Construction Engineering and Management Commons^™

An Analysis Of Construction Estimating Software, Guilianna M. Lozano

Construction Management

There are various components that go into building a construction project. And regardless of the size of the project, construction projects have become increasingly expensive with cost escalations on the rise. The cost element of each construction project is critical to the success of the overall project. In today’s current industry, numerous resources are available that strive to assist the built environment with managing construction costs. Currently, construction firms are maintaining a competitive edge by using the technology that has been made available. The basis of this research, conducted using a quantitative survey, was to provide data that indicated which …

How To Manage Material Costing For Future Projects During Shortages And Inflationary Times, John Chauncy Langton

Construction Management

No one knows precisely when a significant shortage or inflation of material will come. In the construction industry, the cost of materials changes daily. However, when Covid-19 arrived, the material price increased dramatically. Suppliers ran out of material, small companies couldn’t afford the material, and large companies had to compete with other larger companies more than ever. I had the opportunity to interview five well-informed construction owners and senior executives about their companies and what they did to survive unforeseen shortages and inflations in construction material. Inventory and pre-buying materials were vital in helping companies not have to pay a …

Preliminary Design Of Vests For The Vest Hackathon, Amanda Schrader

Construction Management

The purpose of this project was to analyze the high visibility safety vest as currently designed and recreate a safety vest for use in the construction industry. Safety vests play a prevalent role in the construction industry relating to safety and productivity on site. A vest is used for being a high visibility (hi-vis) personal protective equipment (PPE) device that provides 360-degree visibility for its wearers while simultaneously working to help carry small, necessary items. In recent years, the design of safety vests is shifting with the increase of females in the industry, representing a larger variety of body types …

The Site Logistics Design Of The Shabang Slo 2022 Vip Stage, Natalie J. Hodgson

Construction Management

The objective of this project is to take some of the burden off the SHABANG Music Festival organizers and create a detailed plan on how the VIP section of the festival is going to be organized. The SHABANG music festival is an annual, local weekend event for the community of San Luis Obispo. The goal of this project is to create a plan that will be effectively utilized at this year's SHABANG festival. In working toward this goal, every aspect of the Construction Management curriculum that has been taught in our careers thus far will be utilized. For the Construction …

Expanding On Leadership And Professional Skills For A Girls Build Summer Academy, Claire M. Gress

Construction Management

The construction industry has historically been male-dominated. Despite efforts by organizations and companies to encourage women to join the industry, there has been little progress in encouraging more women to enter the industry and getting them to stay. The construction management program at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo is developing and hosting a Girls Build Summer Academy to familiarize and encourage high school girls to explore construction as a career path. One segment of this boot camp includes leadership modules that will give the girls confidence and the skills they need to be successful leaders in construction. …

Skip The Grid 2022: Solar Powered Refrigeration In The Navajo Nation, Heather L. Sailor

Construction Management

This paper summarizes the process of an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty at Cal Poly installing eleven off-grid solar systems for families of the Navajo nation. This paper further delves into the lean principals and prefabrication that made it possible as well as the lessons learned to increase the feasibility and scalability of repeating this project in the future. This project was a combined effort of an interdisciplinary group of Cal Poly students and faculty as well as company sponsors Solv Energy, Dometic USA, and Goal Zero, facilitated through the non-profit, Heart of America. The goal of this project …

Construction Of A Visitor Deck At City Farm Slo, Brett Bryan Jones

Construction Management

This paper will discuss the construction of my senior project. For my senior project, I completed the construction of an observation deck at City Farm SLO. City Farm SLO is a non-profit that provides food to local food banks and has educational gardens that allow students of all ages come to learn and volunteer their time. The deck is centrally located at the highest point on the property, making it a great lookout spot for visitors to view the entire farm. However, the location on top of the hill created challenges that we had to overcome. I completed my senior …

Single-Pass Inline Pipeline 3d Reconstruction Using Depth Camera Array, Zhexiong Shang, Zhigang Shen

