Development Of Construction Industry Research Articles

Rheological evaluation of paving asphalt binder containing bio-oil from rice straw pyrolysis

The conversion of rice straw to bio-oil for substituting asphalt paving materials not only contributes to sustainable development in construction industry, but is also beneficial for resource recovery in agriculture. In this study, rice straw was pyrolyzed to produce bio-oil by using fluidized bed, and the influences of key pyrolysis conditions on product distribution were investigated. Bio-asphalt was prepared by high-speed mixing of pyrolysis bio-oil and petroleum asphalt, and comprehensively evaluated through rheological tests and continuous grading of performance grade (PG). Moreover, microscopic characterization was conducted to further explore the mechanism of bio-oil modification of asphalt. The test results indicate that the yield of bio-oil first rises and then drops with the increase of pyrolysis temperature. As the gas flow rate increases and the biomass particle size decreases, the bio-oil yield shows an increasing trend. The bio-asphalt containing bio-oil from lower pyrolysis temperatures has stronger rutting resistance and lower temperature susceptibility. As the pyrolysis temperature rises, the resistances of bio-asphalt to fatigue and thermal cracking are enhanced. According to continuous PG grading, the widest safe working temperature range is obtained at 450 ℃. Compared to base asphalt, bio-asphalt has superior fatigue and low-temperature performances at high pyrolysis temperatures. Additionally, it can be known from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy that the modification of petroleum asphalt by bio-oil is a physical fusion process.

Towards a sustainable construction: A newly proposed Tapio-global meta-frontier DEA framework for decoupling China's construction economy from its carbon emissions

Uncovering the decoupling degree and its influencing factors is an important work to look for the carbon abatement and sustainable development in China's construction industry (CCI). To arrive at a solution, we proposed a research framework by taking into account the Tapio decoupling model and biased directional distance function based on global meta-frontier DEA, so as to reveal out the motive force and resistance that can help decouple construction industry economy from its carbon emissions. Discussion results indicate that during the sample period: (1) China's construction economy and carbon emissions exhibited weak decoupling. The advances of energy/production technology were two dominant factors in helping construction economy decoupled from carbon emissions, while construction economic activity exerted the largest effects in impeding decoupling process. (2) The decoupling degree and driving effects differed significantly in three regions. Regional energy/production technology disparity narrowed in central and western region, and further contributed to their decoupling. Energy-biased and output-biased scale change exerted impeding effects on the decoupling in eastern and central region, while exerted diametrically opposite effects on western region's decoupling. Besides, the change of energy/production resource allocation efficiency in eastern and western region acted motivating effects in their decoupling, while formed restriction in central region's decoupling.

Evaluation and promotion path of high-quality development in the Chinese construction industry under the context of carbon neutrality

Evaluation and promotion path of high-quality development in the Chinese construction industry under the context of carbon neutrality

Empirical assessment of the impacts of Sino-African cross border relations in the construction industry: a Confirmatory Factor Analysis approach

PurposeIt is no news that Chinese construction companies are highly motivated to invest in Africa in terms of infrastructure and construction. This influx from the beginning of the millennium marked a game-changer for infrastructural development in most African countries. This study, therefore, explores how the partnership between China and Africa has impacted the construction industry in Africa with a focus on Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative approach was adapted for the study, which is descriptive in nature, and the primary participants of the study were core construction professionals within the Nigerian construction industry. Data was collected via a structured questionnaire, and multivariate statistics was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe study results revealed that the benefits accrued from Chinese participation in the African construction industry can be classified into three distinct categories: socio-economic development through construction, land transportation system development and construction industry development. The study further revealed that Chinese involvement has been most beneficial to the development of the land transportation system in Nigeria with more investment in the construction and maintenance of roads and railways.Originality/valueThe study will serve as a basis for making informed future decisions on Chinese participation in the Nigerian construction industry as it exposes the impacts of the relationship within the current system. The outcome of this study can be used to refocus the partnership to ensure the optimum development of the local construction industry. The government and other relevant agencies can use the findings from this study to ensure that there is sustainable growth in the local construction industry through Chinese participation.

