Large Building Projects Research Articles

The Design Process and the Building Site: Leonardo da Vinci at Milan Cathedral as a case study

The involvement of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in the competition for the design of the dome of Milan Cathedral in 1487 offers a window onto many aspects of architectural practice and management in the early modern period. It allows us to investigate several features of the building site administration, the design process, and the complex decision-making processes of several large Italian building projects. Many written sources document the construction of the dome of Milan Cathedral, primarily administrative notes and book accounts. Only through a detailed aggregation and analysis of those data, given the long history of the building, can those aspects be philologically reconstructed. Up to now, the sources related to Leonardo’s involvement with the Milan dome have been analysed mainly for his ideas on architecture and to exalt his exceptionality, which has isolated the artist from his own time and his project from its background. This article re-reads this case study of the 1487 competition for the dome in the context of the cathedral's entire building history, to point out different aspects of architectural and management habits of early modern building projects, together with aspects of Leonardo’s design process.

Continuity and the everyday in architecture: four British practices working in Flanders

Since 2000, when the Flemish Government Architect established the ‘Open Oproep’, an instrument for awarding large public building projects in Flanders, it has been relatively easy for foreign offices to compete for commissions that are more difficult to obtain in their own countries. Participating in a competition, however, is one thing, winning it is another. The prevailing building culture creates a certain pattern of expectations against which entries are measured; in a design competition, the architecture needs to connect to this culture to meet these (typically implicit) expectations. In terms of these cultural resonances, Dirk Somers has referred to the ‘brown banana’, a metaphor for an architecture of mutual interest stretching from London, via Flanders, Germany, and Switzerland to part of northern Italy. This is an architecture linked by a certain continuity, defined by both invention and convention. This article takes a closer look at the northwestern part of Somers’s brown banana: Flanders and Great Britain. It examines the work of four contemporary British firms that have featured prominently in the final selection since the ‘Open Oproep’ began; namely, Sergison Bates, Tony Fretton, Maccreanor Lavington, and Witherford Watson Mann. On the basis of publications and lectures about and by these firms, a comparison is made between Flemish architecture and building culture, on one hand, as it has been described in recent years and the theoretical position of the four British firms, on the other. Key concepts in this study are collective memory, accumulation, continuity, style, phenomenology, teaching, and writing.

“Railroad of Death”: History and Archaeology of the German-built Second World War Hyrynsalmi–Kuusamo Railway 1942–1944

During the Second World War the frontal responsibility of northern Finland was held by German troops, who carried out large building projects to enhance the poor infrastructure of this peripheral region. This paper focuses on one of the biggest infrastructure projects performed by the Wehrmacht and Organisation Todt in Finland during the Second World War. The Hyrynsalmi-Kuusamo railway was to be built through a challenging landscape, by people who constantly overestimated their own abilities, and at the great expense and suffering of the workers who were mostly prisoners-of-war and forced labourers. Besides their own contemporary memories and experiences from this event, this construction project and its physical traces live in the local memories and have become part of the transgenerational heritage and remembrance of the war years. Using the wartime construction of the track as a starting point, this study goes on to map the heritage value, archaeological potential, and the state of research related to this German wartime project.

Evaluation of Target Value Delivery and Opportunity Management as Complementary Practices

Opportunity management and Target Value Delivery (TVD) have both been studied extensively but separately. The two approaches have been presented as solutions for increasing value in a project for the owner and users. However, it seems there has not been much research that addresses the link between the two approaches. The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge of how TVD can facilitate opportunity management. The results from a literature review are compared with the practice in two cases: TVD in a large infrastructure project and opportunity management in a large building project. The results from the building project showed a lack of inherent motivation for change and innovation in the project organization. The identified opportunities were aimed mainly at maximizing the project’s operational value and keeping costs within the approved budget. TVD seems to handle this with extensive attention to maintain value for the end-users. Besides, the target cost element of TVD seems to complement opportunity management by creating incentives to be flexible about change and innovation. This paper’s originality is to combine two well-established approaches that have many similarities but have yet to be explored in relation to each other.

