Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Stem And The Skilled Labor Shortage In The United States, Nicolo Tetsuo Hoshizaki

Construction Management

There is a growing shortage of skilled labor in the United States construction industry. As the baby boomer generation prepares to leave the workforce, this problem is getting exponentially worse. As Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs have become the U.S. Department of Education’s top priority, more young adults are pursuing higher education and entering the STEM workforce. Using quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, this paper provides an explanation as to why a logical method to assuage the labor shortage in construction is to employ vocational programs that prepare young adults to enter the industry similar to how STEM programs …

Application Of Modern, Effective Materials In Rail Road Reinforced Bridge Elements, U.Z. Shermuxamedov, F.Z. Zokirov

Journal of Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineers

The article is about reducing the construction costs of railroad bridges and the effective use modern building materials. The article compares the technical characteristics of composite fittings and metal fittings and their proportionality. Indeed, recourse saving of metal and composite fittings, as well as factors of localization of construction is compared

Method Of Calculation Of Self-Stressed Concrete Slabs Supported Along The Contour, S.S. Salixanov

Journal of Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineers

The paper presents the developed method for calculating the contour-supported slab of self-stressed concrete. Reinforced concrete slab on the tension cement replaces the traditional construction of the bridge. In this article, in order to exclude reinforcement, the problem of determining the stress-strain state of self-stressed concrete slabs supported along the contour is considered. The values of stresses in the upper and lower faces of the concrete slab, as well as the bending moment in the middle section of the slab

Construction Features Of Transport Tunnels In The Mountain Areas Of Uzbekistan, M.Х. Miralimov, Sh.U. Normurodov

Journal of Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineers

The paper provides information about the transport tunnel 19,2 km long which was recently completed on new electrified railway line “Angren-Pap” in the mountain area of Uzbekistan. It is noted that the most actual for transport tunnels is account of seismic activity of geological environment in the process of design, construction and maintenance. There are given the effects of earthquakes on underground structures and regularities of displacement and stress distribution in the tunnel linings under seismic impacts. The accumulated experience of earthquake-resistant construction in Uzbekistan shows the need to consider several design schemes for the interaction of tunnels in the …

Competitive Strategies In Small And Medium Sized Enterprises (Sme's): A Cross- Case Analysis Of Irish Construction Professional Service Firms, Oluwasegun O. Seriki, Roisin Murphy

Conference papers

Strategy formulation aims to attain strategic fit between an organisation and its business environment in pursuit of competitive advantage. Although competitive strategy research is long established within industries such as manufacturing, financial services and IT, strategy within construction is still under-investigated by comparison. For construction professional service firms (CPSFs), the dearth of academic inquiry is even more apparent, partly due to the intangible nature of their service offerings, highly customised nature of their services and reliance on intellectual capital. The Irish construction sector is experiencing stable growth since following a prolonged recession, thus understanding the strategy process within professional service …

Assessment Of Project Risks In Fast-Track Construction Projects, Claudia Garrido Martins

Civil Engineering ETDs

Fast-tracking has been extensively used to respond to demands for reduced construction project delivery times. Unique risks arising from the overlapping of activities can threaten the project. A framework is proposed to assess project risks in fast-track construction projects to better understand the intersection of fast-track, risks, and construction. The research used a commercial construction renovation project as a case study, semi-structured interviews, simulation and optimization methods to identify risks of overlapping activities, classify the risks, evaluate the impact of risks and risk mitigation actions, and optimal combinations to minimize the risk impact and mitigation costs. This study resulted in …

Investigation Of Grout - A Comparison Of Standard Grout Mix To Self-Consolidating Grout Mix, Rachel Garcia Chandler

Architectural Engineering

Masonry is a major structural material for low rise buildings, however the design of masonry buildings is rarely taught as a formal course at most universities. As part of the educational experience and to become familiar with the specifications and testing procedures for grouted masonry, a student run experiment on varying the water to cement ratio of masonry grout was conducted. The purpose is to report on the effects of changing the water-to-cement (W/C) ratios in a standard grout mix. The typical W/C ratio is approximately 0.80:1.00. In order to show the effects of increasing water in a grout mix, …

