Construction Drawings Research Articles

Safety Risks and Preventive Measures for Construction Supervision of Construction Projects

Based on the analysis of construction project safety risk and its preventive measures, it is first necessary to clarify the safety risks and existing problems of construction project supervision and to formulate effective construction procedures.It is necessary to check the production safety of the construction unit, strengthen the company's own safety production management, and reasonably control the risk to familiarize with the construction drawings, and make a special construction plan for the work of the bottom line. Finally, an effective solution is drawn to comprehensively expound the importance of construction project construction safety risk and its preventive measures.

Assessment of historical foundation response of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, using finite element modelling

ABSTRACT This article presents the findings of foundation condition analysis performed on the historical coastal fortification, Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, through coupled numerical modelling of the soil-foundation-superstructure system. The original construction drawings, historical records, and field test results from past and current investigations were used to build and calibrate a representative two-dimensional (2D) cross section incorporating both soil and structural components of the fort. Significant past loadings, identified through historical records, were simulated including initial construction, destruction, repairs, earthquake, and battery construction. Calibration of the numerical model with historical data lends it to become a tool for investigation into the foundational stability of the fort under various loading conditions. The effect of each of the historical loadings on the differential settlement of the foundation was assessed, and it was determined that the foundation is currently in a stable condition but continue to settle slightly which may require further investigation and stabilization to preserve the historical structure.

From the generation of layouts to the production of construction documents: An application in the customization of apartment plans

Abstract This paper describes a design customization system that integrates two aspects of Computer-Aided Architectural Design (CAAD) that are usually developed in separate workflows: the algorithmic generation of designs and the detailed representation of the building. The system's workflow starts with the definition of shape grammar rules by an architect. The rules are then automatically imported into a user interface that allows future owners to interactively custom-design their apartment plans. Finally, the plans are automatically converted into detailed Building Information Models (BIM), which allow the architect to add custom finishes, estimate building costs, and automatically generate construction drawings. We conclude that our workflow could contribute to the real customization of houses and other simple architectural programmes, assuring the quality of the outcomes through shape grammars rules and at the same time reducing the cost of production drawings through automation. The paper ends with some suggestions of improvements in BIM software that would allow its integration with shape grammars and the implementation of our workflow in a simpler way.

Stedebouwkundig(e) ontwerpen in woorden: Honderd jaar stedebouwkundige begrippen

The realisation of an urban design involves many players, such as designers, critics, politicians, journalists, public relations specialists and residents. In order to consult with each other they make use of drawings, but also frequently of words, to be able to interpret the drawn objects in the plans. But are these urbanistic notions used by everyone in the same way? And have there been noticeable changes in their usage or meaning over time? This urbanistic and linguistic doctoral research addresses these questions.

Impact of Using iPad Tablets in a Construction Communication Graphics Class: Evaluation Based on System Usability Scale

As the construction industry advances technologically, it becomes imperative to introduce the respective information technology tools to present-day curriculum. This research study was conducted to identify any significant differences in student performance contributed by using an information technology tool, specifically the Apple® iPad® tablet. IPad tablets were used to electronically present construction drawings to a treatment group, and a control group was given traditional paper drawings. Following an instructional lecture, students were given a test based on the provided construction drawings. The test results indicate that there was no significant difference in performance between students who used the information technology tool to complete the test and those who used traditional paper drawings to complete the same test. The treatment group also answered a usability survey, which helped to comprehend how students perceive the tablet’s usability. Students indicated that they would like to use the tool in the future.

Benchmark model correction of monitoring system based on Dynamic Load Test of Bridge

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a field of research in the area, and it’s designed to achieve bridge safety and reliability assessment, which needs to be carried out on the basis of the accurate simulation of the finite element model. Bridge finite element model is simplified of the structural section form, support conditions, material properties and boundary condition, which is based on the design and construction drawings, and it gets the calculation models and the results.But according to the design and specification requirements established finite element model due to its cannot fully reflect the true state of the bridge, so need to modify the finite element model to obtain the more accurate finite element model. Based on Da-guan river crossing of Ma - Zhao highway in Yunnan province as the background to do the dynamic load test test, we find that the impact coefficient of the theoretical model of the bridge is very different from the coefficient of the actual test, and the change is different; according to the actual situation, the calculation model is adjusted to get the correct frequency of the bridge, the revised impact coefficient found that the modified finite element model is closer to the real state, and provides the basis for the correction of the finite model.

ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENSIONS OF STUDENTS: A CASE OF SLOVAKIA

Despite attention being paid to entrepreneurial intensions in the literature, little empirical research has been conducted on developing the link between personal characteristics, ed-ucation and exposure in transition economies, and moreover, only a few empirical studies have in-vestigated this issue in Slovakia. The conducted empirical survey examines entrepreneurial inten-sions of students in Slovakia. The empirical findings are based on 235 responses from students. To evaluate the entrepreneurial intensions the questionnaire of own construction drawing heavily from already used questionnaires was used. The authors have used Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA as an evalua-tion method. Based on the results it can be concluded the entrepreneurial intensions are determined by gender and family background. Higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions are confirmed among males and among students from entrepreneurial families. This study contributes to the European research that studies the entrepreneurial intensions by means of an empirical investigation in a tran-sition economy such as Slovakia.

Health Assessment of a Pedestrian Bridge Deck using Ground Penetrating Radar

Scanning concrete structures using ground penetrating radars (GPR) continues to be one of the most efficient methods for defect (i.e. crack, void and delamination) detection within concrete structures as well as detection of reinforcing bars damage due to corrosion. The aim of this study was to assess the structural health of a 45-year old pedestrian bridge deck. To achieve this, a number of experiments using a GPR system were conducted on a strong concrete floor with known construction drawings to detect cover depth and rebar orientations. After validating the GPR results through the experiments, the GPR system was used for nondestructive assessment of the pedestrian bridge deck. From the scanned results, the location and orientation of the reinforcing bar were established. In addition, the diameters of the bars was estimated by measuring the thickness of the hyperbola curves in the B-scans. The scanned output shows no signs of corrosion of reinforcement or damage of concrete in the form of delamination or cracking.

Stedebouwkundig(e) ontwerpen in woorden

Stedebouwkundig(e) ontwerpen in woorden

CFD evaluation of erosion rate around a bridge near a sand dune

This study performs a series of simulations through solving the Navier-Stokes equations and the RNG k-ε turbulence model to investigate the wind erosion rates around a bridge in a desert area with sand dunes. The digital elevation model of sand dunes and the bridge model are obtained respectively from hypsographic map and construction drawings. Through combining them into the CFD software of Fluent the simulation zone was formed. The data of wind speed obtained from field observation is fitted into a logarithm format, which was imported into Fluent model as a inlet wind speed condition. Then, the effect of Dun-Go railway on wind-blown sand movement of the neighbouring environment is simulated. The results exhibit that affected by both the sand dune and bridge, the flow field is in a complex condition. It is also shown that the bridge in upstream of the sand dune will not increase the sand transport rate intensively, but change both wind velocity gradient and turbulence kinetic energy over surface of sand dune. On the other hand, when the bridge is built downstream the sand dune, simulation results show that sand deposition rate would be decreased in reference region downstream the pier.

BIM-based method calculation of auxiliary materials required in housing construction

Abstract To address the problems of budgetary inaccuracy, the lack of comprehensive or high-level management, and the existence of serious waste of auxiliary materials during the main construction phase of housing construction, a BIM-based method for calculating the auxiliary materials required for housing construction is proposed in this paper. The BIM model is firstly built according to structural construction drawings, the construction scheme and the construction specification and technology in the main structure construction stage; then, the usage of auxiliary materials is calculated, and the auxiliary material dosage report, construction drawings, and processing drawings are generated for purchasing, collectively processing auxiliary material and guiding construction at the same time. This paper improves upon the traditional auxiliary material management model and design via the implementation of a BIM application named zgBIMs according to the proposed method. The improved management model uses the generated auxiliary material dosage report, construction drawings, and processing drawings to centralize the processing of the required auxiliary materials, strengthen supervision in the process of material distribution and construction, and introduce a reward and punishment mechanism to control the attrition rate of auxiliary materials. In this paper, the successful implementation of the presented method and management model is demonstrated as part of a comprehensive and experimental building project. The experimental results show that the proposed method can be used for the accurate calculation of the amounts of auxiliary materials required to reduce the use and waste of auxiliary materials efficiently and thus save construction costs.

