Civil Engineering Commons^™

Impact Of Natural Disasters On Construction And Engineering Solutions, Karima Ao Damson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Project seeks to research and explain the impact of natural disasters on the construction and reconstruction of infrastructure in countries with the highest risk of natural disasters and compare them to the requirements in the United States in the states most prone to natural disasters. The objectives are to identify the countries most prone to natural disasters, describe the environmental impacts of the natural disasters, describe the impacts on construction and reconstruction requirements, and research whether construction and civil engineering solutions currently applied to the individual countries could be improved or reproduced in other countries exposed to …

Investigating The Properties Of Eco-Bricks Composed Of Sawdust, Bamboo, And Varying Composition Of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash And Portland Cement, Wilfred Victor C. Marasigan, Julia Sophia Antonia S. Encarnacion, Czyrus Michael A. Bajeta, Alijah F. Gonzales, Juan Carlo T. Gumangan

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

With the construction industry contributing nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, there is a growing need for innovative and sustainable building materials. This research investigates a new eco-friendly concrete brick incorporating sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), sawdust, and bamboo fibers. Three eco-brick mixtures, each containing 2% bamboo fiber and 10% sawdust by weight but with varying proportions of Portland cement (PC) and SCBA, were tested against a standard brick for compressive strength, flexural strength, and water absorption. The optimal mixture, with 2% bamboo fiber by weight, 10% sawdust by weight, 85% PC, and 15% SCBA, exhibits compressive and flexural strength …

Smart Highway Construction Site Monitoring Using Artificial Intelligence, Mehran Mazari, Yahaira Nava-Gonzalez, Ly Jacky N. Nhiayi, Mohamad H. Saleh

Mineta Transportation Institute

Construction is a large sector of the economy and plays a significant role in creating economic growth and national development,and construction of transportation infrastructure is critical. This project developed a method to detect, classify, monitor, and track objects during the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure by using artificial intelligence and a deep learning approach. This study evaluated the performance of AI and deep learning algorithms to compare their performance in detecting and classifying the equipment in various construction scenes. Our goal was to find the optimized balance between the model capabilities in object detection and memory processing requirements. …

Implementation And Performance Evaluation Of Plastic Road Mix Design In Parking Lot, Ishraq Faruk

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The uncontrolled proliferation of plastic waste has emerged as a global environmental crisis, with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) constituting a substantial fraction of the waste stream due to its extensive use in packaging and its resistance to degradation. In parallel, asphalt pavements particularly in urban infrastructure such as parking lots experience accelerated deterioration from raveling, rutting, and cracking as a result of thermal cycling, repetitive loading, and inadequate drainage. These converging challenges present an opportunity for innovative, circular-economy-based sustainable pavement technologies that simultaneously improve surface durability and mitigate plastic waste accumulation.

This research investigates the full-scale implementation and monitoring of HDPE …

Software Literacy In Construction, Aidan Cazares

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The construction industry increasingly relies on software like Bluebeam Revu for their quantity takeoff, document management, and collaboration needs. This project will outline pertinent information obtained through their Bluebeam professional training program and reflect it with a detailed estimate of a real life construct project.

Prediction Of Cost And Schedule Changes In Transportation Projects Through Historical Bid And Change Order Document Analysis – Using Oklahoma Dot Project Cases., Rabin Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Construction bid documents encompass project specifications, drawings, schedules, and other critical details and are the foundation for project bidding and execution. Accurate bid documents are essential to ensure project bids are competitive, realistic, and aligned with requirements. However, bid documents are susceptible to risks from various sources. Failure to identify and rectify these risks can result in inaccurate cost estimates and higher bids. Therefore, identifying and resolving risks within bidding or contract documents are of utmost importance. While prior research has shed light on potential risk factors within the bid documents, a noticeable gap remains in the literature regarding identifying …

Quality Assurance And Quality Control For Reinforced Concrete Inspections, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