Training Curricula For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department Of Highways, Nancy Albright, Bryan Gibson, Chris Van Dyke, Jeff Jasper, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Most state departments of transportation (DOTs) offer their employees professional development opportunities (e.g., training courses) so they can build their expertise and in doing so facilitate agency efforts to fulfill their business mandates. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is no different in this regard. While professional development opportunities are invaluable, and while the Cabinet offers a number of trainings to its staff, currently there exists no comprehensive training curricula to help professionals and paraprofessionals systematically grow their knowledge and skills and ensure KYTC maintains a robust portfolio of technical competencies across the organization. The inconsistent and ad hoc manner in …

Develop An Mep Based Scheduling Learning Module With Industry Support And Guidance To Understand The Impact On The General Contractor, Andy S. Rios

Construction Management

The Construction Management (CM) program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is recognized as one of the best construction programs in country. The curriculum does an extraordinary job at teaching how to utilize software and technology to create a project schedule. The one thing that the curriculum lacks is learning sequencing of events when it comes to scheduling, and where to look to obtain this information. Although learning sequencing for scheduling is hard to teach because it comes with years of industry experience, it is important to have a basic understanding of how things come together to create a functioning …

Zero Emission Zero Waste Construction Sites In California Commercial Construction: A Case Study, Joseph E. Anderson

Construction Management

Zero emission refers to the absence of waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate from any engine, motor, process, or other energy source systems. CO2 emissions through equipment and machinery, along with toxic chemicals, carcinogens, ash and dust are founded most common in the Construction Industry. Although these findings may not raise an eyebrow, it is quite overlooked, and the numerical data is staggering. Zero waste is also examined in this paper—the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, recovery of products and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, …

Operations Constructed - Jobsite Material Delivery Website, Lorcan Yeung

Construction Management

Operations Constructed is a program a couple students developed to help enhance the material delivery process on-site through innovation. Through partnering a construction management student and a computer engineering student the team developed Operations Constructed which modernized the material delivery process. Through industry research, Cal Poly Entrepreneurship mentorship, and faculty input the team produced a program that is simplistic enough for the old-school construction industry. Presently many construction companies use white boards or excel sheets to schedule their material deliveries whereas Operations Constructed would provide an automated means of coordination, confirmation, and execution of the same deliveries. The final product …

Inception Through Inspection: Quality Control In The Simspon Strong Tie Materials Demonstration Lab, Allyson G. Forster

Construction Management

The purpose of this senior project is to create a quality control program in the Simpson Strong Tie (SST) Materials Demonstration Lab using BIM 360. The goal of this program is to help streamline the building process of the six-foot by eight-foot tiny home in Residential Construction Management. The SST laboratory activities have been developed in the true spirit of “learn by doing” and serve as a way for Construction Management (CM) students to interact with the building process directly. Students in the CM department are taught that quality begins at the inception of a job and should be monitored …

Confronting Retainage And Its Disruptive Effects On The Business Practices Of Commercial Concrete Subcontractors, Arlen Karl Hartoonian

Construction Management

This paper aims to explore the extent of the damage that retainage is capable of inflicting on the financial health of commercial concrete subcontractors and strategies which can be utilized to mitigate or avoid damage to their financial health. The methodology implemented to conduct this exploration is a series of interviews with commercial concrete subcontractors. An analysis of these interviews in conjunction with a thorough literature review demonstrates that retainage does indeed impact financial health of commercial concrete subcontractor though the scale of the operation does make a difference in the severity of this impact. Whether or not the construction …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Studying Spanish And Construction In Tandem, Daniel Joseph Eide

Construction Management

Does Spanish bilingualism have measurable fiscal value in the U.S. construction industry? Studying and becoming proficient in Spanish is feasible, affordable, and can be accomplished at Cal Poly in conjunction with a Construction Management major. In a dynamic industry that values versatile employees, where communication is key to success, the capability of speaking Spanish is a substantial value-add in the workforce. Using qualitative and quantitative data analysis, it is concluded that individuals who possess English and Spanish-speaking abilities in the U.S. construction industry can expect a 3 percent wage premium when compared to English-only speakers. This study weighs the costs …

Feasibility Of Utilizing Autonomous, Trenchless Tunneling Technology, Thomas Arthur Fuentez

Construction Management

The construction industry as a whole has not increased its productivity level as much as other industries in the world. Professionals are constantly trying to think of new ideas and methods to improve the efficiency of construction through new technology. One area in which productivity needs improvement, is in land development. Trenching for underground utilities and services uses a lot of time in a project’s schedule as well as costs which can be reduced with the use of autonomous, trenchless tunneling technology such as the “BADGER”, (RoBot for Autonomous unDerGround trenchless opERations). This technology is being designed to use a …