AUTOMATED BIM ENTITY RECONSTRUCTION FROM UNSTRUCTURED 3D POINTCLOUDS

Laser scanning is used widely in architecture and construction to document existing buildings by providing accurate data for creating a 3D model. The output is a set of data points in space, so-called point cloud. While point clouds can be directly rendered and inspected, they do not hold any semantics. Typically, engineers manually obtain floor plans, structural models, or the whole BIM model, which is a very time-consuming task for large building projects. In this contribution, we present the design and concept of a PointCloud2BIM library [1]. It provides a set of algorithms for automated or user assisted detection of fundamental entities from scanned point cloud data sets, such as floors, rooms, walls, and openings, and identification of the mutual relationships between them. The entity detection is based on a reasonable degree of human interaction (i.e., expected wall thickness). The results reside in a platform-agnostic JSON database allowing future integration into any existing BIM software.

Review Paper: Strength Performance of Eggshell as a Cement Replacement in Concrete

The numbers of Malaysian construction industry had been increasing in several years with the large construction building and infrastructures projects had been constructed. Therefore, these developments led to an increase of cement production. The production of cement will cause wider environmental implication such are air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution which are very dangerous for human health. This is due to the manufacturing of cement that release dust, toxic and carbon dioxide emissions, which is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases. To overcome this problem, several researches had been conducted for the past few decade to find a new waste material that have same mechanical properties which can replace cement content in construction. One of the most promising materials that shows great potential is eggshell as a cement replacement. It is reported that the global egg production will increase to about 90 million tons by 2030, therefore the waste of eggshell will be increased too. This paper study the mechanical properties of eggshell as a cement replacement in concrete. Several papers had been reviewed and the results are presented in order to shows the performance of eggshell in concrete. The result shows that the concrete with less than 15% replacement of eggshell produced higher compressive and tensile strength compared to normal concrete. Moreover, the flexural strength of concrete containing eggshell up to 20% replacement shows comparable results with normal concrete. From the results, by replacing cement with eggshell up to 15% show a good performance as well as can reduce the use of cement and reduce the eggshell wasted in landfill.

The Assessment on the Acceptance of Waste Materials as a Partial Cement Replacement in Malaysian Construction Industry

The numbers of Malaysia construction industry had been increasing in several years with the large construction building and infrastructures projects had been constructed. Therefore, these developments led to an increase of cement production. The production of cement causes a wider environmental implication such as air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution which are very dangerous for human health. This is due to the manufacturing of cement that release dust, toxic and carbon dioxide emissions, which is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases. To overcome this problem, several researches had been conducted for the past few decades to develop a new material to replace cement. Most of the materials selected are from waste materials that has similar chemical properties and mechanical properties. From the research, most of the results show a positive performance in concrete and suitable to be use as a cement replacement. Unfortunately, the research stops at the research stage where it is rarely seen that these waste materials had been used in construction, especially in Malaysia. Most of the developers did not corporate these waste materials as a cement replacement in their construction work due to unclear reasons. Therefore, this study had been conducted to investigate the factors of un-implementation of waste materials in construction industry especially in Malaysian construction. This can be achieved by intensive literature review on properties and performance of waste materials in concrete. An interview session with an expertise also had been conducted to design a questionnaire that later had been distributed to 140 respondents from construction site background especially registered contractor Class G1-G7 all around Peninsular Malaysia. The data had been analyzed and the factor contribute to un-implemented of waste materials in construction had been identified. From the data analysis, factors that contributes to the un-implemented are due to lack of awareness and knowledge about waste materials as a cement replacement. Thus, to overcome this problem, respondents suggest that the workshop need to be conducted to spread the awareness and give a knowledge regarding waste materials as a cement replacement.

Social network analysis of project procurement in Iranian construction mega projects

Several construction projects, worldwide, are suffering from delays and budget overruns; and Western Asia is not an exception. Studies have identified delays in progress payments and change order approvals as two of the main root causes of overruns in large building projects in the Middle East. In this study, the effect of procurement methods on these two factors has been investigated by analyzing the structure of social networks formed during these processes and evaluating the efficiency of information diffusion in such networks. Three contract types are focused, i.e., unit-rate; lump-sum; and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) to evaluate the functional performance of actor networks associated with them, and social network analysis (SNA) is used as the main analysis tool. After extracting the social networks formed in the mega-projects from the public domain in the Iranian construction industry, metrics from SNA were used to evaluate their functional performance concerning progress payment and change order management. The processes were compared at both network-level and the individuals involved. The observations were turned into an industry questionnaire and the key stakeholders involved in the projects were surveyed for validation and additional insights. The results identified the actors/roles of the most prominence in change and invoice networks of projects, as well as the strength and weaknesses of the three forms of standard contracts reviewed, as manifested in the performance of invoice and change management processes. It was observed that the formation of flat actor-networks in more modern contracts (such as the EPC) effectively supports a better flow of information, hence improves the performance of the processes under the study.

