Construction knowledge can be communicated and reused among project managers and jobsite engineers to alleviate problems on a construction jobsite and reduce the time and cost of solving problems ...related to constructability. This paper proposes a new methodology for the sharing of construction knowledge by using Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology. The main characteristics of BIM include illustrating 3D CAD-based presentations and keeping information in a digital format and facilitation of easy updating and transfer of information in the BIM environment. Using the BIM technology, project managers and engineers can gain knowledge related to BIM and obtain feedback provided by jobsite engineers for future reference. This study addresses the application of knowledge sharing management using BIM technology and proposes a BIM-based Knowledge Sharing Management (BIMKSM) system for project managers and engineers. The BIMKSM system is then applied in a selected case study of a construction project in Taiwan to demonstrate the effectiveness of sharing knowledge in the BIM environment. The results demonstrate that the BIMKSM system can be used as a visual BIM-based knowledge sharing management platform by utilizing the BIM technology.
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project is a massive, large-scale construction venture with a complex interface. In order to reduce the risk of disasters and industrial accidents in the project and to ...save costs, a simple and flexible risk management system is necessary for projects such as MRT. A set of risk management processes was identified through a literature review and data collection, and the Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0) process was used for logical analysis. The IDEF0 diagram clearly depicts the items to be delivered at each interface, and risk is reduced by facilitating the flow of data on various risk items. The results of this research will be applied to other practical projects, with special emphasis on the project planning and design stages. Future work will verify whether the implementation of the proposed risk management process does indeed effectively reduce risks in the completed project.
The selection of a retaining method during the excavation of building foundations is always of paramount concern to engineers. In general, the application and use of steel H-shapes are typically ...practiced by designers to form the entire retaining system; however, sustainability issues, including carbon emission reduction, environment protection, material consumption, and resource circulation, are being increasingly considered when developing a new project. The Linkou Public Housing Project (LPHP), located in New Taipei City, Taiwan, is introduced in this paper to present a sustainable soil-retaining method that also exhibits the principles of a circular economy. The triangular shape of the foundation zone of the LPHP led to difficulty in setting the horizontal strut H-beam system. In this project, the “Anchor Pile with Steel Cable System (APSCS)” was adopted to retain the 11.5 m depth excavation for the LPHP foundation construction. The prime contents of the soil in the Linkou district comprises a laterite–gravel layer mixed with brown silty and sandy clay, with a groundwater level (G.L.) of −25 m. By adopting the sustainable APSCS method, the excavation of the LPHP foundation was safely completed. Approximately NT $350 million in direct and indirect costs of construction was saved, and the duration of the work was reduced by up to 90 days. Furthermore, the carbon emissions were reduced by 677.6 tons due to the diminished use of the steel H-shaped materials. The authors concluded that the use of the APSCS method in the LPHP was successful and it was a valuable reference for other similar projects. Moreover, the authors presented another retaining-system failure case, which was located near the LPHP site, to compare the success of the LPHP.
The construction industry is a high debt ratio, high operating risk and high financial leverage business. The financial instability causes a chain reaction among funds transferred among companies, ...therefore restricting competitiveness within the industry. The industry’s character and accounting principles of firm-years are different from that of other industries. Creating a hypothetical model of a financial crisis within the construction industry is therefore necessary. Application of this model to real scenarios involving relevant parties can help to forecast a financial crisis in the future. This study applied the market-based model, accounting-based model, hybrid models to predict a financial crisis. These models were then compared to find which can best predict a company that will default. Also, in this paper choosing variables for the Hybrid and Accounting-based models can promote their performance. Finally, the best can be selected for predicting stability.
Construction project control attempts to obtain real-time as-built schedule information and to eliminate project delays by effectively enhancing dynamic schedule control and management. Suitable ...platforms for enhancing an as-built schedule visually during the construction phase are necessary and important for general contractors. As the application of building information modeling (BIM) becomes more common, schedule management integrated with the BIM approach becomes essential to enhance visual construction management implementation for the general contractor during the construction phase. To enhance visualization of the updated as-built schedule for the general contractor, this study presents a novel system called the Construction BIM-assisted Schedule Management (ConBIM-SM) system for general contractors in Taiwan. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a web ConBIM-SM system for the general contractor to enhance visual as-built schedule information sharing and efficiency in tracking construction as-built schedule. Finally, the ConBIM-SM system is applied to a case study of a commerce building project in Taiwan to verify its efficacy and demonstrate its effectiveness during the construction phase. The advantages of the ConBIM-SM system lie in improved project control and management efficiency for general contractors, and in providing BIM-assisted as-built schedule tracking and management, to access the most current as-built schedule information through a web browser. The case study results show that the ConBIM-SM system is an effective visual as-built schedule management platform integrated with the BIM approach for general contractors in a construction project.
