Measuring corruption in public construction projects in China

Corruption has been identified as the greatest obstacle to economic and social development. Public construction projects, in particular, face high corruption risk as public construction sector has been consecutively deemed as the most corrupt one. Despite considerable efforts have been undertaken to measure corruption at a nation level, few focus on the measurement of corruption in construction projects. This paper develops a fuzzy measurement model for the potential corruption in public construction projects in China. Through semi-structured interviews with 14 experts, followed by a questionnaire survey with 188 respondents, 24 measurement items of corruption were identified and further categorized into five constructs. The fuzzy set theory was then adopted to quantify each measurement item, construct and the overall corruption level. This model can facilitate in evaluating, revealing and monitoring corruption in public construction projects. Although this study focuses on measuring corruption in public construction projects in China, similar research methods can be applied in other countries around the world and thus contribute to the global body of knowledge of corruption.

Experimental studies of cold-formed steel hollow section columns at elevated temperatures

This paper reports the details of an experimental study of cold-formed steel hollow section columns at ambient and elevated temperatures. In this study the global buckling behaviour of cold-formed Square Hollow Section (SHS) slender columns under axial compression was investigated at various uniform elevated temperatures up to 700℃. The results of these column tests are reported in this paper, which include the buckling/failure modes at elevated temperatures, and ultimate load versus temperature curves. Finite element models of tested columns were also developed and their behaviour and ultimate capacities at ambient and elevated temperatures were studied. Fire design rules given in European and American standards including the Direct Strength Method (DSM) based design rules were used to predict the ultimate capacities of tested columns at elevated temperatures. Elevated temperature mechanical properties and stress-strain models given in European steel design standards and past researches were used with design rules and finite element models to investigate their effects on SHS column capacities. Comparisons of column capacities from tests and finite element analyses with those predicted by current design rules were used to determine the accuracy of currently available column design rules in predicting the capacities of SHS columns at elevated temperatures and the need to use appropriate elevated temperature material stress-strain models. This paper presents the important findings derived from the comparisons of these column capacities.

Analysis of construction dispute review boards

This paper presents the results of a research project undertaken to assess the impact of DRBs on the construction program of a large scale highway agency. Three dimensions of DRB impact were assessed: (1)influence on project cost and schedule performance, (2) effectiveness of DRBs in preventing and resolving construction disputes, and (3) costs of DRB implementation. The analyses encompass data from approximately 3,000 projects extending over a 10 year period (2000-2009).

Issues in obstacle detection for autonomous mining and construction vehicles

This paper discusses a Dumber of key issues for the development of robust, obstacle detection systems for autonomous mining and construction vehicles. A taxonomy of obstacle detection systems is described; An overview of the state-of- the-art in obstacle detection for outdoor autonomous vehicles is presented with their applicability to the mining and construction environments noted. The issue of so-called fail-safe obstacle detection is then discussed. Finally, we describe the development of an obstacle detection system for a mining vehicle.

Swing load stabilization for mining and construction applications

This paper discusses the issue of sensing and control for stabilizing a swinging load. Our work has focused in particular on the dragline as used for overburden stripping in open-pit coal mining, but many of the principles would also be applicable to construction cranes. Results obtained from experimental work on a full-scale production dragline are presented.

Three-dimensional printing in the construction industry: A review

3D printing (3Dp) has long been used in the manufacturing sector as a way to automate, accelerate production and reduce waste materials. It is able to build a wide variety of objects if the necessary specifications are provided to the printer and no problems are presented by the limited range of materials available. With 3Dp becoming cheaper, more reliable and, as a result, more prevalent in the world at large, it may soon make inroads into the construction industry. Little is known however, of 3Dp in current use the construction industry and its potential for the future and this paper seeks to rectify this situation by providing a review of the relevant literature. In doing this, the three main 3Dp methods of contour crafting, concrete printing and D-shape 3Dp are described which, as opposed to the traditional construction method of cutting materials down to size, deliver only what is needed for completion, vastly reducing waste. Also identified is 3Dp’s potential to enable buildings to be constructed many times faster and with significantly reduced labour costs. In addition, it is clear that construction 3Dp can allow the further inclusion of Building Information Modelling into the construction process - streamlining and improving the scheduling requirements of a project. However, current 3Dp processes are known to be costly, unsuited to large-scale products and conventional design approaches, and have a very limited range of materials that can be used. Moreover, the only successful examples of construction in action to date have occurred in controlled laboratory environments and, as real world trials have yet to be completed, it is yet to be seen whether it can be it equally proficient in practical situations. Key Words: 3D Printing; Contour Crafting; Concrete Printing; D-shape; Building Automation.

