Analysis of COVID-19 Concerns Raised by the Construction Workforce and Development of Mitigation Practices

The coronavirus outbreak has created a global health crisis that has disrupted all industries, including the construction industry. Following the onset of the pandemic, construction workers faced and continue to face unprecedented safety and health challenges. Therefore, construction employers established new safety precautions to protect the health and safety of the workforce and minimize the spread of the virus. The new precautions followed the advice and guidelines offered by different health and safety agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). With construction projects resuming operations, it becomes important to analyze the coronavirus-related health and safety concerns of construction workforce and understand how the new safety procedures can assist on jobsites. Existing studies mostly focused on interviews and surveys with construction companies to understand the impact on project performance and supply chains. However, no study has yet to analyze the United States construction workforce. This paper fills the gap by providing a qualitative descriptive analysis of the COVID-19 complaints data gathered by OSHA from construction jobsites. Information gathered by OSHA includes the jobsite location, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of the construction company, the type of the complaint (i.e., formal or non-formal), and a thorough description of the complaint. N-grams were employed to analyze the complaints, detect trends, and compile a list of the most frequent concerns reported by the workforce. The analysis of the complaints data identifies safety practices that were most violated, highlights major safety and health concerns for construction workers, and pinpoints geographical areas that have seen a surge in complaints. The study also synthesized the existing research corpus and compiled a list of 100 best practices that construction employers can adopt to mitigate the concerns of the workforce. The findings of this study provide insights into the safety and health trends on construction sites, lay the foundation for future work of academicians and practitioners to address the concerns faced by construction workers, and serve as lessons learned for the industry in the case of any future pandemic

Mapping the capabilities and benefits of AR construction use-cases: A comprehensive map

The construction industry has undergone a radical transformation in its design and documentation process as it evolved from the days of the drafting board to today’s Building Information Modeling process. Despite the progress, a paradox of designing 3D in 2D space remains, calling for new visualization technologies that leverage the use of information in construction. Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology that can serve as an information aggregator and a data-publishing platform, allowing users to view and interact with information while collaborating with others in real-time from remote locations. While AR holds the key to advance the construction industry, no research project has yet comprehensively investigated the holistic integration of AR in construction. Thus, this paper presents a comprehensive map that provides a holistic framework to understand the integration of AR into the construction phase. To achieve the research objective, the paper identifies and describes 23 use-cases of AR in the construction phase, nine AR capabilities, and 14 AR potential benefits. Then, four AR applications in construction are explored, where the underlying use-cases are discussed and mapped as a function of their corresponding AR capabilities and potential benefits. These AR applications provide an example to illustrate the concept behind the comprehensive map. Finally, the map is developed by outlining the relationships between the identified AR use-cases, capabilities, and potential benefits. The findings of this paper are crucial for the AR implementation roadmap as it provides industry practitioners an understanding of the capabilities and benefits of integrating AR into construction tasks

Construction-Ready Digital Terrain Models

Since 2009, Kentucky has made its 3D design data available as a supplemental reference to bidders through the project delivery process. This research discusses methods for ensuring electronic engineering data (EED) — and specifically the proposed digital terrain model (DTM) — support modern construction management methods at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Researchers performed a literature review, surveyed KYTC construction and design staff, engaged with Cabinet staff and industry members to understand the current state of practice, and evaluated quality- related attributes of the EED through case studies. The report presents a set of targeted recommendations for improving KYTC processes of highway design review, training and guidance for Cabinet staff, data sharing and management, professional service contract negotiations, and facilitated communication between KYTC and its industry partners

Investigation of PESTEL factors driving change in capital project organizations

In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, organizational change has been a central concern for capital project organizations, that continue to suffer from poor project performance in a growing industry. As such, capital project organizations must understand the changing environment and the factors driving change within their organizations to remain successful in a changing environment and adapt to change. To help the capital projects industry achieve successful organizational change efforts, this paper aims to 1) identify the external factors that are pushing capital project organizations to change and 2) investigate whether these factors impact organizations differently. To achieve the desired objective, a total of 22 PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal) factors were identified and validated with a group of 14 subject matter experts and defined via the context of literature. Then, the factors were evaluated via an online survey to understand whether they impact organizations differently based on their age maturity (including contemporary, transitional, and legacy organizations) and type of work (including owners, contractors, and service providers). Findings from this study can provide capital project practitioners and researchers with valuable insights needed to understand the external factors shaping change within the industry

Value Propositions, Adoption Factors, and Implementation Considerations: Building A Path Towards Construction Innovation

The construction industry has been influenced by a wave of technological advancements and trends that were introduced by the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. Mapped as Construction 4.0, these technologies are disrupting the way projects are designed, planned, constructed, delivered, and operated. While existing research has predominantly focused on technology adoption and use cases across the project lifecycle, limited attention has been given to the organizational perspective and explored Construction 4.0 as a transformative vision. As such, there is a significant need for decision science research to support decision-makers in understanding the value of Construction 4.0, gaining leadership buy-in, minimizing resistance to change within the organization, and perceiving technologies as “long-term investments” rather than “shiny tools”. To bridge the research gap, this dissertation presents a holistic roadmap and develops comprehensive models that can guide construction organizations in their Construction 4.0 decision-making aspect. The findings of the dissertation serve three primary objectives. The roadmap is referred to as the “ABC’s of Construction 4.0 Decisions”. First, the findings enable organizations to assess, understand, and effectively communicate the value proposition of Construction 4.0 decisions by leveraging the Futures Triangle theory. This theory takes into account the organization\u27s historical challenges, current industry trends, and future organizational aspirations, providing a robust understanding of the distinctive value that decisions can offer. To quantify the value, a Construction 4.0 value Proposition score (CVPS4.0) was developed and tested with a subject matter expert. Next, the findings provide organizations with a breakdown of the decision-making factors that can evaluate the fitness of Construction 4.0 decisions within the organization. These factors account for the alignment between the decisions, the organization’s capabilities, and the business environment in which it operates. Guided by the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theory, the factors can also effectively consider the unique circumstances and context of each organization. Moreover, the factors can serve as the base of a Construction 4.0 Fitness Index (CFI4.0) that decision-makers can use to quantify the fitness of technology and decisions within their organization. Lastly, the findings aid organizations in creating a systematic plan for implementing decisions. Implementation practices are provided for six key pillars: people, environment, approaches, resources, leadership, and strategy. These pillars establish the foundation for a dynamic business canvas that can facilitate a smooth and successful implementation process of Construction 4.0 decisions. The canvas was presented as the Construction 4.0 Implementation Canvas (ConIC4.0). Therefore, by leveraging the insights of this dissertation, construction organizations can navigate Construction 4.0 decisions and embrace the transformative potential that this revolution can offer