A National Research Agenda to Enhance the Civil Engineering Profession Today and in the Future
The civil engineering profession of yesterday and today is highlighted by the design and construction of impressive projects in energy, transportation, buildings, and power systems. Innovative...
Globalization and its Impact on Construction Technology
The nature of international construction markets is changing. Competition is yielding to the concept of globalization. This paper discusses some of the issues which constitute topics of...
Computer Data Exchange Using National and International Standards
There is a need within the construction industry to electronically transmit standard documents between designers, owners, contractors, and material suppliers. Ideally, the transmission...
Incentives for Technological Innovation in Construction
Why innovate in construction? The answer to this frequently asked question is critical for the future of the U.S. engineering and construction industry. One reason for this is the multitude...
Restructuring Responsibility and Reward for More Construction Innovation
This paper proposes modifications to the contractual systems customary in the U.S. construction industry with the objective of encouraging technology innovation. The relationships among...
Managing Technology Innovation in Construction
Technology innovation is vital for the survivability of the construction industry. Construction firms must develop new techniques in order to deliver cost effective and quality projects....
Partnering: Contracting for Quality
The concept of partnering is an approach to conducting business that confronts the economic and technological challenges confronting the U.S. Construction Industry in the 1990's....
Factors Affecting the Transfer of Expert Systems Technology
Increased complexity of facilities, owners' changing needs, inadequate construction methods, and international competition have created strong demands for advanced construction...
Learning and Innovating in a Construction Technology Laboratory
It has been generally recognized that the construction industry world wide, and especially in the U.S., needs innovative changes in order to produce more complex products at higher quality...
Case Method to Educate Innovation Champions in Construction
This paper describes a recent experimental course concerning management of technology for construction innovation. The experience of conducting this course indicates that the case method...
Ahead of Schedule, Under Budget, and Out of Court
The process of designing and constructing facilities involves three parties, the Owner, the Designer and the Constructor. Each has a significant role in this process if the project is...
The Strategy of Bidding for Profit
The ultimate goal of any contractor engaged in competitive bidding is to achieve the maximum profits possible on the jobs he bids, under the prevailing competitive conditions. By systematically...
The Free Trade Agreement and Working on Each Other's Turf
The Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States is a catalyst for increased cross border construction work. The impact on the Canadian economy is considered. Somes negative...
Dealing with Construction People (The People Side of Construction Profits)
The people side of producing construction job profits is usually tied to quantitative measures of craft productivity, morale and quests for quality. At the same time that people usually...
Value Engineered Construction
Value Engineering provides us with a systematic approach for looking at design and construction projects with an eye to cost cutting while maintaining or improving value, however value...
Construction Communications?What the Contractor Has to Write: And How
Only zero defects in scheduling, cost control, and specification compliance can maximize construction business profits. You can never produce a perfect project, but by clear, uncomplicated,...
Elements of an Effective Inspection Program
Construction is an industry whose very success is highly dependent on the people involved. It follows then that a key element in any effective inspection program is the people who make...
Responsibility and Liability of Inspection
There is much confusion over who is responsible for inspection of construction. This paper argues that the designer is the most appropriate individual to inspect the work. The designer...
Determining the Optimum Level of Quality Management Effort
Quality management is an essential factor in construction project success. Determining the appropriate level of quality management effort remains a challenging managerial decision. A discussion...
Construction Inspection in South Carolina
The paper will discuss the experience of the South Carolina Department of Transportation in the use of consulting engineering firms on bridge construction projects. A review of the current...
Return to search