cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.42
title: ON MODELING ACTIVITY CRASHING AND OVERLAPPING: A FIRST ALGORITHM

description: Accelerating construction projects is a commonly used method for meeting the project deadlines and/or compensating for current delays. There are several approaches to speedup a project, such as activity crashing and overlapping. Activity crashing means reducing activity durations through adding more resources. Activity overlapping means executing certain activities in parallel when they were supposed to be sequential in the original plan. Construction management literature is mostly focused on studying each acceleration mode separately, while the focal point of this paper is to develop a joint model and a first algorithmic implementation that involves both acceleration methods. Particularly, on reviewing the project management and scheduling literature, a mathematical model combining activity crashing and overlapping is reformulated. Also, a Genetic Algorithm is implemented on a fictitious case study. Preliminary findings of the model and algorithmic implementations identify that activity crashing alone and a mixed approach are preferred when significant compression is required, whereas activity overlapping is recommended for minimizing compression costs when only a small compression is required.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.43
title: ON THE LIMITATIONS OF THE EARNED VALUE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE TO ANTICIPATE PROJECT DELAYS

description: A significant proportion of projects across the construction industry fail to meet their planned completion dates, being this a recurrent topic in the project management literature. Multiples causes of project delays have been proposed, however, hardly any attention has been paid to the fact that the most celebrated project monitoring and control technique  the Earned Value Management (EVM)  may not be as fit for purpose as it seems. It is proposed that because EVM ignores activity duration variability it always results in optimistic completion dates which may be very difficult to meet in the real projects. This research offers a fresh and long overdue critique of EVM in its most common implementation (assuming deterministic activity durations and costs), while highlighting its shortcomings. Particularly, Monte Carlo simulations are implemented to exemplify how the merge event bias phenomenon is inadvertently impacting the schedule in both time and cost dimensions. A fictitious case study is used to demonstrate the connection between these shortcomings and what is then conceived as a delay in project completion.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.44
title: PRIORITIZING SIDEWALK UPGRADE PROJECTS TO MAXIMIZE COMPLIANCE WITH ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

description: People with disabilities form 18.7% of the United States population, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2012. To avoid discrimination against this significant portion of the population, state and local governments are required by federal and state laws to provide and maintain accessibility for people with disabilities on their sidewalks and pedestrian facilities. To achieve compliance with these laws, state and local governments need to conduct self-evaluations to identify inaccessible pedestrian facilities and develop transition plans to schedule upgrade projects for these inaccessible pedestrian facilities. The federally-mandated transition plan requirements include the development of a schedule that displays, in detail, deadlines for all upgrade projects needed to achieve full compliance with accessibility requirements. To prepare this schedule, public entities are required to rank and prioritize pedestrian facilities upgrade projects. This paper presents the development of a novel methodology to quantify the impact of upgrading inaccessible pedestrian facilities on people with disabilities. The developed methodology considers several factors related to pedestrian facilities' conditions and location to estimate the number of expected pedestrians with disabilities impacted by upgrading each inaccessible pedestrian facility. This methodology is designed to assist decision makers in state and local governments in the process of ranking and prioritizing inaccessible pedestrian facilities upgrade projects.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.45
title: PRODUCT VERSUS PROCESS: A JUNGLE COMMUNITY CASE STUDY FOUR YEARS LATER OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

description: More than four years have passed since the collaboration with the Kichwa jungle community of Santa Rita in Ecuador. While designing and building the Cocoa Cabin, we were able to see how technology transfer took place. Based on this case study we will refer to the negative and positive impacts of the technology transfer system over time, acknowledging the differences between a product versus process approach. Comparing three specific points in time where technology transfer was implemented in: the Cocoa City (2010-2015), the Cocoa Cabin (2013-2014), Bolivarด Lookout (2017), demonstrating how imposed technology leads to misuse or disuse because of lack of participation and understanding, and how technology development, when escorted by people and collaborative processes, leads to successful technology transfer.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.46
title: RAPID LOAD TESTING OF STONE COLUMNS TO AID DESIGN OF FOUNDATIONS ON IMPROVED GROUND

