Construction Engineering and Management Commons^™

Estimating Performance Time For Air Force Military Construction Projects, Greg J. Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The prediction of construction time performance is a problem of interest to both researchers and construction industry practitioners. This research seeks to identify significant factors which may influence construction durations for Air Force Military Construction (MILCON) projects to establish a time prediction model. Data were collected for 856 MILCON projects completed between 1988 and 2004; this included both traditional facility and non-facility (e.g. airfield pavements, utilities) projects. These data were analyzed using Bromilow's time-cost (BTC) model (1969) as well as multiple linear regression. Neither model produced acceptable results for non-facility projects; however, the multiple linear regression model was found to …

An Evaluation Of Contingency Construction Methods Using Value Focused Thinking, John E. Tyron

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid Engineering Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineer (RED HORSE) Squadrons are 400-person, self-contained, combat engineer units that provide deployable and flexible expert construction capability for the United States Air Force. To help meet Air Force mission requirements, RED HORSE units currently employ a variety of traditional and innovative construction methods. But their alternatives-focused decision analysis approach to method selection limits their decision to known alternatives and may not fully achieve all of their objectives. This research developed a generic value-focused thinking (VFT) decision analysis model to help RED HORSE evaluate and select contingency construction methods. Eight alternatives were generated …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Development And Evaluation Of Lime Mortars For Restoration Of Historic Buildings And Monuments, Tarek Said Mahfouz

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Monuments and historic buildings and sites are regarded as a national treasure of any country. This is particularly true for Egypt that possesses a wealth of historic and heritage buildings covering the entire life span of human civilization. It must be preserved and safeguarded not only as historic evidences but also as works of art. Most of these structures used lime based mortars as binding material. These structures are deteriorating at a rate faster than our ability to renovate them. The repair and rehabilitation of old historic walls and mortars involve a complex interaction of existing and new elements. Engineers …

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Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Computer-Simulation-Assisted Lean Manufacturing Training, Luoding Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assesses the potential of using computer simulation to aid existing lean manufacturing training methods such as lecture and live simulation. An investigation of this possibility was carried out in conjunction with UMEP's Lean 101 class. In the study, two experimental computer simulation models demonstrating the push and pull production scenarios were constructed using ProModel software. Simulation models were equipped with a Visual Basic interface to aid trainees to manipulate the model via ActiveX. Constructed computer simulation was compared with live simulation to answer these research questions: 1. Was computer simulation able to teach additional lean concepts not covered …

A Trade Construction Knowledge Module To Enable Use Of Design Component Data In Project Management, Zhigang Shen, Raja R. A. Issa, William J. O'Brien, Ian Flood

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

The complexity, tight budget, and dynamic market of today's construction project require the seamless integration of both design and construction data, However, despite the availability of both digital design tools (various CAD applications) and digital project management tools (such as schedule software and construction management software), design data has to still be entered manually into construction applications. In order to close this gap, CAD applications widely used in AEC industries are evolving toward providing the product data within the CAD package itself, in addition to the existing graphic-oriented data. While useful, those new data-driven CAD applications are largely design-oriented and …

Individual Certification As An Engineering Manager?, Rafael Landaeta, Kawintorn Pothanun, William Peterson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Several of the discipline specific professional societies are offering or planning to offer certification of individuals as engineering managers. Does this have implications for Engineering Management programs at universities? Other stakeholders (faculty, students, employers, and graduates of engineering management programs) are impacted by certification as well. This paper attempts to look at the issue from several points of view. This paper is intended to provoke a dialog on the topic.

Detecting Anomalous Inclusions In Soil Profiles: Encouraging The Use Of Geophysics To Solve Engineering Problems, Barbara Luke, Carlos Calderon-Macias

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Geotechnical site investigations often do not take full advantage of geophysical methods. As examples, when delineating cemented strata and when detecting shallow cavities, investigations can be enhanced greatly for low additional cost by incorporating seismic surface-based measurements.

Attitudes Towards Electronic Purchasing In The Irish Construction Industry, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

It is well known that the adoption of information technology in materials procurement in the construction industry has been sporadic and piecemeal. Very significant inefficiencies and problems still exist in both paper transactions and non-integrated electronic solutions. There is a general lack of awareness and take-up of information communication technologies (ICT) within the Irish construction material purchasing supply chain. In order to verify this contention a methodology was adopted which involved the design and distribution of an on-line questionnaire to over 100 Irish construction companies. The survey was designed to ascertain the current level of technology take-up in business-to-business (B2B) …

Deep Drains To Manage Groundwater, Neil Cox, Sylvia Tetlow, Neil Coles

Bulletins 4000 -

A channel that is 1.0 m to 3.0 m in depth is considered to be a deep drain. The drain is excavated to a depth that is sufficient to intercept the watertable in order to capture and convey that groundwater from flat, poorly drained land.

The drain can either be ‘open’ to allow the inflow of surface water or ‘leeved’ to exclude surface water. An open deep drain has its spoil banks placed on one side or on alternate sides of the channel (Figure 1) while a leveed deep drain has continuous spoil banks placed on both sides of the …

Realising Electronic Purchasing In The Irish Construction Industry, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in construction purchasing has been sporadic and piecemeal. Very significant inefficiencies and problems still exist in both paper transactions and non-integrated electronic solutions. At the simplest level, the electronic transmission of business documents offers savings in paper and postage. By going a step further, businesses can make strides in communicating with their partners, at relatively low cost, through direct links between their computers. Existing ICT such as the Internet, Bar-Coding, Radio Frequency Tagging, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic catalogs and Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) have facilitated electronic commerce (EC) functionality within many …

The Benefits Of Deploying It In The Material Procurement In Ready Mix Concrete In The Irish Construction Industry, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The current methods of processing orders, deliveries and invoices of concrete products in the construction industry is enormously inefficient, with vast quantities of paperwork, duplication of effort, scanning, re-keying and resolving mismatches between purchase orders, delivery dockets and invoices. This paper sets out results of a survey which reveals attitudes to Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in supporting the purchasing process in construction. The drivers and barriers to ICT use in construction purchasing is discussed from both the contractor‟s and supplier‟s perspective. The paper goes on to describe the outcome of a pilot study in which the efficiencies are investigated arising …

A Survey Of Electronic Purchasing Practice In Ireland: A Perspective For The Irish Construction Industry, Alan V. Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

There are many millions of trading documents (such as purchase orders, delivery notes and invoices) currently exchanged on paper in business to business (B2B) transactions, each having to be re-keyed as they pass between different locations and computer applications. Existing Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet, Bar-Coding, Radio Frequency Tagging, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic catalogs and Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) have facilitated electronic commerce (EC) functionality within many business sectors. However, the adoption of such technologies in the Irish construction industry has been very slow with only limited evidence of their application. The results of a …

An Examination Of The Effect Of Organisational Culture Of The Implementation Of Public-Private Partnership (Ppp) In Ireland, Louis Gunnigan, David Eaton

Conference papers

This paper is concerned with identifying the organisational issues causing difficulty in the use of PPP and assessing the impact of PPP implementation on the organisational culture in the Irish public and private sectors. The authors address this issue by mapping the PPP process for one project type and comparing this process with that carried out in traditional procurement. Process differences through use of PPP are identified and organisational issues that have potential to impact on PPP success are assessed. Whilst the study undertaken is not extensive, it provides insight for initiators of PPP projects into the organisational issues that …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.