Factors contributing to successful public private partnership projects - Comparing Hong Kong with Australia and the United Kingdom

Purpose: With the increasing interest in Public Private Partnership (PPP) there is a need to investigate the factors contributing to successful delivery of PPP projects. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong and Australia. The survey respondents were asked to rate eighteen factors which contribute to delivering successful PPP projects. Findings: The findings from this survey were further compared with the results achieved by a previous researcher (Li, 2003) in a similar survey conducted in the United Kingdom. The comparison showed that amongst the top five success factors ranked by Hong Kong respondents, three were also ranked highly by the Australians and British. These success factors included: ‘Commitment and responsibility of public and private sectors’; ‘Strong and good private consortium’; and ‘Appropriate risk allocation and risk sharing’. Originality/value: These success factors were therefore found to be important for contributing to successful PPP projects irrespective of geographical locations

Defects and Lattice Instability in Doped Lead-Based Perovskite Antiferroelectrics: Revisited

This paper is a summary of earlier results that have been completed with recent investigations on the nature and sequence of phase transitions evolving in the antiferroelectric PbZrO3 single crystals doped with niobium and Pb(Zr0.70Ti0.30)O3 ceramics doped with different concentration of Bi2O3. It was found that these crystals undergo new phase transitions never observed before. To investigate all phase transitions, different experimental methods were used to characterize the crystal properties. Temperature and time dependencies have been tentatively measured in a wide range, including a region above Tc, where precursor dynamics is observed in the form of non-centrosymmetric regions existing locally in crystal lattices. Also, coexistence of antiferroelectric phase and one of the intermediate phases could be observed in a wide temperature range. The phase transition mechanism in PbZrO3 is discussed, taking into account the local breaking of the crystal symmetry above Tc and the defects of crystal lattices, i.e., those generated during crystal growth, and intentionally introduced by preheating in a vacuum or doping with hetero-valent dopant

Dynamic Behaviour of Flat Post-Tensioned Floor Plates

Vibration is a serviceability limit state for the design of suspended floor systems in buildings that is not well understood by many structural engineers. Dynamic behaviour is an important design consideration for slender, two-way floors, particularly for those of post-tensioned concrete construction. At present, there are no reliable design guidelines that deal with this problem. This paper describes a research program on the dynamic behaviour of posttensioned concrete floors that is presently underway at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Results from this research will enable the development of much needed design guidance on the dynamic behaviour post-tensioned concrete floors in buildings. A full-scale, post-tensioned slab specimen has been constructed in the university’s structural laboratory. Purpose-designed support brackets have been fabricated which have enabled an investigation on the effects of various support conditions at the corners of the specimen. A series of static and dynamic tests are being performed in the laboratory to obtain basic material properties and behavior of the specimen. Data collected from these experiments will be used to tune finite element models for computational, parametric studies. Preliminary finite element analyses of both composite and homogeneous material cross-sections have been calibrated against results from initial laboratory experiments. Further field instrumentation and testing of floors in existing buildings will be conducted to validate computational studies. These computational studies will be expanded to generate predictive guidelines for the free vibration and response of two-way, post-tensioned concrete floors

Frequency Response of Flat Post-tensioned Concrete Floors: Frequency Coefficient-Root Function Method

Vibration is a serviceability limit-state for the design of suspended floor systems in buildings that is not well understood by many structural engineers, and is often ignored. Dynamic response is an important design consideration for slender, two-way floors, particularly for those of post-tensioned concrete construction. At present, there are no reliable design guidelines that deal with this problem. This paper describes a research program, which will enable the development of much needed design guidance on the dynamic behavior of suspended post-tensioned concrete floors. Results from this parametric investigation have led to the preliminary development of new approach for predicting the natural frequency of flat, post-tensioned concrete floor structures. This new method has been named, the Frequency Coefficient-Root Function (FCRF) method. The FCRF method is a revolutionary and convenient tool structural engineers can use to design for the vibration serviceability limit-state of cast-insitu, post-tensioned concrete floor systems