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

A novel inline inspection (ILI) approach using depth cameras array (DCA) is introduced to create high-fidelity, dense 3D pipeline models. A new camera calibration method is introduced to register the color and the depth information of the cameras into a unified pipe model. By incorporating the calibration outcomes into a robust camera motion estimation approach, dense and complete 3D pipe surface reconstruction is achieved by using only the inline image data collected by a self-powered ILI rover in a single pass through a straight pipeline. The outcomes of the laboratory experiments demonstrate one-millimeter geometrical accuracy and 0.1-pixel photometric accuracy. …

The Living Breakwaters Pdr Efforts: Conceptual Scheduling, Calvin O. Walters Jr.

Publications and Research

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy caused nearly $19 billion in damages in New York City including 69,000 residential units across the five boroughs. This disaster precipitated a post-disaster-rebuilding (PDR) project including roughly $4.2 billion in a Community Development Block Grant allocated towards PDR projects. A portion of the grant was used to construct a living breakwater in Tottenville, Staten Island, consisting of a resiliency approach to risk reduction through erosion prevention, wave energy attenuation, and enhancement of ecosystems and social resiliency to improve resistance to storms for the community of Tottenville. The ridges of each breakwater are designed with …

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 …

Refining Particle Size Specification For Asphalt Emulsion, Pedro Luis Diaz Romero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pavements begin to deteriorate as soon as they are constructed, and traffic is released. The rate at which a pavement deteriorates depends on the material quality, the environment, and the loads carried. To properly preserve pavements and extend their life, various pavement preservation treatments are used. For flexible pavements, a considerable number of these treatments use asphalt emulsion (which are refer to simply emulsions from here on). Emulsions are classified based on their particle charge and reactivity. Emulsions used in chip seals are usually of rapid set reactivity and are classified based on tests over fifty years old.

It has …

Cyclic Behavior Of Laterally Skewed Special Moment Frame Connections: Experimental Testing And System-Level Analyses, Mohammad Hossein Kashefizadeh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Special moment frames (SMFs) are frequently used in high seismic areas for architecturally constrained designs. SMFs provide lateral system stiffness without the use of braces that often obstruct views and architectural features. Current American Institute of Steel Construction (ASIC) provisions (AISC 341-16) provide prequalified SMF connection details; however, all prequalified details only consider orthogonal connections between the beam and column. This dissertation investigates the effect of adding skew within SMF beam-to-column connections. The study presented herein involves system-level dynamic time-history analyses of skewed SMF connections, the analytical component-level investigation into the effect of the concrete slab on behavior of the …

Analyzing Vulnerabilities In The Northwest Arkansas Highway Network Using Mathematical Optimization, Brandon Jerome

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The highway and bridge network is a critical infrastructure that allows for the free transportation of citizens and enables truck-borne freight transportation. Disruption of this system could be caused by a terrorist attack, natural disaster, growth of population, required repairs and upgrades, or collapse caused by old age or malfunction. In the event of a disruption cities and regions can experience increased traffic and supply chain shortages, thus causing cascading effects throughout surrounding areas. With this motivation, we develop a network interdiction optimization model to identify a limited subset of roads that, if disrupted, causes the greatest increase in the …

Repair And Strengthening Of Concrete Bridges Using Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (Uhpc), Antony Kodsy

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Reinforced/Prestressed concrete bridges are subjected to environmental effects that cause premature deterioration and require structural repair and strengthening during their service life. Currently 42% of bridges in the United States are at least 50 years old, and 7.5% of them are structurally deficient and need to be repaired/strengthened. Recently, new repair and strengthening techniques using Ultra-High-Performance concrete (UHPC) have shown a great potential with respect to performance, economy, and speed. UHPC is a new class of concrete that has mechanical and durability properties that are far superior to those of conventional concrete (CC). In addition, UHPC offers several advantages compared …

