industry consists of the owner, the architect / engineer, and the general contractor, that ensure the success of any construction project. On a traditional project, the owner selects and contracts with the general contractor to construct a building designed by the architect. A considerable amount of research has been conducted to understand the owner’s selection factors to hire a qualified general contractor. However, the general contractor selected for the project seldom self-performs the entire construction of a building. The general contractor might self-perform some aspects of the actual building construction, but they will typically …

Why Unsafety Has A Negative Relationship With Economic Effectiveness In The World?, Aziz Zikriyoev

The Scientific-Practice Journal of Architecture, Construction and Design

Due to regularly registered diseases and major accidents of workers in the construction industry can be explained expandable building projects and state programs for supporting population. The main purpose of the current paperwork is to explain wining unsafety at workplaces both theoretical and practical points of view generated with economic and social levels.

Analytical Assessment Of Project Complexity: A Guide To Managing Projects Through Reduction Of Complexity, Christopher Vanarsdale

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research discusses the characteristics that make projects difficult to manage. Project inefficiencies and failures can be attributed to the structure of a system. Developing a measurement for complexity based on the number and nature of interactions in the system can allow project complexity to be reduced while still meeting project objectives. Previous research has identified characteristics or markers of complex systems but does not address how to measure or how to reduce a system’s complexity.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop a metric for complexity that assists project and emergency managers in reducing project complexity either by …

Should Teamwork-Based Content Be Taught In The Cal Poly Construction Management Curriculum?, Matthew J. Sharman

Construction Management

At California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), in the Construction Management (CM) curriculum, there is a lack of teamwork-based content. This content includes negotiation, conflict resolution, and fundamental skills for working collaboratively with others such as social-emotional intelligence, empathy, and communication. The nature of the Cal Poly CM Program is to teach students about the aspects of the construction process, however what is missed is teaching how to work effectively in teams. They fail to teach this because of the strict curriculum of focusing on learning objectives rather than teaching individuals how to be effective construction managers. …

Blockchain Technology In The Construction Industry, Marco C. Reza

Construction Management

The construction industry has not advanced as quickly as other industries in the aspects of time, cost, and quality; but Blockchain could be the solution. While there have been improvements in the construction sector such as BIM or Prefabrication, nothing compares to those in other industries. This brings the search for a new technology that would boost construction to a new level of productivity. One technology that could potentially do this is Blockchain. Blockchain, defined in a big picture, is like a shared google sheet where anybody could add information but nobody could delete it. This technology could change the …

Pismo Beach Lions Club Sidewalk Replacement, Ramon Hernandez Jr

Construction Management

The objective of this senior project was to provide a long lasting and safe sidewalk for all the people that attend the Lions Club for future events. The idea came to be after talking to Karen Walsh, and how many previous visitors had tripped and fallen from the uneven sidewalk. The sidewalk was originally poured over 30+ years ago, and it was time for a newly built pathway. The project involved creating an estimate, schedule and coordinating with the club to see the project all the way through. The new sidewalk is now built stronger than ever before and is …

Case Study: Effects Of Covid-19 On A Mid-Size San Francisco Commercial General Construction Company, Andrew G. Maxwell Jr

Construction Management

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on the commercial construction industry. New safety procedures and regulations set by local government and health officials have made it difficult for construction to proceed at the efficiency level it had prior to the pandemic. The San Francisco Bay Area was subject to strict protocols starting in March of 2020 that vastly limited the capability of construction companies to perform work. This case study looks into the ways in which a mid sized commercial general construction contractor from the San Francisco Bay Area was impacted by Covid-19 and the methods they used …

Content Development For Leadership (Slo 23), Jaime A. Olmedo

Construction Management

As the construction industry evolves, the curriculum that prepares future builders must change and account for new ideas and concepts as well. In September of 2020, the Construction Management department at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) gave the opportunity to five senior level students to assist them with research on how to develop content and programming for the five extra student learning outcomes and have it count toward their senior project. These five students, each being paired up with a student from CM 461, were asked to produce a study guide and survey questions for one of the …

Retrospective Analysis Of Participatory Decision-Making In A Park's Construction In Lafayette, Indiana, Joshua Randall

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

The Creative Park project has been an ongoing collaboration between Purdue Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), Faith Community Development Corporation, and the residents of Lincoln Neighborhood in Lafayette, Indiana. It was initiated by Faith in 2017 as an open-ended attempt to increase local children’s interactions with creative and complex thinking as well as decreasing time spent indoors at the Hartford Hub. Through several iterations of designs, an interdisciplinary team with one consistent member has developed a plan to build a treehouse-themed park to be constructed in spring 2020. Throughout this time two major themes have arisen: that the collaboration …

Real-Time Work Zone Traffic Management Via Unmanned Air Vehicles, Charles Malveaux Ph.D, Marcio De Queiroz Ph.D, Xin Li Ph.D, Hanny Hassan Ph.D, Zewei He Ph.D

Data

Highway work zones are prone to traffic accidents when congestion and queues develop. Vehicle queues expand at a rate of 1 mile every 2 minutes. Back-of-queue, rear-end crashes are the most common work zone crash, endangering the safety of motorists, passengers, and construction workers. The dynamic nature of queuing in the proximity of highway work zones necessitates traffic management solutions that can monitor and intervene in real time. Fortunately, recent progress in sensor technology, embedded systems, and wireless communication coupled to lower costs are now enabling the development of real-time, automated, “intelligent” traffic management systems that address this problem. The …

Real-Time Work Zone Traffic Management Via Unmanned Air Vehicles, Charles Malveaux Ph.D, Marcio De Queiroz Ph.D, Xin Li Ph.D, Hany Hassan Ph.D, Zewei He Ph.D

Publications

Highway work zones are prone to traffic accidents when congestion and queues develop. Vehicle queues expand at a rate of 1 mile every 2 minutes. Back-of-queue, rear-end crashes are the most common work zone crash, endangering the safety of motorists, passengers, and construction workers. The dynamic nature of queuing in the proximity of highway work zones necessitates traffic management solutions that can monitor and intervene in real time. Fortunately, recent progress in sensor technology, embedded systems, and wireless communication coupled to lower costs are now enabling the development of real-time, automated, “intelligent” traffic management systems that address this problem. The …

United States Department Of Defense (Dod) Real Property Repair, Alterations, Maintenance, And Construction Project Contract Data: 2009–2020, Tyler Stout, Adam Teston, Brent T. Langhals, Justin D. Delorit, Carlton Hendrix, Steven J. Schuldt

Faculty Publications

Nearly one-half of all construction projects exceed planned costs and schedule, globally [1]. Owners and construction managers can analyze historical project performance data to inform cost and schedule overrun risk-reduction strategies. Though, the majority of open-source project datasets are limited by the number of projects, data dimensionality, and location. A significant global customer of the construction industry, the Department of Defense (DoD) maintains a vast database of historical project data that can be used to determine the sources and magnitude of construction schedule and cost overruns for many continental and international locations. The selection of data provided by the authors …

Current State And Prospects Of Construction Of High-Speed Railway Overpasses In Seismic Conditions Of The Republic Of Uzbekistan, Ulugbek Zabixullayevich Shermuxamedov, Saidxon Salixanovich Salixanov

Journal of Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineers

The article deals with the issues of seismic stability of high-speed railway overpasses in the Republic of Uzbekistan, taking into account the experience of their design and construction in developed foreign countries. A review of technical solutions to ensure the seismic stability of overpasses and bridges located on high-speed and high-speed Railways in the world and in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Features of ensuring seismic stability of bridges and overpasses on high-speed lines are given.