Success Drivers for Implementing Circular Economy: A Case Study from the Building Sector in Colombia

This paper contributes to the circular economy (CE) literature by investigating the drivers of success of the CE implementation in the construction sector and how those drivers can complement any implementation process in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). To do so, we analyzed the case of TECMO Estructuras Metálicas, using the methodology proposed by Jaca and colleagues to implement the CE in SMEs. It is a Colombian company with more than five decades of experience in the manufacture and installation of steel and aluminum structures for small and large building and infrastructure projects. The data were collected between August 2019 and November 2020 through direct communication with the company via workshops, meetings, and company reports. This research found that five drivers are relevant for implementing CE in the construction sector: fertile ecosystem, management commitment, identification of valuable materials, green teams, and CE intermediaries. Moreover, this study also contributes to teaching the implementation of the CE in companies, since it shows that through the methodology presented, implementation projects can be developed in postgraduate classes.

Строительство в Северной Македонии в период возвращения под византийское владычество

Architectural landscape of the Northern Macedonia after reinstallation of the Byzantine jurisdiction in no way may be called homogenous. The monuments are characterized by diverse approaches to the form, construction, technology and style. All of them have different ratios of “provincial” and “metropolitan” architectural features. Nonetheless, the extant monuments, their architectural allusions to the Constantinopolitan architecture and their history available to us testifies to the importance of the Macedonian theme for the Byzantine Empire. Primary evidence is given by the large building projects renewing religious centres –— bishoprics of Vodoća and Morodviz, archbishopric of Ohrid. Monasteries, founded, by the members of the imperial family of the Komnenoi, prove the vital interest of the Byzantine aristocratic circles in the Northern Macedonia. This research has been completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), project № 20-18-00294.

Risk management system and intelligent decision-making for prefabricated building project under deep learning modified teaching-learning-based optimization.

This study establishes a model of prefabricated building project risk management system based on the Modified Teaching-Learning-Based-Optimization (MTLBO) algorithm and a prediction model of deep learning multilayer feedforward neural network (Backpropagation, BP neural network) to improve the requirements of risk management during the construction of large prefabricated building projects. First, we introduced the BP neural network algorithm based on deep learning. Second, the traditional Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm was modified by using information entropy, and the modified algorithm was simulated and tested in five test functions. Then, based on the BP neural network and MTLBO algorithm, we established the MTLBO-BP neural network prediction model and tested its performance. Finally, based on the MTLBO-BP neural network prediction model, MATLAB software was used to establish an intelligent model of the risk management system during the construction of prefabricated building projects, and the example verification was performed. In addition, the MTLBO algorithm was verified by test function simulation and established that global searchability is stronger than the TLBO algorithm. Of note, it is not easy to fall into a local optimum. The test results of the MTLBO-BP neural network prediction model revealed that the prediction model converges faster and exerts a better prediction effect. The example verification of the intelligent model of the risk management system during the construction of prefabricated building projects established in this study revealed that the algorithm proposed is more accurate in the reliability and cost prediction of the risk management of prefabricated building projects. Moreover, the algorithm proposed provides theoretical support for intelligent management and decision-making of prefabricated building projects. Overall, this study validates that this algorithm is essential for construction project management, decision-making, and quality assurance.

Numerical Simulation of Construction Process of Large Building Project Based on Discrete Element Method

Assembling integrated concrete cutting construction technology is a kind of construction engineering means commonly used in large stadiums at present. The advantage of this method lies in that it is connected by reinforcing bars, connecting pieces or applying prestress and pouring concrete members on site, which significantly enhances the mechanical resistance of construction engineering. And milling and planing machine as a large stadium assembly integrated concrete cutting construction indispensable important engineering machinery, its demand continues to grow, domestic independent research and development of high-performance milling and planing machine is urgent. Based on three-dimensional discrete element method model conforms to the macroscopic mechanical properties of the road, establish milling planer operation simulation model of quantitative stadium assembled monolithic concrete construction process of milling planer cutting resistance, using uniaxial compression and splitting tensile test to determine the compressive modulus of asphalt concrete pavement and tensile modulus, obtain the macro level check micro contact connection parameters. Discrete element specimens with coarse aggregate of irregular shape are generated by using the algorithm of 3d discrete element software PFC3D. Through the establishment of kinematics model, the critical condition expression of vibration planer is deduced, and the improvement of the working process force by adding different vibration modes is studied, so as to calculate the optimal combination value of vibration planer amplitude and vibration frequency, and obtain the better vibration mode of milling planer.

