From Building Information Modeling to City Information Modeling

With the development of Geographic Information System (GIS), the concept of digital city is implemented widely. However, in practice, most of the GIS models are relatively poorly attributed, semantically. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process involving the generation and management of digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of building, which is most used in small scale projects. In order to address the target problem of completing the semantic attribution of 3D digital city model, a framework of integrating BIM technology into GIS is demonstrated. A new concept of city information modeling (CIM) is proposed with the goal of bringing great benefits to the urban construction and city management. The composition of city information model is discussed. The data schema behind BIM and GIS (i.e. IFC and CityGML) are compared and mapped with each other. A case study of land planning of campus is demonstrated to present the potential benefits of CIM

Underpass clearance checking in highway widening projects using digital twins

Main road widening can reduce the clearance of the low-level underpass road, restricting the passage of vehicles and leading to collisions with structures. Therefore, checking the clearance of the underpass road effectively should be considered at the design stage. This paper describes a digital twin approach for checking the clearance of underpass roads in highway widening projects using online map data. The underpass road digital twin and BIM model of the newly widened road based on the existing main road digital twin are created to assist the clearance check and redesign. The proposed method presented a cost-effective clearance check for underpass roads in road widening design without field surveys and was successfully implemented in an underpass road in the UK. In future research, more digital twin methods for overpasses, bridges, tunnels, and traffic safety facilities should be employed comprehensively to assist more road widening applications

Building demolition estimation in urban road widening projects using as-is BIM models

Building demolition caused by urban road widening projects can lead to engineering, economic, and environmental issues and should be planned at the design stage. Based on as-is BIM, this paper proposes a method to estimate the building demolition caused by urban road widening using online map data and statistics on government websites. The as-is BIM models of the existing old road and its surrounding buildings are created, and the BIM models of the newly widened road are built based on the as-is BIM models considering road components in accordance with road engineering expressions to assist building demolition estimation using clash detection. This paper presents a cost-effective building demolition estimation in urban road widening projects without field surveys. It was tested on the M4 Motorway project in London. It has been proved to be a very practical approach to facilitate urban road planning and decision making

Sustainable road alignment planning in the built environment based on the MCDM-GIS method

Sustainable road planning in the cities' built-up areas strives to meet traffic demands of society within limited spaces available for construction and various constraints in the built environment considering engineering, traffic, economic, social, and environmental factors. Unlike rural areas, road planning in the built environment can be significantly influenced by the surroundings, such as existing buildings, road network, and land use, and should consider noise and air pollution impact on residents. In addition, road width and road widening are significant factors for road alignment planning. Based on the MCDM-GIS method, the least-cost wide path algorithm is employed for sustainable road alignment planning in the built environment, considering building demolition and land use, traffic congestion, noise impact, air pollution impact, and construction costs. Road width, new road construction, and existing road widening are considered simultaneously. Several methods are proposed to digitalise and parse various sustainable factors into understandable expressions for road alignment planning. Forbidden areas and road buffer areas for road widening are defined. The proposed method is implemented in road planning in Dartford, Kent County, UK. Sustainable factors with different weights can generate various road alignments from different perspectives, and road widths can significantly and locally influence road alignments

Patent cooperative patterns and development trends of Chinese construction enterprises: A network analysis

Despite the rapid development of Chinese construction industry, there has been little research effort directed towards exploring patent cooperative patterns and evolution trends of construction enterprises, especially from the perspective of the patent development network. This paper extracts implicit collaborative information and introduces Social Network Analysis (SNA) method to conduct the patentometric analysis based on patent data from the “Top 500 Chinese Construction Enterprises” sourced from PatSnap database. The enterprise-enterprise networks and enterprise-university networks are analyzed quantitatively. The results reveal that: 1) there is a rising trend in the number of patents and patentees; 2) state-owned enterprises play a dominant role in patent development; 3) most of patents are classified as International Patent Classification E04G21; 4) the cooperative relationships are mainly within enterprises and their subsidiaries; 5) when enterprises choose to cooperate with universities, in addition to professional qualification, geographical factors should also be considered. Finally, the development and patent evolution trends are discussed. Some useful suggestions are proposed. The contribution lies in: (a) providing a visualization of the implicit collaboration information of patents in Chinese construction enterprises; (b) revealing cooperative patterns of construction enterprises on patents; and (c) providing enterprises some useful suggestions for patent cooperation

Digital technology for quality management in construction:A review and future research directions

Significant developments in digital technologies can potentially provide managers and engineers with the ability to improve the quality of the construction industry. Acknowledging the current and future use of digital technologies in construction quality management (CQM), we address the following research question: What developments in digital technologies can be used to improve quality in the construction industry? In addressing this research question, a systematic review approach is used to examine the studies that have been used for the management of quality in the construction industry. This review indicates that there is a need for digital technology-based quality management to be: (1) enhance defect management for concealed work, (2) enhance pre-construction defects prevention as well as post-completion product function testing, and (3) research on construction compliance inspection as a direction. We suggest that future research focus on quality culture development, advanced data analytics, and behavioral quality assessment

Effects of physical fatigue on the induction of mental fatigue of construction workers:A pilot study based on a neurophysiological approach

Within a dynamic and complex working environment, fatigue statuses (involving physical and mental fatigue) of workers on construction sites tend to have a more serious impact on work performance than general workplaces. To improve safety management on sites, valid fatigue management measures for workers are urgently required. Specifically, there are construction activities requiring both physical and cognitive effort. As a critical premise for putting forward feasible fatigue management measures, correlations between physical and mental fatigue on work performance should be identified. This research explored the effects of physical fatigue on the induction of mental fatigue of construction workers, by adopting a pilot experimental method. Manual handling tasks of different intensities were firstly designed for stimulating certain expected physical fatigue statuses. A cognition-required risk identification task was then arranged for inducing mental fatigue, during which a wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor was utilized for fatigue detection and measurement. Through a comprehensive data analysis method based on EEG rhythms, it was found that the high physical fatigue can significantly accelerate the induction of mental fatigue. Considering the resource allotment, more vigilant and attentional resources were required during the intensive manual handling tasks for the highly controlled limbs and the mind to steps. Thus, additional resources were invested to maintain the same level of cognitive performance in the risk identification tasks, which led to the increased mental fatigue. In practice, the heavy physical task can be regarded as one of the factors affecting the development of mental fatigue status, and therefore impairing cognitive functioning and other mental performances of the brain. The pilot study results provided a reference for fatigue management of construction workers to promote comprehensive safety management on construction sites