Chirp-spread-spectrum-based real time location system for construction safety management: A case study

Observing the working procedure of construction workers is an effective means of maintaining the safety performance of a construction project. It is also difficult to achieve due to a high worker-to-safety-officer ratio. There is an imminent need for the development of a tool to assist in the real-time monitoring of workers, in order to reduce the number of construction accidents. The development and application of a real time locating system (RTLS) based on the Chirp Spread Spectrum (CSS) technique is described in this paper for tracking the real-time position of workers on construction sites. Experiments and tests were carried out both on- and off-site to verify the accuracy of static and dynamic targets by the system, indicating an average error of within one metre. Experiments were also carried out to verify the ability of the system to identify workers’ unsafe behaviours. Wireless data transfer was used to simplify the deployment of the system. The system was deployed in a public residential construction project and proved to be quick and simple to use. The cost of the developed system is also reported to be reasonable (around 1800USD) in this study and is much cheaper than the cost of other RTLS. In addition, the CCS technique is shown to provide an economical solution with reasonable accuracy compared with other positioning systems, such as ultra wideband. The study verifies the potential of the CCS technique to provide an effective and economical aid in the improvement of safety management in the construction industry.

Web crippling tests of cold-formed steel channels under two flange load cases

Cold-formed steel members have many advantages over hot-rolled steel members. However, they are susceptible to various buckling modes at stresses below the yield stress of the member because of their relatively high width-to-thickness ratio. Web crippling is a form of localized failure mode that can occur when the members are subjected to transverse high concentrated loadings and/or reactions. The four common loading conditions are the end-one-flange (EOF), interior-one-flange (IOF), end-two-flange (ETF) and interior-two-flange (ITF) loadings. Recently a test method has been proposed by AISI to obtain the web crippling capacities under these four loading conditions. Using this test method 42 tests were conducted in this research to investigate the web crippling behaviour and strengths of unlipped channels with stocky webs under ETF and ITF cases. DuraGal sections having a nominal yield stress of 450 MPa were tested with different web slenderness and bearing lengths. The flanges of these channel sections were not fastened to the supports. In this research the suitability of the currently available design rules for unlipped channels subject to web crippling was investigated, and suitable modifications were proposed where necessary. In addition to this, a new design rule was proposed based on the direct strength method to predict the web crippling capacities of tested beams. This paper presents the details of this experimental study and the results.

Local buckling studies of cold-formed steel compression members at elevated temperatures

Cold-formed steel members have been widely used in residential and commercial buildings as primary load bearing structural elements. They are often made of thin steel sheets and hence they are more susceptible to local buckling. The buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel compression members under fire conditions is not fully investigated yet and hence there is a lack of knowledge on the fire performance of cold-formed steel compression members. Current cold-formed steel design standards do not provide adequate design guidelines for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members. Therefore a research project based on extensive experimental and numerical studies was undertaken to investigate the local buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions. First a series of 91 local buckling tests was conducted at ambient and uniform elevated temperatures up to 700oC on cold-formed lipped and unlipped channels. Suitable finite element models were then developed to simulate the behaviour of tested columns and were validated using test results. All the ultimate load capacity results for local buckling were compared with the predictions from the available design rules based on AS/NZS 4600, BS 5950 Part 5, Eurocode 3 Parts 1.2 and 1.3 and the direct strength method (DSM), based on which suitable recommendations have been made for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling at uniform elevated temperatures.

Proactive behavior-based safety management for construction safety improvement

Construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to its dynamic, temporary, and decentralized nature. The Hong Kong Commissioner for Labor identifies worker behavior as the root cause of construction accidents. Behavior-based safety (BBS) is one effective approach in managing employee safety issues. However, there is little research on the application of BBS in the construction industry. This research proposes an extension of the BBS approach, proactive behavior-based safety (PBBS), to improve construction safety. PBBS integrates the theory of BBS with the technology of Proactive Construction Management System (PCMS). The innovations of PBBS are: (1) automatically monitoring location-based behaviors; (2)quantitatively measuring safety performance; (3) investigating potential causes of unsafe behaviors; and (4) improving the efficiency of safety management. A pilot study of a Hong Kong construction site practicing PBBS was conducted. The experiment results showed that PBBS performed well on construction accident prevention and the Safety Index (SI) of the two project teams, with increased improvements by 36.07% and 44.70% respectively. It is concluded that PBBS is effective and adaptable to construction industry.

