Empirically validating five propositions regarding 3D visualizations for subsurface utility projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mechiel van Manen ◽  
Léon olde Scholtenhuis ◽  
Hans Voordijk
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
3D Visualization ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complexity Level ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Multiple Case

PurposeThis study aims to empirically validate five propositions about the benefits of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations for the management of subsurface utility projects. Specifically, the authors validate whether benefits from 3D in the literature of building construction project management also apply to subsurface utility projects and map them using a taxonomy of project complexity levels.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study of three utility construction projects was carried out during which the first author was involved in the daily work practices at a utility contractor. 3D visualizations of existing project models were developed, and design and construction meetings were conducted. Practitioners' interactions with and reflections on these 3D visualizations were noted. Observational data from the three project types were matched with the five propositions to determine where benefits of 3D visualizations manifested themselves.FindingsPractitioners found that 3D visualizations had most merit in crowded urban environments when constructing rigid pipelines. All propositions were validated and evaluated as beneficial in subsurface utility projects of complexity level C3. It is shown that in urban projects with rigid pipelines (project with the highest complexity level), 3D visualization prevents misunderstanding or misinterpretations and increases efficiency of coordination. It is recommended to implement 3D visualization approaches in such complex projectsOriginality/valueThere is only limited evidence on the value 3D visualizations in managing utility projects. This study contributes rich empirical evidence on this value based on a six-month observation period at a subsurface contractor. Their merit was assessed by associating 3D approaches with project complexity levels, which may help utility contractors in strategically implementing 3D applications.

4D BIM models for smart utility relocation management in urban infrastructure projects

Facilities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneetha Vilventhan ◽  
Sanu Razin ◽  
R. Rajadurai
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
3D Visualization ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Urban City ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Utility Information ◽  
Communication And Coordination

Purpose The relocation of existing underground utilities in urban environments is complex because of the existence of multiple utility agencies being responsible for numerous utilities and over constrained space and time to execute maintenance works. Unfamiliar location and insufficient records of maintenance data hamper the flow of work, causing unnecessary delays and conflicts. The aim of the paper is to explore 4 dimensional Building Information Modeling as a smart solution for the management of multiple utility data for a relocation project in an urban setting. Design/methodology/approach An empirical case-based research methodology is used to collect data and develop the BIM models. Two ongoing construction projects in an urban city are empirically studied, and 4D BIM models of identified utilities are developed to assist management and relocation of existing utilities. Findings The developed BIM models enabled the location of existing sub-surface utilities through 3D visualization and also enabled clash detection. The 4D simulation of BIM model enabled the tracking of actual progress of relocation works and thereby helped in taking necessary actions to minimize forthcoming delays. The evaluation of the developed model showed that the application of 4D BIM improved communication and coordination during utility relocation works. Practical implications 4D BIM for utility infrastructure provides better management of utility information. They provide utility stakeholders an efficient way to coordinate, manage utility relocation processes through improved visualization and communication with a reduction in delays and conflicts. Originality/value Limited efforts were made using 3D BIM for sub-surface utility infrastructure in visualization and management of utility information. Efforts using 4D BIM in coordination and management of utility projects are left unexplored. This study adds value to the current literature through the application of 4D BIM for utility relocation projects.

Managing integration in infrastructure alliance projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maija Hietajärvi ◽  
Kirsi Aaltonen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Project Organizations ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
Organizational Integration ◽  
Time Critical

Purpose The effective management of inter-organizational integration is central to complex projects. Such projects pose significant challenges for integration, as organizations struggle with constantly changing inter-organizational interdependencies and must develop and adapt integration mechanisms to meet new demands. The purpose of this paper is to understand what kinds of integration mechanisms are used and how they are developed and adjusted during the infrastructure alliance projects. Design/methodology/approach This study provides empirical evidence of integration dynamics in project alliancing by analyzing two infrastructure alliance projects – a complex tunnel construction project and a railway renovation project. The research approach is an inductive case study. Findings This paper identifies integration mechanisms adopted in two case projects and three central triggers that led to changes in the integration mechanisms: project lifecycle phase, unexpected events and project team’s learning during the project. Practical implications Integration capability should be a precondition for alliance project organizations and requires the adoption of a wide range of integration mechanisms, as well as an ability to adjust those mechanisms in response to everyday dynamics and emergent situations. Originality/value Although unplanned contingencies and the responses to them represent important influences in organizations, there is limited amount of research on the dynamics of integration. The findings will be of value in supporting the management of inter-organizational integration in complex, uncertain and time-critical construction projects.

