Construction Productivity Improvement

Construction productivity has been on the decline in the last decade. The results are presented on a survey of the Engineering News‐Record 400 largest contractors to obtain their views on where productivity improvements would most help and to compare the trends with a similar survey carried out in 1979. Data were collected on the general company characteristics of the responding contractors, and on the contractors' opinions on potential areas for productivity improvement in the office and in the field. Findings indicate that immediate research should concentrate on improving marketing practices, planning and scheduling, labor‐management relations, site supervision, industrialized building systems, equipment policy and engineering design; and that governmental regulations have lost the immediate urgency attached to them in 1979.It is also recommended that similar surveys be conducted every 3 to 4 years to identify new trends and to steer research in the appropriate direction.     

王怀臣谈四川水电开发

四川水电取得了长足的发展,要坚定不移地发展水电产业,不断完善水电产业发展的机制,抓好移民安置,正确处理好四个关系。     

Use of Warranties on Highway Projects: A Real Option Perspective

Since the introduction of warranty provisions in federal highway jobs, more and more state departments of transportation (DOTs) have considered the use of such provisions to protect their initial investment. This paper describes the pros and cons of warranty contracting in highway construction based on a survey of warranty practices in the United States. In particular, the need for state DOTs to buy a warranty for a well-built project is questioned. As an alternative, this paper introduces the warranty option, which gives the DOT the right to buy a warranty only if it becomes necessary at the end of construction. This option is exercised if the performance on site warrants it. This paper describes the mechanics of the warranty option and its advantages over the conventional warranty. A bid evaluation model is also developed for the warranty option approach.     

Identifying a Design Management Package to Support Concurrent Design in Building Wafer Fabrication Facilities

Concurrent design is commonly used in building a semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities to shorten projects. Current practice in managing a design schedule involves preset milestones that represent percentages of completion. Such a simple control scheme does not provide sufficient information to support concurrent design. This study presents an analytical model that applies a cluster identification algorithm to separate the work of designing a multisystem project into management packages that support concurrent design. Tasks within a package have strong informational dependency relationships on each other, and are not suited for concurrent design. Tasks of different packages have weak dependency relationships on each other, and are suited for concurrent design. Tendering design work based on these packages may reduce the number of design interfaces between participating design firms. Possible application of the model includes the management of design schedule, design contract tendering, and design information flow.     

综合布线系统的设计、施工及测试

针对综合布线系统工程设计与施工中存在的问题作一简单的归纳，并提出相应的解决办法。其中解决的办法包括几点重要的内容：设计时注意用户的需求和系统的可扩展性，施工时严格按照规范施工，工程结束后要做出详细的测试方案。接地问题和线缆敷设管路的弯曲问题是在施工时很重要的。测试时应测试的内容有：远端串扰、近端串扰、综合近端串扰、结构回波损耗等。     

Quality, Environmental, and Health and Safety Management Systems for Construction Engineering

The philosophy behind quality, environmental, and safety (QES) management systems is a concept that has been accepted by various contractors. Furthermore, a process has been developed insuring that the output produced conforms to customer satisfaction without violating any environmental, health, and safety rules and regulations. An effective QES program not only assures a quality product but also reduces costs, and enhances productivity. It is a top down process, i.e., top management together with line management and other employees develop the program and motivate all personnel to accept the process. Important functions to take under consideration are (1) explain and clarify the quality, environmental, and safety performance expected; (2) involve employees in decision-making and problem solving; (3) describe the consequences of poor quality and unsafe/unhealthy work conditions; (4) establish QES goals and provide feedback on performance; (5) provide a self-monitoring system; and (6) recognize and reinforce good performance and develop a reward system. This paper presents a discussion of the development of a portion of a QES management system which has been employed by a medium to large size construction company. In particular, Items 1–4, listed above, are described in detail.     

Credibility and applicability of virtual reality models in design and construction

In this paper, we present the findings from an extensive study of the use of virtual reality (VR) models in large construction projects. The study includes two parts: The first part presents a quantitative questionnaire designed to investigate how VR models are experienced and assessed by the workforce at a building site. The second part includes a qualitative field survey of how VR models can be applied and accepted by professionals in the design and planning process of a large pelletizing plant. Through mainly studying persons who had little or no experience with advanced information technology (IT), we hoped to reveal the attitudes of the average person working at a construction site rather than of an IT expert. In summary, the study shows that the VR models in both projects have been very useful and well accepted by the users. Today’s information flow is, from a general point of view, considered to be insufficient and the hypothesis is that using VR models in the construction process have the potential to minimize waste of resources and improve the final result.     

构建科学的企业文化体系

提出在企业文化建设中注意防止两种倾向;明确构建科学企业文化体系的内涵,物质文化、精神文化、制度文化和行为文化。     

技术进步经济效益评价——中国长城铝业公司水泥厂产出增长中技术进步作用的评价

本文通过运用“生产函数法”、“增长速度方程”来定量分析技术进步在长城铝业公司水泥厂产出增长中的作用,从中找出该水泥厂生产经营过程中存在的问题及未来发展方向。