Schedules are essential to the successful execution of projects. Without a schedule, it is difficult to coordinate the diverse activities
found in a construction project. Most schedules are developed in a deterministic manner. Unfortunately, construction schedules are
affected by uncertainties in weather, productivity, design, scope, site conditions, soil properties, material delivery time, equipment
efficiency, etc. As a result, schedule delays are common in various construction projects and cause considerable losses to project
parties. It is widely accepted that construction project schedule plays a key role in project management due to its influence on
project success. Therefore, it is important to quantify probabilities of schedule delays when managing a construction project. To serve
the need for proactive project management, a need has emerged for the development of facile methods to evaluate the probability
of construction time-overruns. Forecasting of reliable project completion date presents continuing challenge to construction schedulers.
Management of risks and uncertainties in construction projects is possible if risks have been identified and the potential impacts
have been analyzed. In order to evaluate construction networks by considering risk factors, nondeterministic scheduling methods
such as the program evaluation and review technique (PERT), the probabilistic network evaluation technique (PNET), Critical Chain
Scheduling (CCS), and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) have been developed. In the present work, an attempt is made to study the
effect of uncertainties in the project on the total duration of the project in an Indian context. For this, Monte Carlo simulation
(MCS) technique is adopted. Effect of different distributions for different activities and the number of simulations on the total
project duration are determined and compared with the CPM and PERT Methods. Finally, sensitivity analysis is carried out to show
the influence of each uncertain activity on the total project duration.
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Occupational, Health and
Safety (OH&S), Health Safety Executive (HSE)
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Research Articles
SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
DR. K. N. JHA
PROF. DILIP A. PATEL
MR. SATISH REDDY
Safety is a major, important and very sensitive concern of any
employer in any industry. In the construction industry the risk of
fatality is higher than any industry. The workers are generally
unskilled or semiskilled, poorly paid, temporarily employed, and
not properly trained. The objective of this paper is to study the
status of safety management system adopted by major construction
firms. For the same, fourteen elements of safety management
system are studied and made comparison among all the companies.
It is evident that there is a lack of adequate safety practices in
the construction industry and it is necessary to provide some
concrete recommendations for improving the site safety management
in the construction industry.
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), Occupational, Health and
Safety (OH&S), Health Safety Executive (HSE)
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Research Articles
LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION - A REAL MODEL STUDY
DR. A. K. GARG
MS. RADHIKA KEERTHI N.
MR. VIJAY SHANKER G.
This paper deals with the benefits of application of Lightweight
construction in buildings. To achieve the objective, extensive
study has been made on the available literature and a Real Model
Study has been performed on the Executive hostel building of
NICMAR. Certain demerits of lightweight construction such as low
resistance to fire have also been discussed. In today's world,
where space is a major constraint, lightweight construction provides
a better alternative for achieving more floor area within a given
built-up area of any building. Lightweight construction also helps
us to reduce the duration of construction and employs eco-friendly
materials. The paper also suggests that further research is necessary
for improving the efficiency of the existing Lightweight construction
technology.
Lightweight construction, Real model study, Lightweight construction
technology
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Research Articles
FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY CRITERIA OF BOT PROJECTS: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF A ROAD PROJECT
DR. SARBESH MISHRA
The present paper is a part of growing trend that has emerged
among the governments in many countries to solicit investments
for public projects from the private sector participation. The major
reason attributing to this is the shortage of public funds and
hands-off approach of the government agencies. With Build, Operate
and Transfer approach, private sector designs, finances, constructs
and operate the facility for a stipulated period and after agreed
concession period; the ownership gets transferred to the client
(Government). Since January 2006, the Public-Private Partnership
Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has granted approval to a total of
87 projects including 77 highway projects. The PPPAC approved
the infrastructure projects worth US$ 5.98 billion on November
2008. This includes 21 highway projects to be taken up under
NHDP Phase III and V. Many international players have joined the
league in the growth and reform of the highway infrastructure in
India. Indian road construction projects have become a lucrative
and emerging investment opportunity for numerous international
giants. The various international companies to join the league are
Berhad (Malaysia), Deutsche Bank, Emirates Trading Agency (Dubai),
the Isolux Corsan Group (Spain), Italthai (Thailand), Baelim (Korea),
Dyckerhoff (Russia), Widmann AG (Germany), IJM Corporation,
SDN and Road Builders (Malaysia), Kajima and Taisei (Japan).
