Probabilistic analysis of factors affecting highway construction costs: a belief network approach

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nii O Attoh-Okine

This paper presents the application of belief networks to make inferences in highway construction costs. The methodology is evolving; it works very well when sufficient information and incomplete quantitative data are available. It is an attempt to identify the extent of influence of selected variables on highway construction costs. Belief networks are an expressive graphical language for representing uncertain knowledge about causal and associational relations among construction cost variables. This then provides a graphical representation of probabilistic construction cost models. The graph-theoretic framework of the belief lends itself for modeling probabilistic dependence and flow information between different construction costs and related variables in overall highway construction cost determination.Key words: construction costs, belief networks, graphical models, uncertainty, and Bayesian network.

2021 ◽  
Vol 881 (1) ◽  
pp. 012020
Author(s):  
N.A. Abdullah ◽  
I.F. Mohd Kamar ◽  
N.A. Mustapa ◽  
A Che Ahmad ◽  
M.N. Abdullah ◽  
...  

Abstract Various studies have found that COVID-19 pandemic impacts on a country’s economy through several channels, including the construction sector. The construction sector, which has always been a big growth generator for the economy, has also been completely shut down. Construction stakeholders are facing a several of the issues as the construction costs keep increasing as a result of the workplace safety and health compliance, suspension and termination of the project, and productivity loss. Accordingly, this paper attempted to propose a conceptual framework on the factors affecting construction cost during COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Almost all evidence from the literature shows that project completion, supply chain and regulatory compliance are the main factors that need to take heed of by the construction players during COVID-19 pandemic. Significantly, all these three components have the potential as the contributors to the increment of construction costs during COVID-19 pandemic.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1745
Author(s):  
Waqas Ahmad ◽  
Mehran Khan ◽  
Piotr Smarzewski

Fracture characteristics were used to effectively evaluate the performance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites. The fracture parameters provided the basis for crack stability analysis, service performance, safety evaluation, and protection. Much research has been carried out in the proposed study field over the previous two decades. Therefore, it was required to analyze the research trend from the available bibliometric data. In this study, the scientometric analysis and science mapping techniques were performed along with a comprehensive discussion to identify the relevant publication field, highly used keywords, most active authors, most cited articles, and regions with largest impact on the field of fracture properties of cement-based materials (CBMs). Furthermore, the characteristic of various fibers such as steel, polymeric, inorganic, and carbon fibers are discussed, and the factors affecting the fracture properties of fiber-reinforced CBMs (FRCBMs) are reviewed. In addition, future gaps are identified. The graphical representation based on the scientometric review could be helpful for research scholars from different countries in developing research cooperation, creating joint ventures, and exchanging innovative technologies and ideas.


Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1278
Author(s):  
Anna Turysheva ◽  
Irina Voytyuk ◽  
Daniel Guerra

This paper presents a computational tool for estimating energy generated by low-power photovoltaic systems based on the specific conditions of the study region since the characteristic energy equation can be obtained considering the main climatological factors affecting these systems in terms of the symmetry or skewness of the random distribution of the generated energy. Furthermore, this paper is aimed at determining any correlation that exists between meteorological variables with respect to the energy generated by 5-kW solar systems in the specific climatic conditions of the Republic of Cuba. The paper also presents the results of the influence of each climate factor on the distribution symmetry of the generated energy of the solar system. Studying symmetry in statistical models is important because they allow us to establish the degree of symmetry (or skewness), which is the probability distribution of a random variable, without having to make a graphical representation of it. Statistical skewness reports the degree to which observations are distributed evenly and proportionally above and below the center (highest) point of the distribution. In the case when the mentioned distribution is balanced, it is called symmetric.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000992282110096
Author(s):  
Hasan Aldinc ◽  
Cem Gun ◽  
Serpil Yaylaci ◽  
Erol Barbur