An Exploratory Study on Role of Direct Selling Agent towards Bank and Customer with Specific Reference to Home Loan Services in Punjab

DSA (Direct Selling Agent) that agent who involves in the process of grants home loan from the bank or NBFC to the potential customer. DSA’s job outline is create leads, documentation, cross checking. This study explains role and responsibility of DSA towards bank and customers, awareness of DSA services of the different banks and NBFC among the potential customer, challenges faced by the customer for the approval of home loan and challenges faced by the DSA at the time of process home loan application. In this study the researcher has to implement both primary data and secondary data complete this paper. The primary data deals with raw data collected through questionnaire to the respondents related with their level of disbursement of housing loan. The secondary data consists of reports of existing customers from the banks and NBFC. Pass the housing loan by banks and NBFC provides a boost for the growth and development of house construction industries. Now a time lack of knowledge among individuals related with banking products of all types of banks at one time. In case home loan customer wants to take loan according to their requirements for example lower rate of interest, Type of banks, credit score for transparency and clarity of about loan terms. There are many problems discussed already in previous studies such as different cost of borrowing, collateral security, processing time, proof of income, documentation and margin money. These problems studied by the previous researcher described in the section of the literature review. In view of the above things, it is necessary to conduct a research study to fill these gaps that have been depicted as research problem. The respondents for this research who belong to upper class, middle class or lower-class groups and lived in Patiala city or zones of Patiala. Keywords satisfaction level of customer, Responsibility of Direct selling agent, Challenges faced by DSA

Communicating Materials: Communicating Concrete Development for Construction Industry

Communicating Materials: Communicating Concrete Development for Construction Industry

Analysis on The Understanding of Environmental Management Practices among Contractors in Malaysia using Rasch Measurement Model

The rapid development of construction industry in Malaysia has caused a significant impact on the environment and has resulted in increased demand for implementing environmental management practices. This study aimed to analyze the level of understanding on environmental management practices among contractors in Malaysia. A total of 47 contractors from all grades in Malaysia participated in this study. This study also used a 5-point Likert scale for the data collection process. Items in the questionnaire were analyzed using the Rasch Measurement Model to test the validity and reliability of the research instruments. The results showed that the item reliability value was 0.57 and the individual reliability value was 0.89. The value of the item separation index is 1.16 while the value of the individual separation index obtained is 2.78. Overall, person measure for construct of understanding level on environmental management practices ranged from +7.77 logit to -1.30 logit. For construct challenge faced by the contractor, the maximum value for person measure is +6.35 logit and the minimum measurement value is -0.97 logit. For the last construct which is the impact of environmental management practices on the environment, the value of person measure is +8.27 logit to -1.62 logit. Through item suitability analysis, there are some items that need to be dropped or harmonized as they not meet the requirements in one of the Outfit MNSQ and Outfit ZSTD ranges. The Rasch Measurement Model has identified that most contractors in Malaysia still have a moderate level of understanding on environmental management practices. The findings obtained at the end of this study are significant so that these environmental management practices remain practiced by contractors to maintain sustainable development in future.

Coupling coordination and spatial–temporal evolution between high-quality development of construction industry and scientific and technological innovation

Coupling coordination and spatial–temporal evolution between high-quality development of construction industry and scientific and technological innovation

Research on Optimization of Quantitative Evaluation Model of Value for Money for PPP Projects

With the continuous development of China construction industry, in recent years, government departments are actively cooperating with social capital in the PPP model to solve public infrastructure construction problems. This study explores the interaction between the driving factors that affect value for money in the PPP model and their respective importance proportions. It combines the literature analysis method and the Delphi method to construct an index system, uses the analytic hierarchy process to calculate the weight of the driving factors, and adopts decision-making The laboratory method was used to construct a comprehensive influence matrix and calculate centrality. The results show that the comprehensive impact of reasonable risk sharing, recognition of stakeholders, organizational and operational capabilities, long-term contract, full life cycle costs, and government control of prices is relatively high. Government factors are easily affected by other types of factors, while society and the environment have a higher degree of impact on other factors.

