Construction Engineering and Management

Research Project Abstracts: 2001 - 2002

Experimental Assessment of Site Integrated Planning and Information Technologies for Residential Construction
L. E. Bernold
National Science Foundation
7/00 to 6/02
The proposed research should lead to the fundamental basis for providing the ability to solve the goals of Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), namely 1) reduce waste and improve recycling at a residential construction site, 2) maximize the safety of the worksite, and 3) shorten the delay time in the product approval process of new residential construction.

Field Studies with Innovative Safe Excavation Technologies
L. E. Bernold
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
9/01 to 10/04
Trenching and pipe-laying are some of the most dangerous operations in construction. This project is designed to address this issue by eliminating the need for laborers to enter the trench at all. In the three-year study, we will design and build the necessary hardware and test its effectiveness in the field. Also included in the work is the further development of an innovative buried utility detection system that will provide the operator the means to scan the ground before any digging motion.

Excavator Mounted Utility Detection and Automatic Creation of As-Builts
L. E. Bernold
Purdue University
6/01 to 4/02
The goal of this project is to further the capabilities of BUDS to identify features in the data that is generated during a scan. A second objective is to study the requirements for establishing electronic as-built drawings of the placement of underground utilities during construction. It is envisioned that such automatic as-built CAD drawings "as you go" would be created in real-time by interfacing the digging/pipe-laying machinery with a computerized CAD system.

Bridge Management System Update
D. W. Johnston
Institute for Transportation Research and Education
1/01 to 12/01
NC State University has developed and the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has implemented a bridge management system as a decision support tool for maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement of the 17,000 bridges in North Carolina. One of the system's programs, OPBRIDGE, involves a bridge-by-bridge simulation in which decisions are based upon economic evaluation of agency and user costs and optimized under constrained budgets using a large scale 0-1 Integer-Linear Programming algorithm. For the analysis of needs produced by OPBRIDGE to remain accurate, it is necessary to periodically update the cost, deterioration, and other parameters utilized in the program, as well as train NCDOT personnel.

Properties of Porous (Permeable) Concrete
M. L. Leming and R. A. Nunez
Funded commercially
2001 to 2002
This one-year study examined the mechanical properties and water permeability of a cast-in-place concrete product used in driveways and parking areas to reduce storm water runoff by increasing infiltration into the soil. This type of product is receiving national attention because of its potential to significantly reduce the increases in non-point source water pollution and urban flooding associated with runoff from impermeable structures.

Performance of Coped and Uncoped Framed Beam Connections
J. Nau and D. W. Johnston
Unsponsored
ongoing
This largely experimental study is nearing completion. The test fixture and 24 specimens were fabricated (and donated) by Steel-Fab, a structural steel fabricator in Charlotte, NC. The study formed the basis of the MS thesis for one student. A second MS thesis continues and is expected to complete his degree in 2002.

Determination of the Modulus of Elasticity of Concrete from Dynamic Tests
J. Nau and M. L. Leming
Unsponsored
1998, ongoing
The objective of this project is to evaluate the modulus of elasticity of concrete from dynamic tests on thick cylindrical samples. This study formed the basis of the independent study project for one MCE student. One journal article has been published. Work continues to relate the modulus of elasticity and other dynamic properties including damping to permeability and other measures of deterioration.