Structural Behaviour of Prestressed Concrete Hollow Beams

This thesis is concerned with the primary objective of studying the structural behaviour of prestressed concrete hollow beams. Ten simply supported rectangular hollow beams and one rectangular solid beam were tested on an effective span of 2.80m subjected to two third point loadings. The variables in the study were the percentage of self weight reduced and the amount of prestressing wires. Eight beams were tested unbonded while the other two beams were fully bonded.Ultimate loads, cracking loads, crack widths and deflections were recorded at various loadings and crack propagations were observed. The results obtained were compared with theoretical values. It was observed that due to the absence of material in the hollow portion, compared to a solid beam with similar outside dimensions, the ultimate moment carrying capacity of prestressed hollow beam is reduced if neutral axis of the beam at failure is located below the top flange. However, if the neutral axis of the beams at failure is located within the top flange, then the ultimate moment carrying capacity is at least equivalent to that of a solid beam. It was also observed that the theory on the ultimate moment carrying capacity presented in this thesis gives a fairly good prediction. However, the theory used to predict cracking load as well as deflection was found not suitable for unbonded beams as it greatly underestimates the deflection and overestimates the cracking load. It was also observed that bonding has a great influence on crack widths and deflections. Bonded beams show more uniform crack distribution with reduced maximum crack width and increased ultimate load capacity. From test results, it is recommended that prestressed hollow beams should be made bonded in order to achieve at least the predicted cracking load

History of Islamic political movements in Turkey

This article investigates the history of Islamic political movements in Turkey. The time period of the article cover the time after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 to the year 2000. It is argued in the article that Islamic movements were largely suppressed in the period between 1923-1945 when the country was ruled with a single party regime led by the Republican Peoples Party. With the introduction of multi-party political system in 1945, political Islam found the opportunity for political activism in the body of Democrat Party. But the political Islam found a more organized opportunity with the establishment of National Order Party in 1970 and National Salvation Party in 1971 by Necmettin Erbakan. Based on a programme of National View, the Turkish political Islam was known for its aim to support material development with a parallel moral and spiritual development with a reaction to the west in interstate relations. Turkish political Islam expressed itself with Welfare Party in 1983 to function until 1998 with some clear changes in its programme particularly in its agreement with contemporary political institutions and later support for Turkey’s integration with the west. Turkish political Islam experienced its first great electoral success during the WP period. However, the WP is closed down in 1998 by the Constitutional Court due to allegations about anti-secularism and driven to a process of breakdown. © 2015, Canadian Center of Science and Education. All rights reserved

Comparing information technology adoption between developing and developed countries

Information technology adoption is critically important because it is a fundamental element of successful project management. Although some studies have been carried out to investigate the use of information technology in the construction industry, there is no comprehensive literature to compare the information technology adoption among different countries. This research aims at investigating the current extent of information technology use between developing and developed countries. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was sent to 800 construction professionals from 20 countries. From those, 151 completed and reliable responses were selected to be analyzed. The result of the research reveals that there is no significant difference between developing and developed countries in information technology adoption; however, developed countries are more advanced in information technology use compared to developing countries. The results of this study are useful to provide directions in research, training, and development of strategies that will respond to the needs of the construction industry in the area of information technology selection

The development of flood map in Malaysia

In Malaysia, flash floods are common occurrences throughout the year in flood prone areas. In terms of flood extent, flash floods affect smaller areas but because of its tendency to occur in densely urbanized areas, the value of damaged property is high and disruption to traffic flow and businesses are substantial. However, in river floods especially the river floods of Kelantan and Pahang, the flood extent is widespread and can extend over 1,000 square kilometers. Although the value of property and density of affected population is lower, the damage inflicted by these floods can also be high because the area affected is large. In order to combat these floods, various flood mitigation measures have been carried out. Structural flood mitigation alone can only provide protection levels from 10 to 100 years Average Recurrence Intervals (ARI). One of the economically effective non-structural approaches in flood mitigation and flood management is using a geospatial technology which involves flood forecasting and warning services to the flood prone areas. This approach which involves the use of Geographical Information Flood Forecasting system also includes the generation of a series of flood maps. There are three types of flood maps namely Flood Hazard Map, Flood Risk Map and Flood Evacuation Map. Flood Hazard Map is used to determine areas susceptible to flooding when discharge from a stream exceeds the bank-full stage. Early warnings of incoming flood events will enable the flood victims to prepare themselves before flooding occurs. Properties and life's can be saved by keeping their movable properties above the flood levels and if necessary, an early evacuation from the area. With respect to flood fighting, an early warning with reference through a series of flood maps including flood hazard map, flood risk map and flood evacuation map of the approaching flood should be able to alert the organization in charge of the flood fighting actions and the authority to undertake the necessary decisions, and the general public to be aware of the impending danger. However this paper will only discuss on the generations of Flood Hazard Maps and the use of Flood Risk Map and Flood Evacuation Map by using geospatial data

