Execution Of Construction Works Research Articles

INTERACTION OF IRREGULARITIES IN THE STANDARD OF SURVEYING AND CARTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION WITH RAIL TRANSPORT PROBLEMS: A CASE STUDY

Surveying (geodesy) and cartographic documentation, their types, and their flow (circulation) are the basis for the uniformity of the work carried out in the pre-design, design, and execution of construction works, ultimately having a representation in the operational (exploitation) and maintenance of railway infrastructure. The type and circulation of surveying and cartographic documentation constitute an important element for the transport sector. The aim of the present scientific research work was to define the state of irregularity of the standard of uniform surveying-cartographic documentation, their type, and their circulation (Ig-1) in interaction with rail transport problems. A case study method was used corresponding to a factual description, which aimed to analyze and evaluate the existing standard. This is important from a theoretical and, above all, a practical point of view. The results show an extensive space of irregularities occurring, violating legal regulations and professional ethics. At the same time, good practice solutions have been implemented to optimize the negative impact when interacting with rail transport problems. The authors’ position on the irregularities was forwarded to an infrastructure manager. The irregularities that occur significantly contribute to the limitations of surveying and cartographic documentation harmonization, and these have an impact on fully functional rail transport.

Marketing strategy as a tool for ensuring the economic security of the enterprise

It has been proven that the creation of a system of economic security and its effective management is necessary to counteract and fight against various threats and dangers. The place of the marketing component in the economic security of the enterprise is defined. The importance of an effective marketing strategy for ensuring economic security and successful functioning of the enterprise is considered. Marketing is defined as a management function that seeks to increase the target market, build long-term relationships, satisfy customers, ensure desired profitability and strengthen competitive advantage.
 Theoretical approaches to the implementation of anti-crisis management were studied, specific features of supporting the economic security of construction enterprises in the short-, medium- and long-term periods were determined. The main functional goals of economic security of the enterprise are highlighted. A brief description of individual stages of management of the enterprise's economic security system is provided. It is proposed to divide the process of managing the economic security of the enterprise into the following stages: setting and justifying goals for ensuring the financial security of the enterprise, identifying the problem, establishing restrictions to minimize the financial losses of the enterprise, developing a set of measures aimed at eliminating the identified problem, making the optimal decision regarding ensuring financial and economic security of the enterprise, coordination of the adopted decision with the management of the enterprise, ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the adopted strategy.
 Trends in the development of construction enterprises were studied, and their features were identified: phasing of construction works; diversity of industrial relations; duration of the production cycle; stationarity of the construction object; high manufacturability of modern construction production. It has been analyzed that any construction project can be divided into three stages: construction preparation, execution of construction works and commissioning of the finished construction object. The most important reasons for the bankruptcy of construction enterprises are given, which are as follows: ineffective marketing, ineffective policy of providing the opportunity to buy apartments in installments, increased production costs due to the use of outdated technologies.

Fall From Height Accidents in the Construction Industry in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Falls from height (FFH) are considered the most dangerous accident in the global construction industry, especially in emerging economies like Saudi Arabia. This study investigates the causative factors responsible for FFH accidents in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia. The approach used by the study entailed a review of the extant literature to identify the main causes of FFH accidents. The identified causes were used to develop a questionnaire survey, which was administered to construction professionals in Saudi Arabia. Useable feedback from ninety-one responses was obtained and consequently analysed using the Relative Agreement Index (RAI). The results revealed that the top three causes include “lack of training”, “no safety inspection”, and “no safety meeting and seminar between stakeholders”. The causes were also categorized into three groups including “unsafe acts”, “unsafe conditions”, “communication barriers”, and “management commitment”, where “unsafe acts” was the most influential category. The significance of this study is its potential to help control the occurrence of FFH in the construction industry through the adoption of relevant controls, safety training, and risk-based decision-making in the planning and execution of construction works.

Anthropogenic factors as determinants of deformation and damage of a bridge structure founded on clayed ground – a case study

Bridges are often built in complex geological-engineering conditions, on difficult soils, landslide areas or within the range of negative mining influences. These objects are classified as geotechnical category II or III and a ground investigation documentation or geotechnical design should be carried out for them. The correct investigation of the soil, design, and execution in accordance with technical knowledge, the art of construction and the Building Code are a guarantee of the safety of the facility. However, very often it is the complexity of the geological structure, concentrated vertical and horizontal loads transferred by the supports to the soil that make it necessary to use deep foundations, special methods of soil reinforcement and imposing a special technological regime during the execution of construction works. The paper pays attention to anthropogenic and natural factors, as well as those that are the consequence of inappropriate human actions at the design or execution stage. Particular attention is paid to errors in the soil analysis and execution of construction works. An example of such errors analysis is presented in relation to the implementation of a bridge structure.