Managing the anxiety of the parents of pediatric patients with head trauma is challenging. This study aimed to examine the factors that affect anxiety levels of parents whose children were admitted to the emergency department with minor head trauma. In this prospective study, the parents of 663 consecutive pediatric patients were invited to answer a questionnaire. Parents of 600 children participated in the study. The parents who believed they were provided sufficient information and who were satisfied with the service received had significantly more improvement in anxiety-related questions. Cranial X-ray assessment had a significantly positive impact on the anxiety of the parents, whereas cranial computed tomography and neurosurgery consultation did not. In assessing pediatric minor head trauma, cranial computed tomography imaging and neurosurgery consultation should not be expected to relieve the anxiety of the parents. However, adequately informing them and providing satisfaction are the factors that could lead to improvement.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-35
Author(s):  
Hong Xiao ◽  
David Proverbs

Construction cost is a major concern to both clients and contractors. Based on a hypotheticalconstruction project (a six-storey concrete framed office building), cost and otherrelated information was collected through a survey of contractors in Japan, the UK and theUS. Using multiple regression analysis it was found that lower overheads, less prefabricatedcomponents, and fewer design variations could reduce construction cost. Overheadslargely represent indirect costs to contractors and if reduced can lead to increased profitlevels and improved competitiveness. The use of prefabricated components may be problematicwhere there are delays in production, insufficient coordination between design andconstruction, and congested transportation on site. Design variations during constructionbring about uncertainties and are disruptive to the construction process. These factorshave paramount impact on construction cost and demand close attention and consideration.Contractors are advised to reduce the costs of their overheads and utilise prefabricationappropriately, while clients and designers should minimise the number of designvariations during construction if better cost performance is desired.


<em>Abstract.—</em> Ohio constructed two artificial reefs beginning in 1986 in Lorain and Cuyahoga counties. The reefs were a demonstration project to evaluate the effects of reefs on fishing satisfaction and the feasibility of reef construction in other areas. Evaluation of the effects of reefs on recreational activity was viewed as essential for further reef development in Ohio and other Great Lakes states. A two-pronged research effort was undertaken: an underwater video investigation and a travel cost study. The travel cost study estimated the economic value derived from use of the Lorain County reef by sport anglers and divers. The results of this research were critical in supporting construction of a large artificial reef off the coast in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) using rubble from the old Cleveland Stadium. From April to October 1992, 850 individuals who were willing to participate were contacted at Lorain County marinas and launch ramps. In early February 1993, these individuals were mailed questionnaires, with a second questionnaire mailed to nonrespondents in late February. Fifty-five percent responded. We estimated three alternative single-equation travel cost models. The most conservative estimate of consumer surplus (economic value) showed that the typical angler who used the reef in 1991 made nearly 10 more fishing trips during 1992 than the typical angler who did not use the reef in 1991, that is, nearly 26 trips in 1992 compared to 16 trips in 1992 by those who did not use the reef in 1991. The most conservative estimate of consumer surplus also showed that anglers who used the reef before 1992 valued total angling activity at US$302 more for the year 1992 than anglers who did not use the reef before 1992. When aggregated across all Lorain County anglers using the reef during 1991, the total value of the reef was $276,000 in 1992 compared to total construction costs of less than $100,000. Thus, the consumer surplus generated by the reef in one year exceeded construction costs by a wide margin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Lanjun Liu ◽  
Denghui Liu ◽  
Han Wu ◽  
Junwu Wang

To accurately predict the construction costs of foundation pit projects, a model based on the stacked denoising autoencoder (SDAE) is constructed in this work. The influencing factors of foundation pit project construction costs are identified from the four attributes of construction cost management, namely, engineering, the environment, the market, and management. Combined with Chinese national standards and the practice of foundation pit project management, a method of the quantization of the influencing factors is presented. 60 deep foundation pit projects in China are selected to obtain 13 main characteristic factors affecting these project construction cost by using the rough set. Then, considering the advantages of the SDAE in dealing with complex nonlinear problems, a prediction model of foundation pit project construction costs is created. Finally, this paper employs these 60 projects for a case analysis. The case study demonstrates that, compared with the actual construction costs, the calculation error of the proposed method is less than 3%, and the average error is only 1.54%. In addition, three error analysis tools commonly used in machine learning (the determination coefficient, root mean square error, and mean absolute error) emphasize that the calculation accuracy of the proposed method is notably higher than those of other methods (Chinese national code, the multivariate return method, the BP algorithm, the BP model optimized by the genetic algorithm, the support vector machine, and the RBF model). The relevant research results of this paper provide a useful reference for the prediction of the construction costs of foundation pit projects.


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