Identifying causes of construction waste - case of central region of Peninsular Malaysia

Construction waste becomes a global issue facing by practitioners and researchers around the world. Waste can affects success of construction project significantly. More specifically, it has major impact on construction cost, construction time, productivity and sustainability aspects. This paper aims to identify various factors causing construction waste in Malaysia. Study was carried out through structured questionnaire focusing three major parties (i.e. clients, consultants and contractors) involved in construction project. Data was analyzed with Statistical Software Package SPSS. Reliability of data was found as 0.917 which showed that data collected was highly reliable. The calculation of Mean Rank of the construction waste causes found that the 5 key causes are Poor site management and supervision, Lack of experience, inadequate planning and scheduling, Mistakes and errors in design and finally Mistakes during construction. Spearman correlation analysis showed that Mistakes during construction was highly correlated with Rework (with 0.829 correlation value) and Slow information flow between parties (with a value of 0.60) and vice versa. Through identifying the causes and its correlation of the construction waste it gives better understanding to the construction community for future construction projects which benefit not only in term of economy but also the environment

Hirarc: a tool of safety imporvement in the construction industry

The construction industry plays a vital role in Malaysia’s economy. However, construction industry has been labeled as extremely dangerous and highly risky. In Malaysia, the number of accidents occurred on construction sites is considered high in comparison to other industries. This paper reports on the study carried out to identify the effectiveness of the implementation of HIRARC in reducing accidents on construction sites, based on 10 different projects that implemented HIRARC. From structured interviews conducted to 10 safety personnel who implemented HIRARC in their projects, it has been found that the basic process of HIRARC was 100 % implemented and carried out. The study also revealed that each and all process of HIRARC was found to be “effective”. In addition to that, another structured interviews conducted to 26 consultants engaged with construction projects on the effectiveness of the implementation of HIRARC shows that HIRARC is also “effective” in identifying all potential hazards; assessing all the risks of hazards; making adequate risk control and accident preventive measures; acting as an occupational safety and health management system; and reducing accidents on construction sites. Finally, a comparison is made on the safety performance between construction projects which implemented HIRARC and construction projects which did not implement HIRARC. The findings show that construction project with HIRARC is actually more effective in reducing accidents on construction sites. In conclusion, the implementation of HIRARC is indeed effective in reducing accidents on construction sites

Development of a risk assessment model for Oman construction industry

Oman as one of the Arabian Gulf countries which have invested billions of dollars in the construction industries, infrastructural services and real estate, but it is clearly identified that risk assessment was not applied for once on these awarded contracts. Lack of knowledge and awareness of risk management or assessment procedures in the construction industry in Oman caused additional cost and time delay in most of the awarded construction projects. This paper aimed at developing a model for risk assessment in the Oman construction industry to save huge amounts of millions of money wasted due to this problem. A field survey of semi-structured questionnaire with face-to-face interviews was carried out in the Oman construction industry including public, contractors and consultants. The research approach relies on data collected from primary and secondary sources. Combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis was used in analysing the data for the Model development. The risk factors in the Oman construction industry varies from one category to another, the risk factors in government category are more than the consultant category and contractor’s category. Overall, the Oman construction industry has no very high risk factors, which means it has good opportunities for investment. It is expected that the output of this research will have a good and beneficial contribution to save time and money for both public and private sectors in Oman due to expected awareness and improvements in the risk assessment procedure

Critical project manager competencies in managing highway projects in West Sumatra - Indonesia

The Highway development projects currently being implemented in West Sumatra, Indonesia is important in increasing the competitiveness in the country's economy. At the same period, it will also give a positive impression such as being able to reduce the cost of transportation, increase the quality of life, the value of use and labour productivity. The project managers play an important role in the success of the project. There is a consensus that project managers increase the likelihood of project success even though their projects face major problems. In this paper, the focus is on identifying the competency of Highway Project Managers in West Sumatera in carrying out the Project Management concept that leads to project success. Based on that and in accordance with this study, the approach used in data collection and processing is a qualitative approach. The results of the factor analysis are shown to experts, to establish that all these factors are important in development the performance of a project managed by the Project Manager. The results of the factor analysis derive 31 factors that are validated by the experts. And all these factors are crucial in determining the performance of the Project Manager