In recent years, scaffolding has been widely used in construction in advanced industrial countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia as a temporary facility for new construction and demolition ...projects. However, in the complex environment of a construction site, temporary facilities such as scaffolding are only managed by the governments of these various countries via the legal system and are inspected through manual observation, resulting in numerous occupational hazards. Today, the lack of attention to temporary structures such as multi-degree-of-freedom discrete structures (e.g. scaffolding) has resulted in a failure to effectively improve the safety, quality, and performance of scaffolded temporary structures. In this study, the scaffolding system of a costly construction site in Taiwan is used as a case study. A BIM model of scaffolding is built based on the unique geographical location of Taiwan and external factors such as earthquakes and typhoons. The study even uses ETABS structural software to identify the structure of scaffolding and analyze the important monitoring points in order to establish a 'scaffolding intelligent monitoring system' to effectively control the hazards of scaffolding as a medium, thus achieving the goal of construction safety during construction phase.
Governmental Debt Guarantees (GDGs) are often used to encourage involvement by promoters and financial institutions in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) projects. However, even after demonstrating ...the bankability of a project and reducing debt cost, the success of the project may be prevented by the lack of long-term commitment from shareholders. Equity contributions by promoters in the project company may be recovered from earnings on short-term construction activities. Based on lesson learned from early PPP projects with GDG, the hold-up problem for government in the view of transaction cost economic (TCE) theory may worsen if the designed contractual structure does not adequately manage opportunistic behaviours from promoters. This study empirically examined the effects of a structured GDG mechanism with particular complementary measures applied in joint projects to develop the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations. A GDG game model was then applied to bridge the theoretical gap based on the Taipei MRT experience. The analysis shows that requiring the promoter to provide sufficient equity and ensuring the commitment of the lender to provide the loan are the appropriate proactive measures. This study demonstrates its practical value for policy makers by combining case study, TCE and game theory in contractual issues.
AbstractPile positioning, for driving piles below the surface of water in a marine pier construction project, is typically a time-consuming task owing to the fact that the pile wharf is affected ...significantly by environmental limitation and marine meteorology. As a result, it is always a goal to minimize the positioning time while maintaining a desired level of accuracy. This study developed a global positioning system (GPS)-based information system, which integrated six major modules. This system was designed to provide a real-time positioning and guidance solution for pile-driving barge control in a marine pier construction project. In a case study, the developed system has been implemented successfully in a real project and proved this system can improve the horizontal accuracy of real-time pile positions by less than 1 cm. It also contributed to a 42% reduction in the construction time and thus an 11% reduction in the final budget. Consequently, the efficiency of a piling construction project could be improved significantly by incorporating such a system.
As the prediction of construction firm failure is of great importance for owners, contractors, investors, banks, insurance firms, and creditors, previous studies have developed several models for ...predicting the probability of construction firm default based on financial ratio analysis. However, to be applied, these models require a considerable quantity of data, including normally distributed data, and the models cannot tolerate too many changing factors. Furthermore, most of the approaches produce sample selection biases. To avoid these disadvantages, this study is the first to integrate the grey system theory with all available firm‐year samples during the sample period to provide a new method for predicting the probability of construction firm default. This method not only offers an improved rate of prediction accuracy, but it also offers simpler and clearer procedures as a reference for examining firm default probability and ranks all financial ratios in terms of their level of importance. The research collects and analyzes the financial reports of 92 construction firms in the United States. The proposed model includes only eight ranked variables (financial ratios), and it achieves an 84.8% level of accuracy for predicting construction firm default probability. As a result, practitioners may directly use the model as a means of quickly and conveniently examining their firm default probability with the simple procedures.
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