A hybrid approach for quantitative assessment of construction projects risks: The case study of poor quality concrete

This research presents a new fuzzy-based approach for quantitative assessment of construction projects risks. Using the proposed approach, the risk is decomposed into internal and external root causes prompting it and the probability of occurrence of risk is assessed by fault tree analysis (FTA). The impact of identified risks is then assessed by event tree analysis (ETA) considering the possible negative scenarios arising from the occurrence of a risk. Owing to the imprecise and uncertain nature of various factors affecting the probability and impact of identified risks, fuzzy logic is integrated into the proposed FTA and ETA methodologies. Finally, the severity of risk is assessed in the form of a fuzzy number using the proposed integrated fuzzy FTA-ETA approach. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, it is implemented in a large building project and the quantitative risk assessment is done for the “poor quality concrete” as one of the most significant identified risks.

Sustainable model for the implementation of a green building project

The problem of today is a complex study of the multicomponent geotechnical system of large green building projects. The essence of the green building project is to introduce a set of technologies to improve the construction process and minimize future costs. A comprehensive implementation of energy-efficient technologies considered by the author allows obtaining an overall reduction in heat consumption from 30% to 70%, depending on the list of measures and selected technical solutions, as well as on the initial technical condition of the house. Based on these calculations, during the period under consideration, the NPV indicator is positive, and as a result, the proposed project pays off. The payback period of the Energy Efficient Home project is within 10,29 years, and the project is quite efficient. Taking into account the research data, it is planned to develop an algorithm for assessing the geomonitoring of environmental impacts in the development of green building projects.

Construction delays in privately funded large building projects in Bangladesh

Schedule delay in building construction projects is considered as one of the main reasons for project failure in developing countries. Likewise, privately funded building construction projects in Bangladesh have been suffering due to schedule delays. This study investigated the main causes of delay in privately funded large building projects in Bangladesh. To determine the causes of delay, a structured interview with 70 respondents was conducted with project owners, consultants, and contractors. Using the importance index analysis method, the study identified the critical causes of delays. The ten most important causes are: (1) lack of experienced construction managers; (2) lowest bidder selection; (3) owners' fund shortage; (4) lack of proper management by the owners; (5) improper planning and scheduling; (6) lack of skilled workers; (7) inaccurate time and cost estimation by the contractors; (8) site constraints; (9) improper progress monitoring and cost control; and (10) contractors' cash flow problem during construction. Furthermore, Kruskal-Wallis test indicates that there is no significant variation among the three groups of respondents, i.e., owners, consultants, and contractors. The finding of this study is significant for identifying the most important causes of delay in large building projects. It also identifies the responsibility of major stakeholders (i.e., owners, consultants, and contractors) in causing a schedule delay, which helps them to find mitigation measures for the potential delays of upcoming projects in advance. Although this study provides the insight into the causes of delay in privately funded large building projects in Bangladesh, it is also significant for other similar developing countries.

Removing duplicated geometries in IFC models using rigid body transformation estimation and flyweight design pattern

BackgroundThe digital process of Building Information Modeling (BIM) involves the creation and modification of CAD-based building models. The complexity of such models has been increasing steadily within the last few years. BIM Models are usually being exchanged using open and standardized data formats. In this context, the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are widely used. Therefore, software vendors provide interfaces for dealing with the IFC format. To obtain a high level of data integrity, however, IFC elements are often managed as completely distinct entities, which can result in the creation of multiple copies of identical pieces of information. Since the trend to provide web-based solutions for BIM applications is also becoming increasingly important, especially the conflict between available resource consumption and suitable response times must be considered. Although existing optimization algorithms can reduce the size of an IFC file by analyzing its structure syntactically, there is still the gap to detect identical pieces of geometries that are syntactically distinct. Also, when subsequently merging such geometries, the available sharing concepts must be questioned.MethodsThe contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, we propose an algorithm to retrospectively detect identical geometries by estimating the rigid body transformation. On the other hand, we outline and evaluate the available possibilities for sharing geometries within the IFC data model. The so-called flyweight pattern is applied to provide and maintain the appropriate reuse of identical information.ResultsThe methodologies are exemplary demonstrated by modeling and optimizing a typical tunnel lining structure, which contains many repetitive elements. As a result, a noticeable reduction of storage and processing time can be measured.ConclusionsEstablishing BIM in large building projects, where complexity not only depends on variation and geometric detail, but also depends on enormous repetition of these elements, a significant benefit is expected.

