Optimum Design Software Package for Shortening Civil Engineering Construction Period
The optimum software package for engineering network has adopted a coverage technology to facilitate an analysis of large-sized projects. This package has the following functions: (1)...

Inside the System: The Japanese Construction Company
Despite their diverse activities, Japanese construction companies are first and foremost Japanese companies, functioning as extended families with a spirit of cooperation that might surprise...

L'Ambiance Plaza: What Have We Learned
In April 1987, a structure called L'Ambiance Plaza collapsed during construction, killing 28 workers. The building, in Bridgeport, Conn., was being built using the lift-slab...

Lunar Surface Mine Feasibility Study
This paper describes a lunar surface mine, and demonstrates the economic feasibility of mining oxygen from the Moon. The mine will be at the Apollo 16 landing site. Mine design issues...

Planning/Analysis of VPA's Norfolk North Terminal
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is developing a new marine container terminal on the northern portion of its land at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT). The terminal is to be designed...

The Human Factor in Failures
Human shortcomings cause three-quarters of project failures. A study of 500 case histories led to this assumption. One such failure at the Walter Bouldin dam in Alabama, is described in...

Making the New Look Old
Between March 1990 and January 1991, Annapolis buried overhead utilities and reconstructed the roadway around the historic State House, built in 1769. The paving stones, colonial-appearing...

Jailhouse Design
According to statistics from national corrections groups, the inmate population in the U.S. has reached 1 million and could double by 1995. With the constant need for more beds, engineers...

Application of QA Grading to Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project Items and Activities
Grading is the act of selecting the quality assurance (QA) measures necessary to develop and maintain confidence in the quality of an item or activity. The list of QA measures from which...

Adopted Drip Irrigation Technology for Developing Countries
Two low cost drip irrigation systems are presented. Even though the uniformity of these systems is not as high as the conventional drip systems, the initial and operating costs of the...

Flexible Supply Schedule Missing Link for Effective Surface Irrigation and Automation
Surface irrigation methods - furrow and border-strip are generally thought of as being inefficient and labor intensive. Careful evaluations have shown that as methods they can be very...

Specifying Trench Safety: the Texas Experience
The frequency of accidents during trenching operations has grown so dramatically that the issue has caught the attention of both industry 'insiders' and 'outsiders.'...

Construction Product Performance, The Unexpected
Efforts made in the construction, industry to increase the quality of the constructed facility through the development of new materials and systems and through the reduction of labor intensive...

Safety in the Construction Industry
Although the construction industry employs only 5% of the workforce, it comprises 20% of all accidents and 26% of all occupational related fatalities. The costs of acidents is 9 billion...

Going Where No Man Can Go
After the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 in Harrisburg, Pa., some areas of the reactor plant were too contaminated for workers to survey, much less clean. The article describes...

Assessment of the Sate-of-the-Art of Robotics Applications in Highway Construction and Maintenance
Automation and robotization in highway construction and maintenance are currently under active development in the United States and other countries around the world. Although road construction...

One Power Plant, Two Job Sites
In response to the lingering questions about energy, officials from Vidalia, La initiated a plan in 1977 to build a hydroelectric plant at a site 90 mi northwest of Baton Rouge, where...

New Martinsville Hydroelectric Project
The New Martinsville Hydroelectric Project consists of a dual bulb unit, 34 MW powerhouse constructed at an existing lock and dam navigation facility. The project was completed on budget...

The Asbestos Agenda
Asbestos abatement business has been booming for years. The industry, though, is not restricted only to firms which do the removal. Companies who provide training, sell supplies and develop...

Poor Communication of Schedule and Cost Control Data Between Construction Site Management and Field Supervision Improved by the Weekly Cost and Schedule Meeting for Direct Labor Supervisors
Poor communication of project control data between construction office and field supervision is a common industry problem brought on by poor understanding and lack of training in communication...

 

 

 

 

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