Stackelberg game-based method towards carbon-economy equilibrium for the prefabricated construction supply planning: A case study from China

Prefabricated building systems that take advantage of modern manufacturing, transportation, and assembly approach have attracted great attention as solutions for sustainable cities and urban construction carbon emissions mitigation, especially under the 30% prefabrication of new buildings target in China’s development plan of the construction industry. Nevertheless, few research has focused on the carbon reduction/economic costs equilibrium for the integrated traditional and prefabricated construction supply planning (PCSP). Aiming at the sustainable construction for urbanization, this study develops a Stackelberg game-based method for economic and environmental equilibrium under the carbon allocation scheme in an integrated prefabricated construction supply planning. In the bi-level model, the regional authority on the upper level determines the carbon allocations and the enterprises on the lower level develop plans to maximize revenue under the prefabricated rate targets and construction supply logistics limitations. The superiority and practicality of the proposed methodology are then validated through a case study from China. The scenario analyses under different policy control levels indicate that the proposed methodology is capable of systematically controlling the integrated PCSP carbon emissions and promoting the low-carbon transformation and sustainable development of construction industry. Valuable managerial implications are also provided for the policymakers and relevant practitioners.

Aspects Affecting the Quality of Masonry Buildings and Innovations in Masonry

The construction industry is undergoing another revolution, including the field of masonry construction. New materials and products for masonry are constantly being developed and construction details and implementation procedures are being resolved. Digitization and the introduction of automation in the masonry process (in prefabrication halls or on-site robotic bricklaying) are also an integral part of the development of the masonry construction industry. The topic of the following paper is a summary of problematic construction details of masonry buildings, i.e., the solution of the plinth console, the solution of the building opening, the bearing of lintels on the masonry and the bearing of the ceiling structure on the masonry wall. The results of laboratory tests are presented – the load-bearing capacity of the jamb of the building opening (accessory bricks / cut bricks in the jamb) and the load-bearing capacity of the lintel placed on the accessory edge brick. Furthermore, the paper deals with the construction of masonry buildings in the 21st century, including the first results of a compressive load test on masonry walls made of precast small-format units. The conclusion of the paper points out the importance of correct design details of masonry buildings before their application (programming) in software controlling the automated masonry process.

Role of the stakeholders and regulatory instruments in technology and innovation development in Ethiopian construction industry

The purpose of this study is to assess the role of stakeholders and the applicable regulatory instruments in ensuring technology and innovation development (TID) in Ethiopian construction industry. A structured questionnaire was developed to assess the engagement level of major stakeholders and effectiveness of the applicable regulatory instruments. In analyzing the quantitative data, while mean score was used to rank the variables, factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying dimensions. A semi-structured interview was conducted to get detail insight about the practice. In addition, document analysis was conducted to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the applicable regulatory instruments. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically focusing on the purpose of the study. Despite their significant role, the stakeholders’ engagement level is found to be unsatisfactory. Similarly, the findings suggest that there is room for improvement in the relevant regulatory instruments to better accommodate TID. The identified improvement dimensions are associated with timeliness, effectiveness, and appropriateness of the applicable regulatory instruments. These are attributed to the poor coordination and weak capacity of the stakeholders. Findings of this study help the concerned stakeholders in indicating the intervention areas to effectively enhance TID in the construction industry.

Preparation and properties of self-healing SBS modified bitumen with dynamic acylhydrazone bonds

Styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer (SBS) modified bitumen (SMB) with excellent self-healing performance not only saves resources, but is also important for the sustainable development of pavement and construction industry. In this paper, a self-healing agent (SHA) with acylhydrazone bond was synthesized, and the dynamic acylhydrazone bond was introduced into the SBS molecular chains to prepare the self-healing SMB (SHMB). The structure of SHA was characterized, and the physical properties, chemical structure, microstructure and self-healing performance of the SHMB were investigated. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra demonstrated that SHA was successfully synthesized. The physical performances of SMB were significantly improved by SHA and its optimal dosage was 0.6 %. FTIR indicated that the dynamic acylhydrazone bond was introduced into the SBS molecular chains, and formed hydrogen bonds in SHMB. The fluorescence microscope showed that SHMB had a denser network structure than SMB. The crack healing observation indicated that the crack healing speed of SHMB was much higher than that of SMB. The break tensile performance recovery showed that the recovery rate of elongation at break (Rε) of SMB and SHMB were 14.38 % and 58.27 % after self-healing at 25℃ for 32 h, and the Rε of SMB and SHMB was elevated to 50.12 % and 92.58 % after self-healing at 40℃ for 4 h, which indicated that the introduction of dynamic acylhydrazone bonds greatly enhanced the self-healing ability of SHMB.

EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON THE SOCIAL ASPECT OF FIRM SUSTAINABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

This study examined how various dimensions of employee engagement influence the social sustainability of firms operating within the Malaysian construction industry. It focused on employees working in construction firms registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) within the Federal State of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Simple random sampling was used for respondents selection followed by the distribution of an online questionnaire created using Google Forms. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling via SmartPLS. The results indicated a favorable impact of behavioral employee engagement to firm social sustainability. In a broader sense, these findings shed light on the strategies required to enhance employee engagement for the sake of firm sustainability within the construction sector. It offers valuable insights into the leadership of construction organisations, specifically emphasising the significance of firm social sustainability and how it is influenced by employee engagement. A distinctive feature of this study is its segmentation of employee engagement into cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dimensions. Additionally, it addresses an aspect of sustainability that has received comparatively less attention—construction-related social sustainability—thus contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the subject when compared to existing research.

Multi-task prediction of hot rolled steel mechanical properties based on CA-MMCE

The accurate prediction of mechanical properties of multi-task hot rolling steel is of great significance to the development of manufacturing, construction, and other industries, and can effectively improve the efficiency of continuous quality control of the hot rolling process. Aiming at the problem that the existing deep models lack interpretability in the field of steel rolling, the hot rolling process was deeply analyzed, and the temperature fluctuation was integrated into the input features as a process variable through feature augmentation to obtain the correlation between features. In order to solve the problem that the conventional Attention mechanism only focuses on the overall global information, a Convolutional Attention mechanism (CA) is proposed to focus on local feature information and improve the ability of the network to extract local key features. At the same time, so as to solve the negative transfer problem of the multi-task model, a Multi-gate Mixture of Convolutional Experts (MMCE) is proposed, which uses multi-gate to adjust the influence of each convolutional expert network on different tasks to capture the correlation between tasks. Thus, it can ensure that multiple tasks can be accurately predicted. Experimental results show that, compared with the existing models, the proposed model achieves excellent prediction performance in multi-task prediction and is advanced.

Carbon emission prediction of construction industry in Sichuan Province based on the GA-BP model.

The reduction of the carbon emissions of construction industry is urgent. Therefore, it is essential to accurately predict the carbon emissions of the provincial construction industry, which can support differentiation emission reduction policies in China. This paper proposes a carbon emission prediction model that optimizes the backpropagation (BP) neural network by genetic algorithm (GA) to predict carbon emission of construction industry, or "GA-BP". To begin with, the carbon emissions of construction industry in Sichuan Province from 2000 to 2020 are calculated by the emission factor method. Further, the electricity correction factor is introduced to eliminate the regional difference in electricity carbon emission coefficient. Finally, four factors are selected by the grey correlation analysis method to predict the carbon emission of construction industry in Sichuan Province from 2021 to 2025. The results show that the carbon emissions of construction industry in Sichuan Province have been trending up in the past two decades, with an average increase rate of 10.51%. The GA-BP model is a high-precision prediction model to predict carbon emissions of construction industry. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the model is only 6.303%, and its coefficient of determination is 0.853. Moreover, the carbon emissions of construction industry in Sichuan Province will reach 8891.97 million tons of CO2 in 2025. The GA-BP model can effectively predict the future carbon emissions of construction industry in Sichuan Province, which provides a new idea for the green and sustainable development of construction industry in Sichuan Province.

Investment and construction project management system with the use of building information modeling

One of the key principles of the construction industry development until 2030 is the transition to building information modeling at all stages of the life cycle of the capital construction object. The process of digital transformation not only affects and changes the final product, but also requires a full-fledged re-engineering of the company's internal processes.Purpose: The aim of this paper is to conduct the systems analysis of construction stage management within the framework of investment and construction project realization in the conditions of digital transformation.Research findings: The model of the life cycle management system of the capital construction object is developed using basis the information model.Value: Two main problems are outlined, that must be solved to implement the developed management system into practice.