A Campus Connected: An Analysis Of University Outdoor Spaces, Skylar Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to analyze the evolution of outdoor renovations on East Tennessee State University’s campus by examining the effects these renovations have had on students and faculty, and then using this data to propose possible successful renovations to the remainder of the University Commons project. To complete this project, data was obtained through East Tennessee State University administrative faculty interviews, surveys of students residing in campus resident halls, and observations. By examining the impact on behavior, designers and developers are then able to successfully determine the factors that aid in positively influencing human behaviors. Design suggestions …

Building Services Engineering May/June 2022

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Digitalization Of Construction Project Requirements Using Natural Language Processing (Nlp) Techniques, Fahad Ul Hassan

All Dissertations

Contract documents are a critical legal component of a construction project that specify all wishes and expectations of the owner toward the design, construction, and handover of a project. A single contract package, especially of a design-build (DB) project, comprises hundreds of documents including thousands of requirements. Precise comprehension and management of the requirements are critical to ensure that all important explicit and implicit requirements of the project scope are captured, managed, and completed. Since requirements are mainly written in a natural human language, the current manual methods impose a significant burden on practitioners to process and restructure them into …

Comparing The Stiffness Of Cold In-Place Recycled Asphalt Pavement To Hot Mix Asphalt: Determining The Reproducibility Of The Stiffness Rebound Test, Tanner Turben

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Stiffness Raveling Mechanism Test (SRMT) was originally developed as an indirect measure of pavement stiffness to determine a pavement’s tendency to ravel, a type of damage. Regarding rehabilitation of existing roadways by Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR), concern of field repeatability was expressed (Hill & Braham, 2016).

An analysis of lab-compacted samples of CIR and Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) was performed to determine if the results could be reproduced between CIR and HMA. Additionally, the experiment observed the effects of percent air voids, temperature, and moisture conditioning on CIR and HMA. Three samples were prepared for …

Electrochromic Windows: Return On Investment Analysis, Thomas Michael Caprio

Construction Management

In recent years, sustainability in construction has become a topic of undeniable interest. With sustainability certifications becoming more prominent and desirable, members of the construction industry have begun to seek alternatives for standard systems to keep up with market trends. One of the main issues that the construction industry faces is accessibility of technology. While there are new products and technologies being released frequently, members of the construction industry lack knowledge on the specific details and implications of working with newer systems. One piece of technology that was recently introduced is electrochromic glass, or smart glass. Electrochromic windows analyze sunlight …

Installation Of Electrical System For Paso Robles Police Department, Peter D. Strykers, Jacob M. Studebaker

Construction Management

This paper outlines the process that Peter Strykers and Jacob Studebaker went through to set up the lighting and power system for the Paso Robles Police Department gun range located off highway 46. Before our installation, the gun range had zero lighting so the officers could not use it after sunset. We allowed the officers to light the gun range with outdoor LED lights, light up both the storage units on site, and have access to multiple outlets inside and out of the storage units. The power source that the electrical system runs on comes from a Kubota generator because …

Quantifying Responsiveness In The Vaccine Industry To Evaluate And Improve Pandemic Response, Connor Hill

Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the pandemic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) we can look at many aspects of the global response, including social, scientific, and governmental. Current research in the areas of vaccine development and manufacturing find the process of developing a new vaccine takes an especially long time and is unresponsive. Understanding the factors that influence responsiveness can help organizations be better prepared to address the needs of society should another pandemic strike. Responsiveness can be linked to product, process, and volume. The vaccine development and manufacturing process historically takes years to reach distribution for public use. …

Precast Concrete Manufacturing Business Plan, John F. Will Jr.

Construction Management

The Central Coast of California has been under development since the Great Recession of 2008. Throughout this development, there has been an exceedingly high demand for precast concrete products, specifically in the civil sector of the construction industry. These products are being utilized by more and more by contractors around the world. This demand has emerged from the lack of concrete product manufacturers in this region of California. This project introduces a business plan for a new precast concrete product manufacturer by the name of J.W. Concrete Products LLC. The objective of this business plan is to reflect the benefits …

Paso Robles Police Department Shooting Range Shade Structure, Evan Marshall Cogswell