Ensuring the safety and longevity of structures is paramount in concrete construction projects. Cases like the Big Dig ceiling collapse, which occurred on July 10, 2006, when a concrete ceiling panel measuring 20' x 40' and debris weighing 26 short tons (52,000 lb) fell within Boston's Fort Point Channel Tunnel, underscore this importance (Wald, M. L., 2007). Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) are crucial in mitigating such risks. QA ensures that materials and methods meet predetermined performance, design, and reliability standards specified in contracts and customer arrangements. On the other hand, QC is a strategic process businesses use …

Bim Coordination Post Pandemic, Zachary Marshall

Honors Scholar Theses

The goal of this thesis is to utilize previous research done on virtual meetings and build upon it by conducting new research on the successes and failures of current virtual BIM meetings. This paper starts with a literature review looking into Building Information Modeling (BIM) Coordination and the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the BIM meetings. BIM meetings started to shift virtual due to the nature of the pandemic and this has had effects on the performance and structure of the coordination. This knowledge was then expanded on by looking at virtual BIM meeting case studies. Interviews were …

Barriers To The Adoption Of Digitalization In The Construction Industry: Perspectives Of Owners, Consultants, And Contractors, Rawan Al-Omari, Ghaleb Sweis, Waleed Abu-Khader, Rateb Sweis

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Construction organizations are moving toward adopting digitalization in response to Industry 4.0. However, the slow adoption of digitalization has been observed. This study aimed to assess the level of digitalization adoption and evaluate the barriers to adopting digitalization in the Jordanian construction industry by all project parties in the public and private sectors. The study targets were achieved through a structured questionnaire using SPSS software for analysis through the following statistical tests: Normality test, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Most respondents used software at the design stage, and less than half did not use any software …

Improving Multi-Crane Planning On Construction Sites, Ali Khodabandelu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Designing the configuration of tower cranes, managing their operations, and coordinating material logistics are intricate processes that wield significant influence over the time, cost, productivity, and safety of construction projects. This complexity stems from the multitude of layout configurations, diverse crane types, varied tasks, and material supply points, all interacting within a dynamic environment. Collisions pose a heightened risk due to overlapping crane areas, further adding complexity to the planning of crane layouts and operations. Optimizing crane layout and operational planning while ensuring safety requires establishing effective connections between tasks, cranes, and material supply locations. Traditionally, research and industry practices …

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 …

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. …

Information Management And Bim Standards And Supports Inventory, Ryan Dempsey, Barry Mcauley, David Burke

Tools

The Digital Standards pillar consists of industry experts who champion the benefits of common rules, guidelines, and workflows that facilitate the improvement of information flow and information management across asset life cycles. Digital standards provide a common language that can be translated to technical specifications enabling clients, designers, contractors, and facilities managers, irrespective of their preferred tools, to communicate efficiently and reduce cost, rework, and disputes. Working closely with the Digital Procurement and Digital Education and Training pillars, this pillar is developing and delivering Irish Information Management/BIM (Digital Construction) guidelines for the sector.

This report summarises existing digital construction standards, …

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 …

Analysis Of The Impact Of Covid-19 On Construction Cost And Schedule Overruns, Nikhitha Adepu

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The construction industry, renowned for its dynamic nature, encountered unprecedented uncertainties throughout its history. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic served as a powerful catalyst, underscoring the urgent need for a deeper comprehension of the challenges it introduced and their potential implications for the industry's future. While numerous studies have explored this topic, a comprehensive understanding of the specific factors that disrupted the construction sector during the pandemic remains elusive. To bridge this knowledge gap, this study identifies, categorizes, and ranks these challenges, while also proposing effective management strategies to mitigate their detrimental impact on construction projects. To lay …

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 …

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 …

Guest Editorial: Building Performance And Sustainable Infrastructure: Unsustainable Return To Practice, Christopher Gorse, Colin Booth, Lloyd Scott

Articles

The abrupt decline in global carbon emissions experienced during the pandemic was not sustainable. Overwhelmingly, this is evidenced by the advanced economies’ swift return to close to pre-pandemic levels and, of greater concern, the total global use of fossil fuels has rebounded to their highest level in history (IEA, 2021; Jackson et al., 2022). Unfortunately, post-pandemic, the anthropic life threating activities have resumed.