ШЛЯХИ ПІДВИЩЕННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ УПРАВЛІННЯ ІННОВАЦІЙНИМ РОЗВИТКОМ БУДІВЕЛЬНИХ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ

The article presents a theoretical analysis of the evaluation of the effectiveness of management of innovative development of construction enterprises. The purpose of the article is to conduct a theoretical analysis of approaches to assessing the effectiveness of management of innovative development of construction enterprises in the context of the implementation of the concept of sustainable development. It was noted that the construction sector is characterized by a high level of competition and significant barriers to entering the market. To ensure competitiveness and success, construction companies must implement the latest approaches to the design and execution of construction works, management of construction enterprises. The main ways of achieving construction efficiency have been determined, in particular, the optimization of construction processes, the implementation of lean construction methodology, the development of technological innovations, the expansion of cooperation between interested parties, and the support of sustainable and ecological construction practices. Implementation of these strategies can significantly increase construction productivity, reduce costs, and improve project outcomes. These approaches can also contribute to the long-term stability and viability of the industry by ensuring the rational use of resources, minimizing environmental impact and improving the overall quality of buildings. The main aspects of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the management of the innovative potential of the construction enterprise are considered: economic, organizational, social, technical-technological, ecological, marketing, which have the corresponding indicators and specifics. Separate quantitative and complex indicators for evaluating the organizational effectiveness of innovative development management, as well as indicators that transform qualitative parameters in the digital dimension, are presented. To evaluate the effectiveness of innovative development, it is proposed to use complex indicators that integrate value and quantitative indicators of statistical reporting.

A dynamic image of the final authority act of local public administrations exercised by issuing building permits. Case study: the South-East Development Region of Romania

In Romania, territorial/spatial development is understood as the process of transforming the geography of inhabited territories, taking into consideration: territorial planning, urban planning and development, public works, habitat and housing, construction. It is governed by the regulatory framework in force, aligning its policies and strategies with the main reference documents at the European level. The construction sector is a key sector for investment and economic development, playing an important role in achieving the sustainable development objectives through the impact that the quality of construction has on the quality of life and by ensuring the necessary environment for most human activities. The building permit is the final authority act of the local public administration on the basis of which the execution of construction works is allowed in accordance with the measures provided by law regarding the placement, design, construction, operation and post-use of buildings. Starting from comparative structural analyses on the number of building permits issued by the local public administrations in the South-East Region, the objective of this research has been to obtain a dynamic image, through a quantitative assessment, of the number of building permits issued for residential buildings, highlighting the way in which they directly influence the sustainable development of urban and rural localities in the South-East Region of Romania.

Environmental Particulate Matter (PM) Exposure Assessment of Construction Activities Using Low-Cost PM Sensor and Latin Hypercubic Technique

Dust generation is generally considered a natural process in construction sites; ergo, workers are exposed to health issues due to fine dust exposure during construction work. The primary activities in the execution of construction work, such as indoor concrete and mortar mixing, are investigated to interrogate and understand the critical high particulate matter concentrations and thus health threats. Two low-cost dust sensors (Sharp GP2Y1014AU0F and Alphasense OPC N2) without implementing control measures to explicitly evaluate, compare and gauge them for these construction activities were utilized. The mean exposures to PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 during both activities were 3522.62, 236.46 and 47.62 µg/m3 and 6762.72, 471.30 and 59.09 µg/m3, respectively. The results show that PM10 and PM2.5 caused during the concrete mixing activity was approximately double compared to the mortar. The Latin Hypercube Sampling method is used to analyze the measurement results and to predict the exposure concentrations. The high dust emission and exposure from mixing activities fail to meet the World Health Organization and Health and Safety Commission standards for environmental exposure. These findings will leverage the integration of low-cost dust sensors with Building Information Modelling (BIM) to formulate a digital twin for automated dust control techniques in the construction site.