Effect of Eccentric Shear Stiffness of Walls on Structural Response of RC Frame Buildings

Current research study consists of determining the optimum location of the shear wall to get the maximum structural efficiency of a reinforced concrete frame building. It consists of a detailed analysis and design review of a seven-story reinforced concrete building to understand the effect of shear wall location on the response of reinforced concrete structures when subjected to different earthquake forces. Three trail locations of shear walls are selected and their performance is monitored in terms of structural response under different lateral loads. Required objectives are achieved by obtaining design and construction drawings of an existing reinforced concrete structure and modeling it on Finite Element Method (FEM) based computer software. The structure is redesigned and discussed with four different configurations (one without shear wall and three with shear walls). Main framing components (Beams, Columns and Shear walls) of the superstructure are designed using SAP 2000 V. 19.0 whereas substructure (foundation) of RC building was designed using SAFE. American Concrete Institute (ACI) design specifications were used to calculate the cracked section stiffness or non-linear geometrical properties of the cracked section. Uniform Building Code (UBC-97) procedures were adopted to calculate the lateral earthquake loading on the structures. Structural response of the building was monitored at each story level for each earthquake force zone described by the UBC-97. The earthquake lateral forces were considered in both X and Y direction of the building. Each configuration of shear wall is carefully analyzed and effect of its location is calibrated by the displacement response of the structure. Eccentricity to the lateral stiffness of the building is imparted by changing the location of shear walls. Results of the study have shown that the location of shear wall significantly affects the lateral response of the structure under earthquake forces. It also motivates to carefully decide the center of lateral stiffness of building prior to deciding the location of shear walls.

The Construction of BIM Application Value System for Residential Buildings’ Design Stage in China Based on Traditional DBB Mode

Through statistical data issued by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, in 2015, China's real estate companies completed construction area of 7,356,930,000 square meters, of which the residential construction area occupied 69.53%. In China, building information modeling (BIM) technology has developed gradually these years. Despite the successful applications of BIM in commercial buildings, tourism buildings, culture and educational buildings and other public buildings, the application of BIM for residential buildings has not gained wide acceptance, which was only limited to residential buildings’ underground garages. This project aims to cover this gap by studying the application of BIM on residential buildings’ design stage under the commonly used DBB (Design-Bid-Build) mode. Through the investigation and participation of several projects, this paper constructs BIM application value system including specific implementing scheme and delivery forms based on the DBB mode. The system covers the phases of scheme design, preliminary design, construction drawing design and detailed design and involves the professional fields from general layout, municipal facility, landscape, architecture, structure, MEP(Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) and refined decoration.

A Scanner Technology Acceptance Model for Construction Projects

Acquiring 3D building geometries is crucial for rapid energy exchange modelling of buildings. With a significant potential to contribute to high-performance built environment, positioning systems and laser scanners are being increasingly utilised to the construction industry for acquisition of 3D models of buildings. However, there are major barriers to successful scanner implementation in construction projects including a lack of knowledge about the scanner applications, low skilled workers and complicated data analysis processes. While many studies focus on general IT/ICT adoption in construction, there is a lack of understanding about the process of sensing technology adoption and its utilization in construction. To address the gap in the literature, this paper presents the Scanner Technology Acceptance Model (STAM) utilizing two main criteria; ‘usefulness’ and ‘ease of use’ each measured by a range of factors. The model is verified based on the result of the application of scanner and location system in a university building renovation project. The scanners were used to collect raw 3D point clouds to transfer into a compact, semantically rich models aiding in updating construction drawings. The findings show the effectiveness of the STAM. STAM enables technology suppliers to predict the technology diffusion rate, and helps the users to make decisions on choosing the right technology in construction projects. Further research based on this investigation will validate and enhance the model by using larger scale consultation and interview process, and this will be reported in a future research paper.

Using BIM as a Tool to Teach Construction Safety

The advancement of computer technology allows the construction education to exploit the various teaching strategies. Unlike other engineering subjects, teaching construction subjects often requires media beyond traditional class room environment that would enable the creation of field-like construction atmosphere. Construction visualization allows students to exercise and experience various field settings that are too difficult to deliver using traditional teaching approach. This paper aims at describing an attempt to develop and implement building information modelling (BIM) as a platform for teaching construction safety. Using BIM technology students can learn various aspects of safety in construction, which are typically hidden from project documents. Visualization features in BIM are utilized by students to help them identifying potential hazard, unsafe acts, and unsafe conditions in a simulated construction project. The result shows that students are more aware and capable to identify any potential hazard and related safety regulations of construction plan and design pertinent to specific site conditions than that if they were only equipped with a set of construction drawings and specifications.