Exploring Opportunities And Challenges Of Adopting Exoskeletons And Exosuits In Construction: Identifying Facilitators, Barriers, And Potential Solutions To Those Barriers, Dilruba Mahmud

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Exoskeletons and exosuits (collectively termed as EXOs) have the potential to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) by protecting workers from exertion and muscle fatigue due to physically demanding, repetitive, and prolonged work in construction workplaces. However, the use of EXOs in construction is in its infancy, and much knowledge for driving acceptance, adoption, and application of this technology is still lacking. This paper aims to identify the potential facilitators and barriers to adopting EXOs in the construction industry, along with potential solutions to those identified barriers to fostering the adoption of EXOs in construction workplaces through a …

Sustainability In Construction Practices As Emphasis On Environmental Investing In Esg Model Grows, Maddie Heal

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to emphasize the importance of growing investment on environmental initiatives in business ESG models in regard to sustainable practices in construction. The ESG acronym is known as the environmental, social, and governance efforts that businesses strive to incorporate in their models to increase the responsibility of operations.

Investors continue to seek out responsible businesses when choosing which ventures to pursue. The analysis of the current construction crisis, current investments in the right direction of Eco-friendly design regarding construction, and the threats and benefits incentivizing those investments elucidates the need to emphasize socially responsible investment …

Understanding The Differences Between Industry Objectives And Institutional Learning, Kristen Schell

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

To combat understaffing in the construction industry, it is necessary to employ the best candidates possible. By identifying the most desirable skills in a construction employee from an industry perspective, institutional learning can better prepare graduates for the construction workforce. Currently there exists an information gap in the objectives of the construction industry and institutional learning. This gap produces graduates, professors, and employers with expectations that do not align. Reducing this gap will aid in the success of hiring recently graduated construction students who can meet the ever-changing demands of the industry. Construction students who are fresh out of college …

Measurement Of Resilience Performance For Infrastructure Construction Project Delivery, Fei Han

Civil Engineering ETDs

In the past decade, infrastructure resilience in the U.S. has become critical due to increasing disruptions to the built environment and the resultant consequences on economic, social, and environmental goals. This attention to resilience research is drawn to investigating the ability of existing structures and facilities to resist and recover from natural and human-caused hazards. From a broader view, resilience also applies to processes, such as infrastructure project delivery processes. During these processes, a project often suffers inevitable threats and disruptions, which can significantly delay or derail the project if the process is not resilient.

This research aimed to conceptualize …

Assessment Of Key Imperatives For Enhancing Precast Adoptability In Egypt, Mostafa Sameh

Theses and Dissertations

Precast Concrete’s modular application concept is a major construction method that has been used historically seen in various shapes, forms, and with a wide range of constituents. Examples include Ancient Egypt and China among several impressive structures in old civilizations. The major advantages of precast concrete lie in its adaptability, resilience, and versatility which makes precast concrete one of the most agile building materials. Precast concrete as we know it today has been introduced to our markets over the past several decades. Having similar advantages to that of old precast building methods, the road has been paved for wider use …

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 …

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 …

Potential Benefits From Practices In Construction Waste Material Controls, Abdulaziz Alwadhenani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Construction waste is generated from the various construction activities of building, maintaining, renovating, and demolishing infrastructure facilities. These materials include, but are not limited to, concrete, rubble, fiberglass, asphalt, bricks, wood, and scrap metals. In the last few decades, there has been a significant increase in the volume of construction and demolition (C&D) waste materials in the United States (U.S.). Between 1990 and 2017, the total increase in debris generation has surpassed 320%. According to U.S. solid waste management statistics, more than 50% of C&D waste has been and continues to be transported to landfills. The disposal of C&D waste …

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, …

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 …