Mitigating the Energy Consumption and the Carbon Emission in the Building Structures by Optimization of the Construction Processes

For decades, among other industries, the construction sector has accounted for high energy consumption and emissions. As the energy crisis and climate change have become a growing concern, mitigating energy usage is a significant issue. The operational and end of life phases are all included in the building life cycle stages. Although the operation stage accounts for more energy consumption with higher carbon emissions, the embodied stage occurs in a time-intensive manner. In this paper, an attempt has been made to review the existing methods, aiming to lower the consumption of energy and carbon emission in the construction buildings through optimizing the construction processes, especially with the lean construction approach. First, the energy consumption and emissions for primary construction materials and processes are introduced. It is followed by a review of the structural optimization and lean techniques that seek to improve the construction processes. Then, the influence of these methods on the reduction of energy consumption is discussed. Based on these methods, a general algorithm is proposed with the purpose of improving the construction processes’ performance. It includes structural optimization and lean and life cycle assessments, which are expected to influence the possible reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions during the execution of construction works.

ANALYSIS OF THE STAGES NECESSARY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN OBJECTIVE TAKEN OVER IN CONCESSION, FROM A TOPOCADASTRAL POINT OF VIEW

Within the present work, a study was carried out regarding the concession of a building belonging to the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, in order to dismantle it resulting in 32 plots and the access road to them, in order to authorize the construction works of 32 dwellings for young people. The notion of drawing represents the application on the field of the topographical elements known or extracted by calculation from the construction projects, elements that define a projected construction to be transposed or executed in the field. The field application of construction projects is aimed at ensuring compliance with the design and size of constructions and their components, as well as their absolute position, in a coordinate system. From the succession of constructive stages necessary for the construction of an objective, the materialization on the ground of the basic, main, and secondary axes of the construction and the materialization of the ±0.00 m elevation are detached. The law provides that the execution of construction works is allowed only on the basis of a building permit that is issued following a project called a Topographic Plan for obtaining the building permit.

Foundations of wind power plants - challenges in designing and execution of construction work

The paper is focused on foundations of wind turbines and challenges in design, execution and long-term maintenance. Some typical solutions are listed: footings (round plates) on natural soil, footings on modified soil (DSM, stone columns, CMC) and deep foundations (piles). The author juxtaposed basic problems that appear in design phase: data acquisition for various kinds of foundations, appropriate calculation model and possibility of on-site verification and possible changes. Problems appearing during execution of works are illustrated with examples of service roads arrangement, earth works (excavations) and soil improvement or piling. The author emphasized the role of quality control including: monitoring of soil conditions and groundwater level at execution stage and impact of earth works – re-profiling of ground level. In final remarks, some recommendations are given for current control of quality (ground parameters, soil improvement, piling) and long-time maintenance – possible problems in foundations related to: time, cyclic loading and changes in the soil related to previous earthworks.

The S-Curve as a Tool for Planning and Controlling of Construction Process—Case Study

One of the key tasks of an investor and a contractor at the stage of planning and implementing construction works is to measure the progress of execution with regard to the planned deadlines and costs. During the execution of construction works, the actual progress of the works may differ significantly from the initial plan, and it is unlikely that the construction project will be implemented entirely according to the planned work and expenditure schedule. In order to monitor the process of deviations of the deadline and the budget of the investment task, several rudimentary methods of planning—as well as the cyclical control of the progress of construction projects—are used. An effective tool for measuring the utilization of the financial outlays of a construction project is the presentation of the planned financial flows on a timeline using a cumulative cost chart, the representation of which is the S-curve. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the course of an sample construction project comparing the planned costs of the scheduled works with the actual costs of the performed works, as well as identifying the reasons leading to the failure to meet the planned deadlines and budget of the project implementation. As part of the research conducted at a construction site of a hotel facility, the authors of this paper analyzed each of the 20-month effects of financial expenditures on construction works that were developed and processed by the Bank Investment Supervision (BIS) over a period of three years (between 2017 and 2019). Based on these results, charts and tables of the scheduled and actual cumulative costs of the completed construction project were prepared, the careful analysis of which enables interesting conclusions to be drawn.

Problems of energy resources allocation at decision-making stages in architecture and urban planning activities

All the levels of architecture and urban planning activities (management, designing, execution of construction works) bring up various questions of the optimal distribution of energy resources. This paper shows that the energy resources allocation is connected with different classes of tasks in optimal decisions making and belongs to mathematical programming problems. Optimization tasks at the stages of scientific research, substantiation and version design should be performed on the basis of dynamic system models of the type «population ↔ environment». The article justifies the need for deductive approach and system methods and evaluation criteria of energy resources distribution at the stages of design and quality evaluation of architectural objects. It is demonstrated that in architectural theory and practice, for the purpose of quantitative measurement of the quality of architectural and construction activity products, the scientific research of the new area – architectural metrology – is needed. The energy interpretation of the general optimality criterion of integral architectural objects as systems, functioning in accordance with general system principles, is discussed.