These companies acquire equity stakes between 10 to 51 per cent
in various highway projects floated by the National Highway
Authority of India (NHAI) and other state governments. BOT is seen
as a developing technique for infrastructure projects by using
private initiative and funding. This paper makes an attempt to find
out the acceptance rule for BOT projects under different arrangements.
Build Operate and Transfer, Public Private Partnership, Cash flow,
Concession Agreement, Toll, Annuity, Viability Gap Funding, Financial
Internal Rate of Return, Concession Agreement
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Research Articles
APPLICATION OF REENGINEERING TO CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
PROF. S. V. MUKKAWAR
DR. M. P. RAJURKAR
DR. A. L. AGARWAL
In increasingly competitive world, companies have realized fast
that if they want to stay one step ahead of the competitors, they
have to produce much better quality goods in increasing number
and most important of all; in significantly less time. They have
also realized that their present processes are totally unsuitable to
meet growing demand and they need to do something revolutionary
and in 'half time'. In this respect, 'reengineering' is a new concept
which formulated and propagated by Michael Hammer. Adopting
reengineering, more than 5000 companies in the West have successfully
redesigned their core business process. About fifty Indian companies
are also actively pursuing reengineering to reap quantum leaps in
quality, quantity and speed.
Reengineering as name suggests means doing everything again in
an innovative and better way. Reengineering simply means starting
the things all over again. The 'things' done yesterday by people
and companies do not matter to business process reengineering.
What reengineering actually means is going back to the beginning
and inventing a better way of doing the work. Business reengineering
is business reinvention but not business improvement, not business
enhancement or not business modifications.
Reengineer is a useful tool of management and can be applied to
three types of companies. First, the companies those find themselves
in deep trouble, they struggle for their survival. Second, the
companies those are not yet in trouble but are likely to be in
trouble in future. Third, the companies which are in peak condition
and reengineering gives an opportunity to them to further lead in
the competition.
In India, there are hundreds of companies which are likely go ill
every year and the national income will get reduced. GDP, a
measure of development of a country, is also likely to get reduced.
Therefore, this technique may prove to be substantially significant
for national progress with reference to the companies in general
and construction industry in particular. It is generally observed
that majority of construction projects take more time than the
planned or estimated time, thereby utilization of the infrastructure
is not proper. Hence there is a lot of scope to apply this technique
in construction industry. In addition, reengineering can be adopted
in electrical, mechanical, automobile, electronics, pharmaceutical,
insurance industries and also administration in our daily life.
Reengineering, Construction Management, Information Technology
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Research Articles
STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR OF BRICK MASONRY CAST IN NANAKSHAHI BRICK
Prof. Karamjit Singh Chahal, Prof. Rawal Singh Aulakh
The Structures have the responsibility to
give shelter. Brick masonry has a long history
of reliable structural performance. Brick has
been used as a basic structural element since
ages and has been used for construction
throughout the world. This material is
responsible for making all elements of
structure, i.e. Foundations, Walls, Sills,
Lintels, and Roofing etc. The Nanakshahi
Brick (colloquial name) ware used in the
northern India to a great extent in the middle
ages these bricks has been so named because
these are contemporary to Guru Nanak Dev.
These bricks being smaller in size were used
extensively for design and construction
purposes. The article attempts to details out
how these brick were used as the basic
structural and functional element in the
northern region of India. These are also named
as Lakhori Brick in other parts of the world.
The different physical and structural
behaviours between some brick masonry
structures, located in the Golden Temple
complex at Amritsar are analyzed. Design
of masonry structural members begins with
a thorough understanding of material
properties.
Nanakshahi brick, Structure,
Material Properties, Mortar, Construction
Research & Publications Department 