What we are working on?
Guide for Civil Integrated Management (CIM) in Departments of
Transportation
The
research will develop an effective implementation guide that enables a state
DOT and transportation agencies to effectively use Civil Integrated Management
systems for both project delivery and asset management by developing a
comprehensive and scalable CIM implementation process template and related
tools to support the implementation guide. As part of the research, the effort
will also examine if a projects
reliance on digital information improve a projects quality and more
effectively control costs. Or does it
impose additional long-term information technology (IT) costs and burdensome
required for IT systems with yet unproven benefits? This project is being funded by the National
Cooperated Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
Innovative Delivery Methods of Information to the Crafts
This research aims to identify
whether there is a need for more innovative delivery methods of transferring
information to the crafts to improve their productivity and what methods can be
used to achieve this goal. To do this,
the research will: 1) identify the preferred content (data and graphics) of how
engineering and construction information is provided to construction crews; 2)
identify the gaps between preferred content delivery of information and current
content delivery mechanisms; 3) identify craft workers perceptions of which innovative information
delivery methods would most improve their performance; and 4) quantify the
influence that an innovative information delivery method can have on craft
worker performance through both objective field studies and interviews of practitioners
who are implementing an innovative information delivery method. This project is
being funded by the Construction Industry Institute.
Is
There a Demographic Craft Labor Cliff that will Affect Project Performance?
As shortage of skilled craft professional has been
a recurring trend in the last three decades, the Construction Industry
overwhelmingly agrees that it hampered growth. The situation has even worsened
in the recent years and this industry has to attract, train and retain 185,000
new workers by 2016 to sustain its growth. This research project funded by the
Construction Industry Institute (CII) aims to analyze data on craft
availability in North America from multiple sources to determine the trend of
the craft shortage over time. In addition it will identify the variations among
trades and geographic locations and the impact of those shortages. Eventually
it will try to identify the winning strategies to mitigate the craft shortage.
Evaluation
of Highway Agency Approaches to Consultant Oversight for Construction
Engineering and Inspection Services
State Transportation Agencies face challenges
because of the large fluctuation in their workload. As a result they use
consultants for the Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) services,
which perform their work under control the field engineering and project
management. While most state DOTs developed formalized oversight methods there
is a need to share the best practices. Thus this project focuses on developing
a user-friendly guide to evaluate the various approaches to oversight the
consultants for CEI services.
Community
Outreach Best Practices Guide for Accelerated Construction Projects
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the
DOTs are relying more and more on accelerated construction for transportation
projects. Although these innovative approaches can potentially reduce schedule,
save cost and increase constructability some DOTs expressed concerns with the
challenges of community outreach with these approaches. Thus this project aims
to develop a user-friendly guide to effectively manage community outreach
during the construction of accelerated transportation projects.
Construction Productivity: Extension of the
Prototype Master Code of Accounts to Electrical, Mechanical, and Steel
Construction Systems
The construction industry is facing challenges to
measure its productivity. Indeed there is no reliable method to measure the
real output of the industry. A standard code of accounting would improve the
ability to measure the productivity at the industry level as well as allowing
comparisons among a portfolio of projects. The challenge is to produce a master
code of account that is easy enough to be implemented on the field yet accurate
enough to predict future performance. A prototype has been developed and relies
regression modeling applied on master codes from a number of construction
firms. This project will extend the existing prototype to Electrical and
Mechanical Systems.
Recent projects
·
Craft
Productivity Research Program. (six year
research program funded by the Construction Industry Institute).
·
Effective
Project Scoping Practices to Improve On-Time and On-Budget Delivery of Highway
Projects. (Funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program)
·
Tools for
Applying Constructability Concepts to Project Development (FRT 190). (Funded by
the Kentucky Transportation Center)
·
Contractor
Evaluations in the Contractor Selection Process (SPR 12-438). (Funded by the
Kentucky Transportation Center)
·
Updating the
Kentucky Contract Time Determination System (KY-CTDS). (Funded by the Kentucky
Transportation Center)
·
Leveraging
Technology to Improve Construction Productivity (Funded by the Construction
Industry Institute)