Request for information frequency and their turnaround time in construction projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Ajibade A. Aibinu ◽  
Simon Carter ◽  
Valerie Francis ◽  
Paulo Vaz-Serra
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Turnaround Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Staffing Levels ◽  
Management Platform ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Project Characteristics ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Information Frequency ◽  
Data Analytic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of request for information (RFIs) on construction projects by using data analytics to understand the frequency of RFIs, when they occur on projects, and the relationship between project characteristics and frequency of RFIs and between project characteristics and RFI turnaround time. Design/methodology/approach A data-analytic approach using RStudio and Minitab software on 168 construction project cases in Australia and New Zealand involving 1,032,949 correspondences and 53,042 RFI event records made available by Aconex, one of the world largest cloud-based project management platform. Findings Large and complex projects tend to have significantly larger number of RFI events per day and longer RFI turnaround when compared with smaller and less complex projects. Projects with fewer users per organisation recorded a higher RFI turnaround time when compared with projects with more users per organisation – users mean persons involved in managing the project using the online platform (an index of project complexity). RFIs occur early on less complex projects and occur later on more complex projects. Research limitations/implications Benchmarks of RFI incidences and turnaround time have been developed for various project characteristics and, practitioners can use them to monitor the RFI performance of projects. Organisations need to pay greater attention to staffing levels needed to handle RFIs to reduce RFI turnaround time. Originality/value A data-analytic study of RFI yielded insights for managing RFIs. The findings of previous studies on RFIs are difficult to generalise because they are based on single project case study. The influence of project characteristics on RFI frequency and RFI turnaround time is not yet known.

scholarly journals Exploring Project Complexity Relations to Scope Changes in Construction Projects: A Case Study of NEC Projects in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Themba Lukhele ◽  
Brink Botha ◽  
Sijekula Mbanga
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Initiation Phase ◽  
Execution Phase ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Multiple Case

Construction projects are of very complex nature, and subject to circumstances of high uncertainties and risks due to the interdependences of activities and processes in the project performance.  As a result of the dynamic complexities inherited in construction projects, changes in the scope of work are inevitable. Of particular concern is that, when scope changes are introduced in a project, contractors follow a systematic procedure in managing the changes, but with poor planning and implementation thereof because the project complexities that underpin the scope changes are not fully understood. Therefore, despite that complexity is an inherent and defining feature of construction projects, studies in the literature have failed to grasp and present the dynamics of project complexity which underlie the scope changes in the delivery of construction project. The TOE (Technical Organizational Environmental) framework was adopted and applied on a multiple-case study research design in order to explore and denote project complexity relations to scope changes in construction projects. Through a content analysis procedure, six key elements of project complexities that relate to scope changes in the construction projects has emerged. Understanding these complexity elements could enable the project management team to apply a front-end planning approach in the initiation phase of the projects in order to better manage scope changes in the execution phase of the project, and eventually to improve the project performance.

