On the effectiveness of site investigation in regard to project costs - a case study

ce/papers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 439-444
Author(s):  
Peter FREITAG ◽  
Eugen MARTAC ◽  
Thomas REICHENAUER
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 101-113
Author(s):  
Naser Tali ◽  
Gholam Reza Lashkaripour ◽  
Mohamad Ghafoori ◽  
Naser Hafezimoghadas

Current advances in science, followed by development of excavation equipments technology resulted in growth of tunnelling projects for different purposes. In spite of conducting exploratory studies prior to these projects, in some cases due to of impassable paths, the studies are limited to certain areas. Hence, during geotechnical studies, it is possible that all problems facing tunnelling not be detected. Therefore, lack of awareness of these conditions can result in a lack of proper planning and consequently lead to problems during the projects. Due to the lack of knowledge and consequently not predicting and planning the projects, drilling of the second sector of Nousoud water transmission tunnel, -26 km long- has been faced with many problems including emission of hydrogen sulfide and methane gas and drainage of high volumes of water containing dissolved gas into the tunnel, which has led to the loss of life, loss of working efficiency, as well as increased project costs. In this study, problems occurred in this project, reasons behind them will be addressed; and the solutions to these problems will be mentioned. The results of the study have shown that oil-bearing formations of the region and the immigration of gases coming from these formations have let the gas entered into the tunnel. In addition, due to the high solubility of hydrogen sulfide and methane gas in water on one hand, and hydrated formations with high permeability on the other hand, caused the influx of large quantities of water and therefore the concentration of these gases in the tunnel.


Author(s):  
A. Buda ◽  
S. Mauri

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Historic buildings are fragile systems to be managed and protected during time: in the task of heritage restoration, efficiency improvement interventions should enable a more sustainable building conservation and use. Such measures might be defined within the combination of building survey and energy performance simulation. A good knowledge of materials and physics characteristics is fundamental to weigh correctly any improvement intervention. This can be supported also by documentary research and diagnostics, to detect existing resources and conservation issues. However, how to match all collected qualitative and quantitative data with a building energy model is still an open question. Energy simulation alone gives a partial vision of heritage needs, excluding information which do not affect the thermal performance of the model; on the contrary, a whole building approach is necessary for defining restoration interventions. With the aim of suggesting a methodology to combine both fields of investigation, a case study has been chosen to our purpose: Giuseppe Terragni’s Casa del Fascio (1936). A multidisciplinary process with the combination of building survey, monitoring campaign, on-site investigation and energy modelling has been functional to the understanding of the real building needs and the definition of interventions. Furthermore, the analysis has given to the rediscover of Terragni’s microclimatic control system (not more existing), leading to the choice of reinventing - in a modern way – the existing devices (as curtains), well-balanced on building needs.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Sashi Gajula ◽  
Bertrand Peuchot

Decommissioning a producing asset within a low oil-price market scenario with a possibility of resuming production at a later stage is becoming a frequent task. The main objective of the offshore campaign is to release the floating production storage and off-loading unit (FPSO) at the earliest time by disconnecting all production risers, umbilical and mooring chains, and ensuring integrity of the subsea assets for future use. The entire project for the disconnection of this FPSO was managed in four phases. The first two phases were related to shutdown of production and FPSO clean-up. The FPSO readiness for disconnection was required before the final two phases: disconnection of risers and mooring lines. Detailed engineering was carried out in consultation with various stakeholders involved in the project: the regulator, the company, the FPSO owner and the installation contractor. Through feasibility studies, the best option was selected, which included innovative solutions to reduce overall offshore duration and project costs. The project was successfully completed by meeting the key objective of early departure of the FPSO without lost time injury or any significant environmental incidents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80
Author(s):  
E. Gashi

