Technological mediation and 3D visualizations in construction engineering practice

The generation and use of 3D images and visualizations through remote sensing, Building Information Modeling, and Augmented Reality technologies, have come to play a significant role in construction engineering practice. Although these technologies are promising, their potential can be misjudged when potential end-users are unaware of key assumptions that were made by developers. Realistic expectations require insights into the ways in which these technologies transform input collected into 3D visualizations and how these visualizations are possibly used on construction sites. This study’s objective is hence to explore the form of technological mediation that the generation and use of 3D images and visualizations provide between a human and objects, or aspects of these objects, that would otherwise be largely imperceptible to professionals in construction practice. We show that algorithms pre- and post-process data through their technological selectivities, which function as mediators. Double mediations of augmented and engaged relationships play a dominant role in the use of 3D images and visualizations and enhance the situational awareness of professionals in construction practice. This is the first study that applies this perspective to increase the understanding of the mediating role of 3D images and visualizations in construction practice.</p

Digitization for Integration:Fragmented realities in the utility sector

The construction industry and its reform agendas commonly assume that digitization of a construction asset's life cycle also integrates its stakeholders. Behind this lies the premise that stakeholders reduce ambiguity and create consistency by using software that operates on the basis of shared and uniform knowledge. To explore this premise, this study identified the knowledge bases - data standards and modelling protocols for engineering software - that distinctive underground infrastructure owner’s use. To this end, we analysed a utility engineering consultancy that registers and processes asset data of twelve major utility owners. We observed their utility information managers and studied their asset management guidelines. We used two utility taxonomies from literature to compare identified digital modelling standards. Subsequently, we used literature about modelling standards in digital practices to argue how selected examples of divergent digital models hamper uniformity. We conclude that digital reality models may also differ and thus confuse, fragment, and ultimately delimit collaborative digital practices. This insight stresses the relevance of defining shared domain understanding to facilitate the uptake of software for collaborative engineering practices. It stimulates construction improvement agents to consider this important notion of shared digital realities in their debates about achieving integration by ‘going digital'

Review of Detection and Monitoring Systems for Buried High Pressure Pipelines:Final Report

The Netherlands has approximately two million kilometers of underground cables and pipelines. One specific type of buried infrastructure is the distribution network of hazardous material such as gas, oil, and chemicals (‘transportleiding gevaarlijke stoffen’). This network comprises 22.000 kilometers of high-pressure transportation pipelines. Because they are located under the ground, these pipelines are subject to excavation damages. Incidents in them Belgian Gellingen (2004) and German Ludwigshafen (2014) show that consequences of pipeline damages are significant. They can cause fatalities to excavation workers and impact the environment too. In addition, only direct costs for recovery of damages are estimated by the pipeline owner association (VELIN) to range already from several hundreds of thousands to even a few millions of euros. This figure does not yet include the indirect costs. Serious incidents will eventually undermine the public’s acceptance for hazardous pipelines, so it goes without saying that pipeline excavation incidents should, therefore, be avoided. Nowadays, third parties seem to be causing most of the damage to underground pipelines (Capstick, 2007; CONCAWE, 2013; EGIG, 2015; J. M. Muggleton & Rustighi, 2013). Reasons for this, often mentioned by industry, are that utility location information (KLIC-melding) is not always available and, when available, it is not always accurate or too difficult to interpret by excavator operators. It is crucial to detect underground infrastructure in a timely fashion to avoid damages. For this purpose, initiatives are needed to help excavator operators to detect pipelines and monitor groundworks taking place close to pipelines. Such initiatives could focus on the identification and the development of technologies for pipeline strike avoidance. The first step in this direction was this study – which in turn is related to the Safety Deals that are prepared by the association of pipeline owners in the Netherlands (VELIN) and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. VELIN and I&M requested the University of Twente to systematically review existing technologies for excavation damage avoidance. Such an overview is not available to the Dutch industry to date. The project team therefore identified and described existing systems for global monitoring and detection of utilities. These systems eventually help detect clashes between excavator equipment and high-pressure transportation pipelines