Understanding the motivation and context for alliancing in the Australian construction industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek H.T. Walker ◽  
Beverley M. Lloyd-Walker
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Construction Project Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Delivery Performance ◽  
Complex Projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain the circumstances in which a highly collaborative integrated project delivery form such an alliance is the most appropriate choice of delivering infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon two previously published studies on alliancing to enable gathering insights from a quantitative study with some qualitative data that indicates project alliance delivery performance is high and suggests why it may be adopted as a project delivery form. A second qualitative study recently completed and published on integrated collaborative forms of project delivery such as alliances is re-analysed to better understand how and why this form may be successful. Together these two studies allowed a focus on the motivation to form an alliance and specific conditions relating to the alliance party’s level of ability and willingness to deeply collaborate. Findings – The motivation to deeply collaborate may be triggered by specific internal and external trigger mechanisms. These are identified in the paper together with discussion about the requirement of parties to have sufficient knowledge, skills, attributes and experience to collaborate at a deeply engaged level. Research limitations/implications – The data used in the studies were from large scale infrastructure construction projects. The examples are mainly drawn from countries where collaboration is common and culturally acceptable; results may not apply to cultures, country or workplace, where high levels of competition are seen to be the optimal strategy for project delivery success. Also, the data were drawn from construction project management (PM). Other project-based areas such as professional services for example may present a different context and hence a different rationale. Practical implications – The study provides deep insights about the nature of collaboration. It may have wider applicability. Social implications – Project organising is a social activity with social implications for how they are delivered that affect internal as well as external stakeholders. Being mindful about the motivation to choose a particular delivery form is important. Originality/value – This is a new area of research in PM and the world faces a massive demand for large scale complex projects. This paper may provide a rational to drive policy in project delivery choices.

GLO-SLAM: a slam system optimally combining GPS and LiDAR odometry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruihao Lin ◽  
Junzhe Xu ◽  
Jianhua Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Gps Data ◽  
Optimization Strategy ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Localization And Mapping ◽  
Robot Positioning

Purpose Large-scale and precise three-dimensional (3D) map play an important role in autonomous driving and robot positioning. However, it is difficult to get accurate poses for mapping. On one hand, the global positioning system (GPS) data are not always reliable owing to multipath effect and poor satellite visibility in many urban environments. In another hand, the LiDAR-based odometry has accumulative errors. This paper aims to propose a novel simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system to obtain large-scale and precise 3D map. Design/methodology/approach The proposed SLAM system optimally integrates the GPS data and a LiDAR odometry. In this system, two core algorithms are developed. To effectively verify reliability of the GPS data, VGL (the abbreviation of Verify GPS data with LiDAR data) algorithm is proposed and the points from LiDAR are used by the algorithm. To obtain accurate poses in GPS-denied areas, this paper proposes EG-LOAM algorithm, a LiDAR odometry with local optimization strategy to eliminate the accumulative errors by means of reliable GPS data. Findings On the KITTI data set and the customized outdoor data set, the system is able to generate high-precision 3D map in both GPS-denied areas and areas covered by GPS. Meanwhile, the VGL algorithm is proved to be able to verify reliability of the GPS data with confidence and the EG-LOAM outperform the state-of-the-art baselines. Originality/value A novel SLAM system is proposed to obtain large-scale and precise 3D map. To improve the robustness of the system, the VGL algorithm and the EG-LOAM are designed. The whole system as well as the two algorithms have a satisfactory performance in experiments.

scholarly journals A cartography of delay risks in the Australian construction industry: impact, correlations and timing

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hossein Derakhshanfar ◽  
J. Jorge Ochoa ◽  
Konstantinos Kirytopoulos ◽  
Wolfgang Mayer ◽  
Craig Langston
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Rule Learning ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Execution Phase ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to identify the most impactful delay risks in Australian construction projects, including the associations amongst those risks as well as the project phases in which they are most likely present. The correlation between project and organisational characteristics with the impact of delay risks was also studied.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was used to collect data from 118 delayed construction projects in Australia. Data were analysed to rank the most impactful delay risks, their correlation to project and organisational characteristics and project phases where those risks are likely to emerge. Association rule learning was used to capture associations between the delay risks.FindingsThe top five most impactful delay risks in Australia were changes by the owner, slow decisions by the owner, preparation and approval of design drawings, underestimation of project complexity and unrealistic duration imposed to the project, respectively. There is a set of delay risks that are mutually associated with project complexity. In addition, while delay risks associated with resources most likely arise in the execution phase, stakeholder and process-related risks are more smoothly distributed along all the project phases.Originality/valueThis research for the first time investigated the impact of delay risks, associations amongst them and project phases in which they are likely to happen in the Australian context. Also, this research for the first time sheds light on the project phases for the individual project delay risks which aids the project managers to understand where to focus on during each phase of the project.