Constructing a new building or any other civil engineering project from scratch is a challenge for the construction industry as novelty designs may be produced by designers but they are often constructed by low skilled labor on site. The unique and sometimes complex nature of the construction sector arises because a large number of different professional groups have different interests and requirements, which often conflict with one another. In principle, each construction company aims to construct a project without any defects from the very first activity on site right up to final completion. This aim is almost impossible to achieve throughout the entire construction duration because of many factors, including: low skilled labor, difficult site conditions, and incomplete designs, varying quality cultures in each company, poor communication and poor management. Therefore, construction defects are things which we can assume to have occurred on the site. Defects occurring during the construction process are sometimes costly and preventable mistakes. Research has shown that correcting defective components that are identified late in the construction process or during the maintenance period accounts for approximately 15% of the total construction costs. This paper presents a case study of the defects that occurred during a motorway construction project as a consequence of poor workmanship by an untrained workforce and it aims to raise awareness of the need for on-the-job training for quality managers in order to minimize defective works and reduce the project costs spent on correcting them. It also identifies the various factors that cause construction defects and suggests measures that can be taken to reduce them.


Mega construction projects in general require a lot of planning in terms of land acquisition, estimating material cost, human resources, financials, safety and many more. It is a common scenario with delays occurring in such mega projects attributing to increased project costs, delays in work completion. It leads to creating a negative impact on the prospects of the effective utilization of the project output in terms of space, facility and resources to commence work at that location. This study aims to identify the factors that could potentially contribute to project delays and possible methods of resolving the conflicts that have aroused. A case study on Kuwait International Airport Cargo City was conducted quantitatively as well as qualitatively. It is learnt that management conflicts have a major impact on creating project delays, due to poor management, lack of effective communication and ineffective utilization of resources.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 54-61
Author(s):  
Chung Le Thuy Kieu ◽  
Ha Thi San Phan ◽  
Son Minh Le

One of the major tasks in geotechnical investigation is the stratigraphy distribution and the physico-mechanical properties of strata encountered in the investigation area. In order to reduce the project risks associated with uncertainties in predicting the distribution of strata (in area and in depth), a geotechnical investigation plan is usually designed with as many as possible of the boreholes. And this, in turn, increases the investigation costs. On the contrary, the owner of the project is expected to gather as much information about the subsurface soils as possible at the lowest cost. To deal with this contradiction, geotechnical engineers not only mobilize their knowledge on the investigation area and their experiences in the field of geotechnical investigation but also should be supported by geostatistical tools, especially the interpolation method of Kriging. Based on the real data taken from a geotechnical investigation project in Saigon (Vietnam), this paper will introduce two geotechnical investigation plans: a) an actual investigation plan; b) an optimized investigation plan designed with the support of Kriging method. From these two plans, the ability of Kriging in optimization of geotechnical investigation will be evaluated.


Author(s):  
Y.-N. Lin ◽  
C. Yang ◽  
Y.-H. Ye ◽  
Z.-R. Zhang

Abstract. Cultural landscapes are the result of the interactions between cultural and natural features over time. Historic research and site investigation are two conventional methods for identifying the transformation of cultural landscapes. Over the past few decades, with the massive development of computer and internet, technologies such as aerial photogrammetry, GPS and GIS provide new approaches for the study of landscape transformation. The aim of this research is to investigate and present the transformation of a cultural landscape using aerial photogrammetry and geo-database. Kuliang in Fuzhou, a former foreigners’ summer resort established by missionaries in 1886, was used as an instrumental case study. This research has identified historical mountain trails by superimposing historical maps and GPS-recorded tracks. Historic sites were found through a comparison of historical photos and low-altitude drone images. Drone-based orthophotos of the sites provide significant evidence for the restoration of the historical buildings. Furthermore, based on the integration of multiple sources of data in a geo-database, this research reveals Kuliang’s landscape patterns and their transformation over time. The conclusion shows that the use of aerial photogrammetry and geo-database can effectively integrate fragmented cultural landscape information, and identify the transformation of cultural landscape patterns, thereby providing significant references for landscape heritage restoration and sustainable development.


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