Interim Field Guide For Construction And Testing Of Concrete Shear Wall With Added Frp Layer, Carlos Alberto Espitia

Construction Management

In Los Angeles, many of the hospitals are no longer up to code as they were built in the 1970’s. The shear walls that the hospitals were constructed on stand to experience major failures in the event of a seismic event and this is the issue that this student research team was assigned with. This project was to design, procure, and construct all necessary constraints to be able to test a wall that is fundamentally similar to that of the sheer walls in these hospitals. Once this was complete the goal was to test two walls with an added FRP …

Implementing An “Intro To Sst” Topics Course, Connor M. Cody

Construction Management

This study is designed to gauge Cal Poly Construction Management students interest level in a potential new topics course, “Intro to SST”, that will feature small building projects and emphasize construction safety. With this course, students will be more experienced and safe with building in the SST prior to the Residential and Commercial building labs, as well as receiving a brief knowledge of what goes into the trade jobs on a day to day basis. Students were asked to answer ten questions – nine survey and one free response. These questions were designed to provide quantitative and qualitative data that …

Development Of A Topics Course For Construction Management, William Harrison Wygal

Construction Management

The Cal Poly Construction Management program has been proven to produce some of the most prepared graduates heading into new careers in every facet of the construction industry. Speaking with faculty member Tom Kommer, we have concluded that there is a need for an increased focus on construction risk management within the curriculum. In order to develop a course which would suitably educate Cal Poly Construction Management students in the topic of risk management, I performed a literary review during which I determined which risks are most prevalent within the construction industry and how firms in the construction industry manage …

Statistical Viability Analysis Of United States Air Force Estimating Cost Factor For Sustainable Construction, Philip A. Ramsey, Diedrich Prigge, Torrey J. Wagner, Alfred E. Thal Jr.

Faculty Publications

Varying legislation and executive orders coupled with needs for energy resiliency have led the United States Air Force (USAF) to pursue sustainable construction. However, the limited understanding of initial costs to implement these changes have contributed to poor project cost estimating, resulting in 62 percent of USAF projects experiencing more than 5 percent cost growth. After reviewing 1628 USAF Military Construction (MILCON) construction projects in 922 category codes (CATCODEs), a twotailed t-test for populations with unequal variance was accomplished on the final normalized contract cost for 340 projects in 16 CATCODEs executed between 2002 and 2017. This analysis provides a …

Opportunities And Challenges Of Modular Construction In A Hospitality Centric Environment, Shreyansh Paliwal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Modular construction techniques can substantially decrease project schedules and costs, effectively maintaining or increasing the quality of an end product by shifting a percentage of site-based work to an off-site fabrication shop. Modular construction can also significantly contribute to sustainability by reducing site disruption, reducing waste generated, creating better relocatability and reusability, causing less dust and noise pollution, and reducing the probability of loss, theft, and damage to equipment. The primary goal of this research is to identify the opportunities and challenges of implementing modular construction techniques in a hospitality-centric environment, by investigating the current situation and characteristics of modular …

The Skills Students Coming Out Of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Lack To Become Effective Superintendents, Armando Pulido-Melendrez

Construction Management

The construction superintendent plays a very important role throughout the construction process in order to deliver a successful project. This paper analyzes the skills Cal Poly SLO graduates lack to become effective superintendents. It does so by first analyzing quantitative research on papers that state which skills are important. Several interviews were conducted with professionals in the construction industry. These interviews provided input regarding what makes an effective superintendent. From this research, an effective superintendent must have an understanding of scheduling and sequencing of construction processes. Additionally, they must have the strength and stamina for construction supervision in the field …

Study Of Various Construction Job Functions To Address Workforce Challenge, Abraham Bonilla, Dhaval Gajjar, Kenneth Sullivan

The Professional Constructor

Lack of construction workforce is one of the most predominant challenges faced by the construction industry. It is predicted that the industry will have a major shortage of skilled labor in the next decade due to the retirement of baby boomers and the lack of new talent entering the industry to replace these baby boomers. To attract young talent into the construction industry, it is critical to make them aware about the industry regarding various job functions as it relates to job satisfaction, compensation and career fulfilment. The purpose of this study is to gain insight of various construction job …

Implementation Of Blockchain Technology In The Construction Industry, Steven Graham