Analysis of the Application of BIM Technology in the Quality Management of Assembly Type Residential Construction Project

The rapid development of China's information technology and our various industries, the development of China's construction industry is also very fast. At present, there is a large space for improvement in the quality management of assembly building projects, and it is of great significance to build a set of quality management system to meet the construction of assembly building projects, which is important for the smooth and rapid development of assembly building. The core idea of BIM technology lies in the management of informationization by transforming the physical construction works into informationized models. During the continuous development of China's modern construction industry, it has objectively promoted the optimization and improvement of technical processes in the engineering field, especially under the background of information technology, and has also derived more advanced technologies. BIM technology is an important technology in the construction field. In the process of applying BIM technology to assembled buildings, it can be effectively modeled according to the building situation, and then the problems existing in the project can be analyzed and refined, so as to accelerate the solution of various problems and ensure the safety and stability of the project. This paper addresses the shortcomings of quality management of assembly construction projects, relies on the advantages of BIM technology in informatization and synergization, explores its application in the quality management of assembly construction projects, and evaluates its application effect, with a view to providing a reference for other similar projects relying on BIM technology for quality management, and further promoting the development of China's assembly construction.

An Introduction to Civil Engineering Construction Technology in Civil Engineering Construction

The commercial demand and urbanization demand brought about by economic development have increased the quantity and quality requirements of construction projects. Civil engineering in the construction process needs to be supported by a number of technologies, such as foundation technology, steel structure technology, concrete technology, etc., the only way to promote the sustainable development of China's construction industry is to accurately master these technologies. With the continuous improvement of China's economic development, people's living standards have also been improved, and therefore also more aspiring to a better life experience, so for the living environment and conditions put forward higher requirements. As the main place for people to live and reside, the quality of the building and its environment have a greater impact on people's living experience, so the quality of the building is given more attention. As the main participant in the implementation of the building, the construction industry in the construction of housing, it is necessary to pay more attention to the quality, while ensuring the quality of construction, but also need to pay attention to the economic benefits. Along with the rapid development of the country, the scale of urban infrastructure is getting bigger and bigger. The breakthrough and innovation of construction technology in civil engineering construction can not only bring more profits for construction enterprises, but also provide a strong guarantee for the smooth progress of construction projects. In order to realize the quality of civil engineering construction projects, building construction units need to be careful and detailed planning for construction details, standardize the corresponding construction technology. Therefore, this paper discusses the construction technology related to civil engineering construction projects, analyzes the relevant problems and puts forward innovative solutions.

Barriers to risk management in small construction projects in Sri Lanka

PurposeThis study explores the current status of risk management (RM) in Sri Lanka and the obstacles in implementing RM in Sri Lankan small construction projects.Design/methodology/approachThe current research study adopted a quantitative research method. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, 100 construction companies engaged in small construction projects in Sri Lanka were selected and a questionnaire was distributed among top managerial employees of these companies. Employees belonging to 47 companies responded to the survey which provided information relating to 812 construction projects. The collected data were analyzed using the RM implementation index (RMII) and other quantitative measures such as mean, median and percentages.FindingsThe research findings indicated that RM incorporation was at a lower degree in small construction projects in Sri Lanka. The findings further indicated that RM incorporation was relatively high in the public construction projects compared to the private construction projects. The main obstacles identified through the survey for RM implementation were: “lack of funding”, “lack of time”, “low profit margin”, “not economical” and “lack of knowledge”.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to exploring RM implementation in small construction projects in Sri Lanka. The study was limited to the building construction companies under the 150-million-rupee (approx. below 450,000 USD) financial limit registered with the construction industry development authority in Sri Lanka.Originality/valueRM in small construction projects in developing countries is a relatively less explored domain. Sri Lankan construction industry is another relatively less explored domain in terms of new management technique implementation such as RM and value management. The quantitative approach used for the study revealed that RM implementation is at a lower degree in the small construction projects. Moreover, several obstacles pertaining to RM implementation were recognized through this study. These findings will be useful for the construction stakeholders to overcome the recognized barriers and effectively use RM in their respective construction projects.