Innovation in Road Construction Industry: An Analysis of Different Case Studies

Process improvement and innovation in the field of road construction sector offers significant community and industry benefits, by making an important contribution in economic growth and enhancing the quality of life. However, achieving better innovative practices in order to improve existing construction processes and to heighten competitiveness have gradually become a challenge for the road industry. The use of innovation in this context refers to the use of suitable materials in the construction of road, material such as eco-friendly roads, solar roads and recycled materials. This paper examines 12 different case studies on the uses of new material in road construction and where case studies are from different countries in different context and explores the usefulness of the practices under numerous road situation and conditions. The case studies have been analyzed in the following context: location of the case study, which helps to identify the suitability of road construction material with the weather condition; driving factors, which indicates, how and what selected case studies contribute in the field of innovation; economy and environment feasibility; and barriers in the case studies, which indicates hurdles to implement selected case studies. The study findings indicate that in order to maintain competitiveness, construction industry needs to continuously focus on the improvement of their construction processes and innovative materials. Finding indicates that in most case studies both economic and environmental benefits were realized

Traversing the Globe: the L'Estrange photographic legacy (Australian Heritage Festival) People colouring book

The line drawings in this colouring book come from photographs in the QUT Alumni Donations collection. These photos were taken around the turn of the 20th century and have been digitised from lantern slides and glass plates. They have a wide geographic origin and were taken by R.A.H. L’Estrange (b. 1858 – d. 1941) an amateur photographer who emigrated from Ireland to Queensland, Australia. For more information about please see: Photos and life story of Robert Augustus Henry L'Estrange, b.1858- d.194

Traversing the Globe: the L'Estrange photographic legacy (Australian Heritage Festival) Places colouring book

The line drawings in this colouring book come from photographs in the QUT Alumni Donations collection. These photos were taken around the turn of the 20th century and have been digitised from lantern slides and glass plates. They have a wide geographic origin and were taken by R.A.H. L’Estrange (b. 1858 – d. 1941) an amateur photographer who emigrated from Ireland to Queensland, Australia. For more information about please see: Photos and life story of Robert Augustus Henry L'Estrange, b.1858- d.194

Bid Evaluation and Assessment of Innovation in Road Construction Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Objectives: This paper present a thorough understanding of bid evaluation process and assessment of innovation in road construction industry. Methods/Analysis: The research articles reviewed are based on topics of bid evaluation process, evaluation of bids in road construction industry, the indicators and techniques of bids evaluation, process of Bid evaluation in countries, innovation in road industry, and indicators of innovation in the context of road construction industry. Findings: It is widely accepted that projects related to the road construction must be accomplished in an organized manner. Literature indicates that the road constructing demands from customers and competition of assessing and evaluating tenders have been increasing rapidly. Novelty /Improvement: Challenges in developing suitable roads contribute to the inconsistency in the industry and directly demands towards physical work on a road construction project, nevertheless, a failure to accurately assessment of tenders can lead to complications for the whole project and road Construction Company. The selection of a suitable construction contractor’s surges likelihoods of successful achievement of a road construction project. This may also achieve the customer goals, and retain the project schedule on time, within the budget and achieve high quality project. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091646 Full Text: PD

Investigation of Innovation during Bid Evaluation Process in the Road Construction Industry

Tender evaluation is the procedure of choosing the best contractor for a particular project from many applicants. Although rational and logical methods can be used for bidding strategies, bid evaluation remains a skill for which an engineer’s verdict is crucial. Contractors commonly witness that tender selection is not an easy job, and the lowest bid does not necessarily win the contract. The tender decision mainly depends on quantifiable measures such as financial costs and paybacks, and qualitative or invisible factors like administrative security accountability, aptitude, and the proficiency of the contractors. Moreover, Bid evaluation is a decision-making procedure that incorporates an extensive criteria range for which the information is not accordingly. Hence, ambiguity linked to such information is not appropriate for this study. This paper aims to evaluate innovation during the bid evaluation process in the road industry. The research results indicate that the private and public sectors in Australia offer innovative products and work methods, given the chance. Therefore, innovation during the bid evaluation process is welcomed and sometimes strongly encouraged. Further, it is important to have strong research in to how to effectively determine value for money in the context of developing suitable and quality roads. Therefore, this research is useful in the context of evaluating factors that help to understand value for money in the road sector in context of bid evaluation process. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091676 Full Text: PD