A review in high early strength concrete and local materials potential

High early strength concrete is one of the type in high performance concrete. A high early strength concrete means that the compressive strength of the concrete at the first 24 hours after site-pouring could achieve structural concrete quality (compressive strength > 21 MPa). There are 4 (four) important factors that must be considered in the making process, those factors including: portland cement type, cement content, water to cement ratio, and admixture. In accordance with its high performance, the production cost is estimated to be 25 to 30% higher than conventional concrete. One effort to cut the production cost is to utilize local materials. This paper will also explain about the local materials which were abundantly available, cheap, and located in strategic coast area of East Java Province, that is: Gresik, Tuban and Bojonegoro city. In addition, the application of this study is not limited only to a large building project, but also for a small scale building which has one to three-story. The performance of this concrete was apparently able to achieve the quality of compressive strength of 27 MPa at the age of 24 hours, which qualified enough to support building structurally.

Addressing stakeholder complexity and major pitfalls in large cultural building projects

Many countries have put substantial investment into constructing large and iconic cultural buildings because they are the emblems of civic pride, as well as tools to generalize cultural and economic benefits. However, stories of project failures are often heard in this rapid cultural building boom. In fact, many pitfalls in developing large cultural building projects (CBPs) are associated to the stakeholders since they are the actual central figures of a project. As such, addressing stakeholder complexity and understanding major pitfalls in CBPs from stakeholder perspective are crucial to the successful management of these projects, yet relevant empirical studies remain lacking. To fill this gap, case study of a large performing arts center was conducted. A holistic stakeholder analysis approach, which applies both rationalistic methods (e.g. social network analysis) and empirical methods (e.g. survey and interviews), was adopted to address stakeholder complexity in the case. Three major pitfalls in large CBPs were identified, including ‘developing accurate end users' requirements’, ‘balancing between aesthetics, functionality and resources’, and ‘leadership team makeup, vision, charisma and learning stance’. Their underlying causes and possible solutions were discussed. This study contributes theoretically by illustrating a holistic approach of analyzing and addressing stakeholder complexity, and provides practical value by understanding the pitfalls of CBPs from stakeholder perspective.

A network theory-based analysis of stakeholder issues and their interrelationships in large construction projects: a case study

Large construction projects are characterized by numerous stakeholders and conflicting interests involved. Previous stakeholder management studies placed great emphasis on stakeholder identification and analysis based on individual stakeholder attributes, which are confined in completeness without taking into account stakeholder-related issues and their interrelationships. In real situations, a project environment is a network of interconnected stakeholder issues, where stakeholder perception and salience are affected by the propagating influences of these issue interactions. This paper conducts a network theory-based analysis to investigate the underlying network of stakeholder issues in large construction projects, as well as to identify key issues and relationships impacting project execution. Network analysis procedures are illustrated through a case study of a large building project. Recommendations and lessons learnt are drawn for future large public construction projects. This paper provides a network perspective to analyse stakeholder issues and interrelationships, eventually increasing the overall accuracy and effectiveness of project stakeholder management.

Poverty in the first-century Galilee

In the Ancient world poverty was a visible and common phenomenon. According to estimations 9 out of 10 persons lived close to the subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. The state did not show much concern for the poor. Inequality and disability to improve one’s social status were based on honour and shame, culture and religion.In order to understand the activity of Jesus and the early Jesus movement in Galilee, it is essential to know the social and economic context where he and his followers came. The principal literary source in first-century Galilee is Josephus, who provides a very incomplete glimpse of the political and economic character of the Galilee and his account is both tendentious and selfserving. There is no consensus among the scholars on the conditions of ordinary people in Galilee at the time of Jesus and the early Jesus movement. The evidence can be interpreted either so that first-century Galilee was peaceful and people had somewhat better times economically because of the large building projects, or just the opposite – the building projects demanded a lot more taxes and forced labour and made life even more difficult. In this article it is argued that the latter conditions explain better the birth and rapid increase of the early Jesus movement in Galilee.