APPLICABLE NORMATIVE DOCUMENTS WHICH REGULATE CONSTRUCTION WORK AT THE PRESENT STAGE

One of the tasks of construction and technical expertise is the definition of technical Possibility of distributing a dwelling house to isolated apartments with separate exits to the land, including the possibility of turning the allocated part of the house into an isolated apartment (premises) by carrying out the necessary construction work on renonstruction, re-planning, re-equipment in accordance with the applicable normative documents. At the same time, questions arise regarding the granting of permits and the procedure for such worksand the order of their execution. The basic requirements of the legislative and normative acts in the field of construction that regulate the execution of construction works, the reconstruction, redevelopment, re-equipment and obtaining the necessary permits for the implementation of the refurbishments proposed by experts in the variants of the distribution of buildings and structures of individual developers between co-owners in accordance with the ideal shares of each and when determining the order of using the premises. Thus, in accordance with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of April 13, 2011 № 466 «Some questions of the implementation of preparatory and construction works», to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine «On Architectural Activities», the Law of Ukraine «On Regulation of Urban Development» (Article 34), the Law of Ukraine № 1817-19 of June 10, 2017 «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Improvement of Urban Development Activities» to perform the conversion is possible after the submission by the customer of a notice on the commencement of the execution of civil works State Architecture no-construction inspection or territorial authority at the location of the construction. The provisions of the legislative acts concerning obtaining permits during the conversion of individual dwelling houses, which must be carried out at their distribution for the implementation of the proposed distribution verses, are indicated in the article. They can be used by experts in conducting appraisals on the distribution of residential buildings, which are possible only with the necessary adjustments.

Construction project planning under fuzzy time constraint

A distinctive feature of construction projects is the uniqueness of conditions for their implementation. Therefore, the durations data of the works are often formulated imprecisely. On the other hand, the time limit for the execution of the works is defined in the contract conditions by data indicating the due time and the deadline. These indicate the distribution of time values, which the contractor can allocate for the implementation of the construction project in accordance with the client preferences. For assessing the compliance of the planned project makespan with the fuzzy time constraint, it is recommended to use the fuzzy sets theory. The article presents a method for assessing the level of satisfaction of fuzzy constraint of time for the execution of construction works using the probabilistic measure, in conjunction with the concept of α-cuts of a fuzzy number. The application of the presented method is demonstrated on a numerical example, which shows the compliance of the evaluation results with those obtained with the simulation methods. The article confirms the correctness of the assumptions of the presented method, which allows for its use for the formulation and resolving schedule optimization problems in the case of imprecisely formulated schedule input data.

The technology development of the widened base formation for bored piles

Bored piles are used at the high concentrated vertical and horizontal loads in the construction sites with complicated geological and engineering conditions. They are support elements, which transfer and distribute the load from buildings to hard layers of soil. Technology of the bored piles making is drilling of bore in soil and placement of concrete mix into the bore. The main advantages of bored piles are that no need to store a large number of prefabricated piles at the construction sites, high load-bearing capacity and efficiency at the implementation. Moreover, the most important advantage of bored piles, as compared with the prefabricated piles, is absence of dynamic and noise load on nearby buildings during execution of construction works. However, we have to stress a disadvantage of the technology of the bored piles making, which is the need of the bore drilling and the widened base formation to increase of the load capacity of bored pile. The aim of the research work is to improve the technology of the bored piles making by developing the equipment for the widened base formation. We propose a new equipment to form the widened base, protected by a Patent of the Republic of Belarus No.1823. The detailed description of design and principle of operation of the new equipment, as well as comparison with existing analogues are given in the research work. The use of the new equipment allows reducing labor expenditures and cost of the widened base formation for bored piles. Keywords: Bored piles, Widened base, Barrel, Blade, Soil