Construction Management

The Paso Robles Police Department has been a partner for multiple senior projects working to develop improvements for their shooting range. The shooting range is used extensively by officers year-round, with the climate being hot in the summer and rainy in the winter. We wanted to provide a shade structure located between the two shipping containers used for storage so that the officers would have a sheltered place to provide instruction, clean their weapons, and rest in between rounds on the range. This type of project was new to all three of us in the group – Parker Smith, Kevin …

Installation Of Electrical System For Paso Robles Police Department, Jacob M. Studebaker, Peter D. Strykers

Construction Management

This paper outlines the process that Peter Strykers and Jacob Studebaker went through to set up the lighting and power system for the Paso Robles Police Department gun range located off highway 46. Before our installation, the gun range had zero lighting so the officers could not use it after sunset. We allowed the officers to light the gun range with outdoor LED lights, light up both the storage units on site, and have access to multiple outlets inside and out of the storage units. The power source that the electrical system runs on comes from a Kubota generator because …

Using Cost Simulation And Computer Vision To Inform Probabilistic Cost Estimates, Shu Jing Ding

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cost estimating is a critical task in the construction process. Building cost estimates using historical data from previously performed projects have long been recognized as one of the better methods to generate precise construction bids. However, the cost and productivity data are typically gathered at the summary level for cost-control purposes. The possible ranges of production rates and costs associated with the construction activities lack accuracy and comprehensiveness. In turn, the robustness of cost estimates is minimal. Thus, this study proposes exploring a range of cost and productivity data to better inform potential outcomes of cost estimates by using probabilistic …

A Case Study Of Protecting Bridges Against Overheight Vehicles, Aly Mousaad Aly, Marc Hoffmann

Faculty Publications

Most transportation departments have recognized and developed procedures to address the ever-increasing weights of trucks traveling on bridges in service today. Transportation agencies also recognize the issues with overheight vehicles’ collisions with bridges, but few stakeholders have definitive countermeasures. Bridges are becoming more vulnerable to collisions from overheight vehicles. The exact response under lateral impact force is difficult to predict. In this paper, nonlinear impact analysis shows that the degree of deformation recorded through the modeling of the unprotected vehicle-girder model provides realistic results compared to the observation from the US-61 bridge overheight vehicle impact. The predicted displacements are 0.229 …

Analyzing Resource Allocation And Levelling In Construction Projects, Mohamed Eizeldin, Mohamed Hussein Hegazy, Ahmed Alhady, Shahir Ashraf

Civil Engineering

Project scheduling has been crucial in any construction project since applying poor scheduling may lead to cost overruns and delays. The most commonly used technique for scheduling is the critical path method (CPM). As CPM neglects the availability of resources and assumes only time as a constrain; therefore, the resource allocation problem (RAP) technique is introduced. RAP appears when the number of resources required exceeds the number of resources available. Moreover, as a result of solving the RAP, another problem will occur known as the resource leveling problem (RLP). RLP lead to lots of hiring and firing of laborers. Researchers …

Subdivision Site Design In Antwerp Township, Alec Denbraber

Honors Theses

Design and development of a subdivision on an empty plot of land off Red Arrow Highway in Antwerp Township, MI.

Subdivision Site Design In Antwerp Township, Peyton Smith

Honors Theses

Design and development of a subdivision on an empty plot of land off Red Arrow Highway in Antwerp Township, MI.

Optimizing The Self-Healing Efficiency Of Hydrogel Encapsulated Bacteria In Concrete, Ricardo Hungria

LSU Master's Theses

Calcium carbonate precipitation through microbial means is a promising pathway for concrete self-healing technologies, mainly for its microcrack sealing attributes. The main goal of this project was to study and optimize the crack healing efficiency of hydrogel encapsulated bacteria in concrete. To achieve this purpose, Bacillus pseudiformus was implemented as the bacteria strain at a concentration of 10⁸ cells/ml. This bacterium strain along with yeast extract was combined along with three different mineral precursors corresponding to magnesium acetate, calcium lactate, and sodium lactate. All these three precursors were evaluated at two concentrations (67.76 mM/l and 75 mM/l). For each …