An Approach to Develop Video Tutorials for Construction Tasks

Effective communication between parties involved in a project is always considered a vital factor for a successful project. The construction industry's driving workforce i.e. the workers on site is mostly reliant upon verbal instructions for task execution due to limited capacity and resources of contractors. The existing construction labors are usually instructed verbally on the site which at times makes it more difficult for the low-skilled category workers to comprehend the task due to factors like less education and language related communication barriers. This reliance on human-variable verbal instructions causes ineffective communication which might leads to situations like inadequate productivity, workface questions, rework and unsafe conditions on the site. In order to overcome the shortcomings lying under the typical verbal instructional methodology, studies have surfaced with the objectives to make human variable process uniform with written instructions alongside relevant construction drawings. However, this paper-based instructional methodology can also be less impactful among less-skilled construction workers due to their lack of knowledge and visualization capabilities about particular tasks. Instances of multiple languages in this globalized construction world also result in increasing communication barriers.With an intention to make communication more effective with the on-site workers, the study proposes the formulation of visual task instructions with BIM innovation. This study presents a model for developing virtually animated video tutorials of construction tasks with an easy and comprehensible instructional content. These video based task instructions following how-to- do thematic design will create ease in elaborating sequential steps to workers for easy following on the ground.

Cost Estimating - Make or Buy?

Determining how a corporate real estate organization estimates its project costs is a big decision that impacts budgets, customers, and the bottom line. Our next management meeting is only a few days away. What recommendations should we make for improvement of cost estimating? Troy Montgomery, a consultant at Humana in April of 2015, was tasked with providing leaders of Humana’s corporate real estate group, Workplace Solutions (WPS), with an answer to how to provide early cost estimates on large construction projects. Should they create a solution internally, outsource development of a solution, or look to an existing solution to provide a “cost calculator”? There was so much variation in the types of projects WPS worked on, not to mention an assortment of internal clients they served. Such complexity made it virtually impossible to come to a straight forward recommendation. Humana was a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. When Humana needed a new or renovated office building, call center, pharmacy, or medical center they engaged the WPS team to manage the start to finish solution. Similar to any other large project, the end user was concerned with three things: time, cost, and quality. The initial questions from WPS internal clients were typically “How long is this project going to take and how much will it cost?” WPS managers believed they provided sufficient cost estimates once all of the planning activities were completed, contracts selected, and construction drawings finalized. However, they were curious if could provide better estimates at the initial onset of a new project, before all of the planning is complete. In late 2014 and early 2015 Montgomery led a small, cross-functional team of WPS associates through process improvement initiatives. The team had only been commissioned for six months and due to their success, WPS leaders challenged the team to identify additional improvement opportunities. Determining a solution to an issue like cost estimating would not only build the credibility of Montgomery’s team, but it would also open up new opportunities for additional improvements in the future. First, the team identified the current methodology for cost estimating within WPS. In parallel they researched cost estimating tools on the market and investigated best practices within the industry. Based on the team’s analysis, WPS leaders recognized they needed a solution in a short period of time. Should they task internal resources, purchase an out-of-the-box IT tool, or commission an external vendor to create a solution?

Validation and improvement of Risk-UE LM2 capacity curves for URM buildings with stiff floors and RC shear walls buildings

