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Slow and steady wins the safety race!

Using Four-Wheel Carts in the Roofing Trade: This animation recreates the real-life story of a roofer who ruptured his Achilles tendon while maneuvering a heavily loaded cart.  Three solutions are recommended with embedded scientific evidence showing that even a simple solution like team pulling could have prevented this injury.  The moral of the Tortoise and the Hare is embedded in the animation to remind audiences to pay attention to the danger of ergonomic hazards.

National Academy of Construction: Ask Me Anything series

The National Academy of Construction (NAC) will hold three Ask Me Anything (AMA) webinars for high school and college students with interest in the design & construction industry. Each AMA features one NAC member who will discuss their careers and answer questions from students. Students who submit a question are eligible to win one of three $500 scholarships. Faculty: Please register your class using the NAC AMA Class Registration Form. Students: Please register using the NAC AMA Student Registration Form. Jeff Russell Vice…

Dynamic production scheduling model under due date uncertainty in precast concrete construction.

Journal of Cleaner Production 257, 120527 Abstract: Precast concrete structures (PCs) are widely used in the construction industry to reduce project delivery times and improve quality. On-time delivery of PCs is critical for successful project completion because the processes involving precast concrete are the critical paths in most cases. However, existing models for scheduling PC production are not adequate for use in dynamic environments where construction projects have uncertain construction schedules because of various reasons such as poor labor productivity,…

Impact of Empowering Front-Line Managers on Planning Reliability & Project Schedule Performance

Journal of Management in Engineering 36 (3), 04020004 Abstract: This study applies empowerment theory to production planning at the level of frontline managers in a construction project. Using structural equation modeling, we investigate how empowering frontline managers impacts their planning performance. In contrast to prior studies, we find that although psychological empowerment of frontline managers has no direct effect on their production planning reliability or scheduling performance, it has an indirect effect on planning reliability and scheduling performance, as long…

Impact of Make-Ready Process on Project Cost Performance in Heavy Civil

Production Planning & Control 30 (13), 1064-1071 Abstract:  The research investigates the relationship between the production plan reliability and the project cost performance using project data in the heavy civil construction sector.  The research also investigates the attributes of a make-ready process using statistical analysis.  This study shows that production planning reliability (i.e. Per cent Constraint Removal (PCR) and Per cent Plan Complete (PPC)) and project cost performance (CPI) are significantly correlated in the heavy construction projects.  The findings show…

Prevention through Design (PtD) for Solar-Ready Houses

Supported by CPWR–The Center for Construction Research and Training (https://www.cpwr.com/), a UW CM research team recently completed a funded study regarding Prevention through Design (PtD) for Solar.  The team consisted of Prof. Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee (PI), Prof. John Gambatese (Co-PI, Oregon State University), and Yohan Min (UW PhD student researcher).  The study aims to support designers to apply PtD to new solar-ready houses by providing an easy-to-use PtD design checklist and BIM models. More information can be found in…

Digital Fabrication for Concrete Formwork

Project Funded by:  Turner Construction CERC Applied Research Fellowship Faculty Advisor:  Carrie Sturts Dossick Ph.D. Canddiate:  Sadra Fardhosseini Turner Partners:  Renzo DiFuria, Sean Beatty “Digital fabrication is an emerging approach to transforming design to physical products. While a number of studies have been carried out to highlight the use of digital technologies in construction, there is still a dearth of studies focused on design-to-fabrication workflows for concrete formwork in construction projects. In response, the overarching goal of this study is…