Developing attributes for evaluating construction project-based performance

PurposeThe Indonesian construction industry has to considerably rise due to the issues of quality product, organisational performance and global competitiveness faced today, along with settling several national challenges that continue to plague the construction industry. Delivering high-quality construction products and services is non-negotiable when competing for contracts with international constructors. Developing such an assessment system to evaluate the performance of Indonesian construction companies is an urgent need in order to encourage and motivate the construction companies to continually improve their performance in the execution of construction works. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the key attributes related to the evaluation of quality and performance in the construction project-based case of Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted in the five provinces in Indonesia involving 216 construction practitioners from medium and large qualifications of construction companies.FindingsOn the basis of the data analysis results, the study develops the 39 key attributes that can be a basis for the development of Indonesian building construction project performance assessment system. The attributes cover construction companies’ performance during project implementation, in delivering final project results and in implementing quality procedures for building construction works.Originality/valueThe outcome of this study is considered significant to provide a tool for the government to assess the quality performance of contractors in delivering projects against specified standards, and a guideline for the contractors to improve their competitiveness by implementing continuous quality improvement. The confirmed attributes developed from this study is an initial step towards developing an Indonesian construction comprehensive quality performance assessment system.

Multicriteria Selection of Water Insulation Technology for Foundation Walls in an Existing Building

AbstractIn the authors’ opinion, the issue of incorrectly functioning water insulation of foundation walls in the existing buildings in Poland is currently rather common. The paper includes a multicriteria analysis aimed at arranging the selected options of the foundation wall vertical water insulation technology in an existing model historic building using the weighted sum, entropy and AHP methods. Each of the studied solutions was evaluated in terms of the following criteria: costs of construction works, time of execution of construction works, popularity of using particular insulation options by other contractors, durability of the executed insulation and the degree of nuisance of the executed works.

Fuzzy Estimation Of Activities Duration In Construction Projects

AbstractDuring implementation of construction projects, durations of activities are affected by various factors. Because of this, both during the planning phase of the project as well as the construction phase, managers try to estimate, or predict, the length of any delays that may occur. Such estimates allow for the ability to take appropriate action in terms of planning and management during the execution of construction works. This paper presents the use of the non-deterministic concept for describing the uncertainty of estimating works duration. The concept uses the theory of fuzzy sets. The author describes a method for fuzzy estimations of construction works duration based on the fact that uncertain data is an inherent factor in the conditions of construction projects. An example application of the method is presented. The author shows a fuzzy estimation for the duration of an activity, taking into consideration the distorting influence caused by malfunctioning construction equipment and delivery delays of construction materials.

REMOVAL OF WEIRS AND THE INFLUENCE ON PHYSICAL HABITAT FOR SALMONIDS IN A NORWEGIAN RIVER

ABSTRACTIn the late 1970s, the construction of weirs in Norwegian regulated river systems for aesthetic reasons was common. However, today, the focus of river restoration has shifted towards improving biological functionality and biodiversity. In the present study, two weirs, originally built to create a stable water level, were removed on a residual flow reach in a Norwegian regulated river as a measure to restore river connectivity and to re‐establish the local population of Atlantic salmon. The removal design was based on hydraulic modelling, and biological monitoring was implemented before and after the weir removal to evaluate the biological response to weir removal. The results demonstrated that salmon spawning sites were recreated in the old bed substratum and were occupied immediately the first season after weir removal, when water velocities increased to more suitable levels for spawning. Accordingly, mortality of Atlantic salmon eggs was reduced and the densities of juveniles showed a marked increase after weir removal. Conversely, pike and cyprinids in the reach were found in the samples before weir removal but not after removal, indicating that the desired shift in fish community in response to habitat alteration was obtained. Furthermore, enumeration of migrating adult salmon at a fishway upstream of the study reach showed that the migration peak, on average, was 1 month earlier in the 3 years after removal as compared with the 5 years before removal. Finally, the use of hydraulic modelling represented a useful method for designing physical habitat adjustments and assessing their influence on fish biology. The model results also supported a rapid process in planning and execution of construction works. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

港湾整備に関する環境アセスメント技術マニュアルの開発とその適用について

Our country could accomplish a remarkable economic growth in the sixties, but, on the other hand, it was accompanied with various environmental problems everywhere all over the country. In many ports existing in industrial zones, greater cities or inland seas, an air pollution, water pollution etc. were broken out by their construction works and their users' activities. So, effective countermeasures against these pollutions were asked by neighboring citizens. In the seventies, environment assessment was one of particular important measures. Ports Bureau, Ministry of Transport, promoted completion of technological manual together with all District Port Construction Bureaus and Ports Research Institute. This paper discusses an arrangement of assessment in port development, fundamental composition of the manual and application to both port planning and execution of construction works.