Linking project complexity to project success: a hybrid SEM–FCM method

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 2591-2614
Author(s):  
Lan Luo ◽  
Limao Zhang ◽  
Qinghua He
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
The State ◽  
Fuzzy Cognitive Map ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Complexity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop a novel hybrid approach that incorporates the structural equation model (SEM) and fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the impacts of the variation in project complexity on project success.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts SEM to identify and validate a correlation between project complexity variables and PS. Standardized causal coefficients estimated in SEM are used to construct an FCM model to illustrate the effect of complexity on PS with linkage direction and weights. Predictive and diagnostic analyses are performed to dynamically model the variation in project complexity on the evolution of PS.FindingsResults indicate that (1) the hybrid SEM–FCM approach is capable of modeling the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS; (2) information, goal and environmental complexities are negatively correlated with PS, and technological, task and organizational complexities are positively correlated with PS and (3) the recommendations of complexity management for construction projects are put forward under the guideline of success monitoring.Originality/valueThis research contributes to (1) the state of knowledge by proposing a hybrid methodology that can model the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS and (2) the state of practice by providing a new perspective of PS evaluation to enhance the probability of success in complex construction projects.

Exploring the influence of project complexity on the mega construction project success: a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 2429-2449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Ma ◽  
Hongwei Fu
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Influencing Mechanism ◽  
Technological Complexity ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
The Impact

PurposeUnderstanding the impact of project complexity on the mega construction project success will help improve the efficiency of project management. However, the influencing mechanism of project complexity on project success has not been clearly depicted. This paper aims to divide project complexity and project success into five dimensions, trying to explore the impact of different complexity combinations on mega construction project success.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method to find out the impact of the combinations of different project complexities on the every dimension of mega construction project success. First, 21 cases were interviewed and scored in five categories of project complexities and five aspects of project success. Second, with the QCA program, the combinations of different project complexities influencing every aspect of mega construction project success was obtained.FindingsThis research found that high organizational complexity or a combination of high environmental complexity and goal complexity can lead to serious schedule delays of mega construction projects, high technological complexity and goal complexity are important reasons for cost overrun, high technological complexity or a combination of high environmental complexity and low organizational complexity usually lead to low quality of mega construction projects, high goal complexity and cultural complexity are important factors affecting the key stakeholders' satisfaction and high technological complexity and environmental complexity are the reasons for the poor sustainability of mega construction projects.Originality/valueThis study clearly reveals the influencing mechanism of project complexity on mega construction project success, which can help the project managers to understand and assess the complexity of mega construction projects and accurately predict their negative impacts on the mega construction projects.

Bridging the gap: bringing BIM to construction workers

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 751-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketil Bråthen ◽  
Anita Moum
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
3D Visualization ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Information Models ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The majority of research on the implementation and use of Building Information Models (BIM) have focused on building design and pre-construction planning. There is only limited research on the usage of BIM in the construction phase, especially by site workers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of BIM by site workers through so-called “BIM-kiosks”. The kiosks allow workers to access BIM models on-site. The aim of this paper is to take a closer look on the introduction of BIM-kiosks and scrutinize how and for what purpose site workers use the kiosks. Design/methodology/approach This is a single case study of an ongoing real-world construction project. The case study is based on qualitative data which stems from observational studies, interviews as well as document studies. Findings Site workers find opportunities for 3D visualization useful and the BIM models are appraised for efficiently handling complex elements. The findings also indicate that the use of BIM-kiosks lead to a greater level of face-to-face collaboration between workers on-site. This may happen because workers meet, both planned and randomly, to discuss in front of the kiosks while using it for visualization. Research limitations/implications The research is limited to a single case. However, some of the recommendations may be relevant to other projects. In addition, the findings demonstrate some of the potential of using BIM on-site in upcoming construction projects. Originality/value Only a few studies have addressed the use of BIM among site workers. Thus, the findings provide practitioners and researchers insight into how current practices may be improved, as well as areas where more research is needed.

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