Analysis and improvement of a construction permit approval process: A teaching case for developing business process development capabilities, targeting developing nations

With the increasing competitiveness in global markets, many developing nations are striving to constantly improve their services in search for the next competitive edge. As a result, the demand and need for Business Process Management (BPM) in these regions is seeing a rapid rise. Yet there exists a lack of professional expertise and knowledge to cater to that need. Therefore, the development of well-structured BPM training/ education programs has become an urgent requirement for these industries. Furthermore, the lack of textbooks or other self-educating material, that go beyond the basics of BPM, further ratifies the need for case based teaching and related cases that enable the next generation of professionals in these countries. Teaching cases create an authentic learning environment where complexities and challenges of the ‘real world’ can be presented in a narrative, enabling students to evolve crucial skills such as problem analysis, problem solving, creativity within constraints as well as the application of appropriate tools (BPMN) and techniques (including best practices and benchmarking) within richer and real scenarios. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive teaching case demonstrating the means to tackle any developing nation’s legacy government process undermined by inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The paper also includes thorough teaching notes The article is presented in three main parts: (i) Introduction - that provides a brief background setting the context of this paper, (ii) The Teaching Case, and (iii) Teaching notes.

Mechanical behavior of circular and square concrete filled steel tube stub columns under local compression

This paper presents a combined experimental and numerical study on the behaviour of both circular and square concrete-filled steel tube (CFT) stub columns under local compression. Twelve circular and eight square CFT stub columns were tested to study their bearing capacity and the key influential parameters. A 3D finite element model was established for simulation and parametric study to investigate the structural behaviour of the stub columns. The numerical results agreed well with the experimental results. In addition, analytical formulas were proposed to calculate the load bearing capacity of CFT stub columns under local compression.

Numerical modeling of thin steel roof battens under wind uplift loads

Extreme wind events such as tropical cyclones, tornadoes and storms are more likely to impact the Australian coastal regions due to possible climate changes. Such events can be extremely destructive to building structures, in particular, low-rise buildings with lightweight roofing systems that are commonly made of thin steel roofing sheets and battens. Large wind uplift loads that act on the roofs during high wind events often cause premature roof connection failures. Recent wind damage investigations have shown that roof failures have mostly occurred at the batten to rafter or truss screw connections. In most of these cases, the screw fastener heads pulled through the bottom flanges of thin steel roof battens. This roof connection failure is very critical as both roofing sheets and battens will be lost during the high wind events. Hence, a research study was conducted to investigate this critical pull-through failure using both experimental and numerical methods. This paper presents the details of numerical modeling and the results.

Exploring and validating the internal dimensions of occupational stress: Evidence from construction cost estimators in China

A recurring feature of modern practice is occupational stress of project professionals, with both debilitating effects on the people concerned and indirectly affecting project success. Previous research outside the construction industry has involved the use of a psychology perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ) to measure occupational stress, resulting in the identification of one stressor – demand - and three sub-dimensional emotional reactions in terms of worry, tension and joy. The PSQ is translated into Chinese with a back translation technique and used in a survey of young construction cost professionals in China. Principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis are used to test the divisibility of occupational stress - little mentioned in previous research on stress in the construction context. In addition, structural equation modelling is used to assess nomological validity by testing the effects of the three dimensions on organizational commitment, the main finding of which is that lack of joy has the sole significant effect. The three-dimensional measurement framework facilitates the standardizing measurement of occupational stress. Further research will establish if the findings are also applicable in other settings and explore the relations between stress dimensions and other managerial concepts.

Collaborative learning model of infrastructure construction: A capability perspective

Purpose Performance heterogeneity between collaborative infrastructure projects is typically examined by considering procurement systems and their governance mechanisms at static points in time. The literature neglects to consider the impact of dynamic learning capability, which is thought to reconfigure governance mechanisms over time in response to evolving market conditions. This conceptual paper proposes a new model to show how continuous joint learning of participant organisations improves project performance. Design/methodology/approach There are two stages of conceptual development. In the first stage, the management literature is analysed to explain the Standard Model of dynamic learning capability that emphasises three learning phases for organisations. This Standard Model is extended to derive a novel Circular Model of dynamic learning capability that shows a new feedback loop between performance and learning. In the second stage, the construction management literature is consulted, adding project lifecycle, stakeholder diversity and three organisational levels to the analysis, to arrive at the Collaborative Model of dynamic learning capability. Findings The Collaborative Model should enable construction organisations to successfully adapt and perform under changing market conditions. The complexity of learning cycles results in capabilities that are imperfectly imitable between organisations, explaining performance heterogeneity on projects. Originality/value The Collaborative Model provides a theoretically substantiated description of project performance, driven by the evolution of procurement systems and governance mechanisms. The Model’s empirical value will be tested in future research.