Construction Management

In general, the construction industry has been pretty resistant to change. While most industries have gained in productivity over the years through implementation of new technologies and other factors, construction industry productivity has been on a steady decline since the 1960s. Even though there are a multitude of reasons for this, including more complex building types and a decline in the workforce, the major problem holding construction back are project management issues and alienation of project stakeholders in the construction process. Some improvements have been made to help with collaboration between parties, like BIM (building information modeling) and project management …

The Mechanics Of Precision Presplitting, Anthony Joseph Konya

Doctoral Dissertations

"Precision Presplitting is a widely used method of presplit blasting for the mining and construction industries. In recent years considerable effort has gone into the development of empirical equations based on field data to be able to better design the Precision Presplit for various rock types and structural environments. However, the most widely discussed theory about the mechanics of the presplit formation, that of shockwave collisions, does not appear to be applicable for this method of presplitting.

This research has disproven this theory based on insufficient magnitude of the shockwave from modeling with basic wave mechanics. Other authors have suggested …

Building A Handicap Accessible Entrance And Gabion Wall, David C. Marter

Construction Management

As people age, their bodies naturally deteriorate and often times people are confined to wheelchairs in order to get around. Uneven and unstable ground is a large obstacle for people who live confined to a wheelchair. This project was derived and designed in order to help a family with multiple family members bound to wheelchairs to allow them an easier point of access into the home. The project itself consists of the construction of a concrete walkway and a gabion wall to provide some additional aesthetics. The concrete pathway ranges from the driveway to a paver pathway that curves around …

Hard Hat Safety By California Contractors, Jonathan G. Hernandez

Construction Management

The hard hat is the quintessential item of PPE, and yet it often gets overlooked when ensuring safety standards are being met. We all expect our hard hat to protect us, but many never inspect it to ensure that it is properly fulfilling its purpose. This disregard to inspection and maintenance can lead to serious injury or death in the event of an accident. While organizations such as OSHA and the hard hat manufacturers themselves post information on this topic, it is unclear if this information is actually being received by the people involved in a construction project. This research …

Unexpected Setbacks When Excavating - Using Gpr For Mitigating Risk: A Case Study, Sam Marcum

Construction Management

Whether constructing on undeveloped land or on an existing developed site, there is a risk of encountering unexpected objects when excavating. With today’s technology in Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), this risk can generally be mitigated. Using Whiting-Turner’s construction of Stanford University’s new ChEM-H & SNI Building as an example, this case study discusses the use of GPR for underground mapping, as well as various ways to implement GPR technology. The ChEM-H & SNI site had many underground utilities that required precise pot-holing to verify locations. Although pot-holing is widely used, it is a destructive method, it is time and labor …

A Study Of Cal Poly Students' Preferred Career Path: A Focus On Alumni, Jesse D. Longchamps

Construction Management

The construction industry is a fragile system with an intricate mix of field and office – labor and management. Theses two branches are critical to keeping any project running smoothly. However, the industry is noticeably changing and this fragile structure is deteriorating. Field positions are getting tougher and tougher to fill for most companies in the construction industry. Without skilled field employees, the companies are losing one of the two most important aspects of construction. Without field employees, office employees may be tasked with picking up additional duties beyond their expertise – further advancing their stress levels and sacrificing quality …

Unexpected Setbacks When Excavating – Using Gpr For Mitigating Risk: A Case Study, Samuel L. Marcum

Construction Management

Whether constructing on undeveloped land or on an existing developed site, there is a risk of encountering unexpected objects when excavating. With today’s technology in Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), this risk can generally be mitigated. Using Whiting-Turner’s construction of Stanford University’s new ChEM-H & SNI Building as an example, this case study discusses the use of GPR for underground mapping, as well as various ways to implement GPR technology. The ChEM-H & SNI site had many underground utilities that required precise pot-holing to verify locations. Although pot-holing is widely used, it is a destructive method, it is time and labor …

Growing Grounds Nursery - Outdoor Plaza And Education Space, Keenan Brekke

Construction Management

This paper describes the planning, both design and financing, as well as the construction of an 800 square foot outdoor plaza area and education space. After six months of Planning and Fundraising, the scope of work included clearing and grubbing, relocation of irrigation lines, site grading and footing excavation, forming and pouring four architectural board form concrete benches and a planter, installing a perimeter French drain for site drainage, and installation of serpentine rock retaining walls, steel planters, a sail shade structure, outdoor string lights, a koi pond, and all significant landscaping. The author, over 100 volunteers, and various industry …