This paper addresses seismic vulnerability assessment at an urban scale and more specifically the capacity curves involved for building damage prediction. Standard capacity curves are a function of predefined building typology and are proposed in the Risk-UE LM2 method for computation of the corresponding damage grades. However, these capacity curves have been mainly developed for building stock of southern European cities and the accuracy of their application with different building features, such as the ones of cities of northern Europe should be assessed. A recent research project of seismic scenarios for the cities of Sion and Martigny in Switzerland provided the opportunity to check the capacity curves of Risk-UE LM2 method. Within the framework of this project, a detailed analysis was achieved for more than 500 buildings. These buildings were typical Swiss buildings and were composed of both unreinforced masonry buildings with stiff floors and reinforced concrete buildings. The construction drawings of each building were collected in order to have the most accurate information about their main structural characteristics. The typological classification that has been adopted was developed in a recent research project. Based on the individual features of the buildings, individual capacity curves were defined. Results of the seismic assessment applied to the 500 buildings compare very well with those obtained by using Risk-UE LM2 method for unreinforced masonry buildings with stiff floors. A slight improvement may be proposed for buildings with three stories through their introduction to the category of low-rise instead of mid-rise buildings. By contrast, accuracy for reinforced concrete buildings with shear walls is very poor. Damage prediction using related capacity curves of Risk-UE LM2 method does not correspond to reality. Prediction is too pessimistic and moreover damage grades increase with the height category (low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise) of these buildings which is in contradiction with the observed damages for this type of buildings. Improvements are proposed to increase the accuracy of the seismic vulnerability assessment for northern European building stock. For unreinforced masonry buildings, a slight modification of the limits of the height category of buildings using the ones defined for RC buildings improves the damage prediction. For reinforced concrete buildings with shear walls improved capacity curves derived from the typological curves of the specific typology C are proposed.

The assessment of the relevance of building components and life phases for the environmental profile of nearly zero-energy buildings: life cycle assessment of a multifamily building in Italy

Since the construction sector is a considerable energy consumer and greenhouse gas (GHG) producer, the EU rules strive to build nearly zero-energy buildings, by reducing the operative energy and yearning for on-site energy production. This article underlines the necessity to go beyond the energy evaluations and move towards the environmental assessment in a life cycle perspective, by comparing the impacts due to building materials and energy production devices. We compared the operational energy impacts and those of technologies and materials carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA; ISO 14040, ISO 14044, EN 15643–2, EN 15978) on a nearly zero-energy building (ZEB), a residential complex with 61 apartments in four buildings, situated near Milan (Italy). We consider all life cycle phases, including production, transport, building site activities, use and maintenance; the materials inventory was filled out collecting data from invoices paid, building site reports, construction drawings and product data sheets. To make the assessment results comparable, we set a functional unit of 1 m2 of net floor area in 1 year (1 m2y), upon a lifespan of 100 years. The environmental data were acquired from Ecoinvent 2.2. The results highlight the important role of the pre-use and maintenance phases in building life so that in a nearly ZEB, the environmental impacts linked to the use are no longer the major proportion: the pre-use phase accounts for 56 %, while the operative energy is only 31 % of the total. For this reason, if the environmental assessment of the case study was shrunk to the operational consumption, only one third of the impacts would be considered. The consumption of non-renewable resources after 100 years are 193,950 GJ (133.5 kWh/m2y); the GHG emissions are 15,300 t (37.8 kg of CO2 eq/m2y). In the pre-use phase, structures have the major impacts (50 %) and the load of system components is unexpectedly high (12 %) due to the ambition of on-site energy production. Paying attention to the operative energy consumption seems to address to only one third of the environmental impacts of buildings: the adoption of LCA as a tool to guide the design choices could help to identify the solution which ensures the lowest overall impact on the whole life, balancing the options of reducing the energy requirements, the on-site production from renewable sources and the limitation of the impacts due to building components (simpler and more durable).

DELAY OF AS-BUILT DRAWINGS SUBMISSION FOR MALAYSIAN TOLL HIGHWAY

Construction projects are difficult to be built exactly as stipulated in the original contract or construction drawings. Most of this agreement requires As-Built Drawings (ABD which represent construction modifications. Despite of the importance of ABDs, producing accurate and timely ABDs have been persistent problem in the construction industry including toll highway construction. This paper provides an integrated approach in analysing the influence factors to the delay of ABDs submission for Malaysian toll highway. A questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit the factors from authority, concessionaire/contractor and consultant viewpoint. This study identified the major factors that influence submission of ABDs. Factor Analysis is conducted in order to study the items correlation. The perspective of authority, concessionaire/ contractor and consultant has been analysed and ranked based on Relative Importance Index (RII). The findings indicate that six (6) component were classified as a delay factors in submission of ABDs which includes: (1) field personnel skills and tools (2) data collection process skill (3) planning and coordination skills by project management team (4) financial capabilities (5) personnel interpersonal skills and competency (6) client related factor. The findings provide a conceptual studies in developing the submission framework for future research.