description: Building Codes and best practice require load testing of embedded structural foundation elements to validate design and construction execution quality. This requirement is particularly challenging when associated with ground improvement schemes relying on granular reinforcing/stone columns. Stone columns present an economic solution for improving the bearing capacity of shallow foundations on soft soils. A novel impulse load test was developed and used to quantify the load-displacement response of shallow foundations supported on stone columns at a clay site. The device is referred to as the Rapid Plate Load Tester (RPLT) and is a modified version of the Axial Compressive Force Pulse test for deep foundations. In this paper, the comprehensive site investigation, stone columns construction, load testing procedure, and data analysis are described. Static and dynamic field tests were performed to target loads of 2000 kN and equivalent bearing pressures of 500kPa. The results obtained from the RPLT tests were used to derive equivalent static load settlement curves for footings on both the natural clay ground and improved ground and compared with the results obtained from the full-scale static load tests.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.47
title: REFORMING UNDERGRADUATE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION: A LEAP OF FAITH

description: Do we need to reform civil engineering education? The notable remark about any listing of top universities is that more than 60% of these universities are located in the G8 countries with GDP of more than 60% of the world total. This fact confirms that economic growth is strictly tied to social and cultural development, which is linked to the intellectual and scientific development presented by higher education. This also reveals that the answer to the concern of reforming engineering education is YES. Thus, teaching paradigms must change to fit needs and modes of today's students
description: they are not interested in passive learning. Active learning must be the path for today's generation of ubiquitous-learning. Different innovative teaching techniques for high-level structural engineering courses have been adopted by the author and proved to be rewarding. Among these paradigms are blended learning and flipped classes, which stretch the utilization of technology in classes. Other new techniques such as student-generated examinations, student-generated classes, design competitions and project-based learning are reflection of student-centered education. Here, the said innovative paradigms, which were recently applied by the authors will be presented.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.48
title: RESEARCH TRENDS IN EVM LIMITATIONS AND PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS

description: The earned value method (EVM) is a recognized management technique that is used for monitoring, evaluating, and controlling the progress of projects. The method's employability challenges have consistently been addressed in the literature along with proposed enhancements that aim at improving its application. The overall objective of this paper is to synthesize those limitations reported to be encumbering EVM employability and to examine the main enhancements proposed for the EVM traditional set of metrics. To this effect, this paper initially validates the importance of project controls, as the top factor cited as being critical to the success of projects. Secondly, it presents a classification of the shortcomings reported to be impeding EVM employability, along with their corresponding improvement studies. As such, the paper looks at the temporal distribution of these limitation and improvement research studies, while shedding light on the trend of such interconnected research efforts over the last three decades. As such, the paper presents a synthesis of the improvements found to be affecting the representation, usage and measurements of the EVM set of metrics, with the aim of gaining perceptiveness on how the reported EVM shortcomings may probably be overcome. The findings revealed that the highest frequency of reported improvements (138 in total) was found to be pertaining to the method's set of key parameters.
DOI: 10.12751/g-node.87584d
title: Dataset: Statistics of natural communication signals observed in the wild identify important yet neglected stimulus regimes in weakly electric fish

description: Position and frequency traces of the weakly electric fish Aperonotus rostratus recorded in May 2012 in Darien, Panama.
description: IsSupplementTo: Henninger J, Krahe R, Kirschbaum F, Grewe J, Benda J (2018) Statistics of natural communication signals observed in the wild identify important yet neglected stimulus regimes in weakly electric fish. Journal of Neuroscience 7 May 2018, 0350-18; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0350-18.2018
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.49
title: RESPONSIBLE DELIVERY OF THE BUILT PROJECT: WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT?

description: Several procurement approaches have evolved over the years to suit the delivery of the ever increasing complexity and size of construction projects, coupled with the increasing pressure to embrace green methodologies as part of any such approach. Many of these available approaches reflect various levels of integration that may be desired to achieve in respect of critical project aspects, including: design, construction, operation, and finance. Decisions as to the most suitable delivery approach are to be made by project owners/developers, while being often assisted by market analysts, project management professionals, and other specialty consultants. While it is established that such a decision-making process does not follow an exact science, this paper tackles the issue of where responsibility truly rests for ensuring that the preferred or adopted project procurement strategy is consciously argued for with the interests of all involved stakeholders in mind. It touches on (1) the roles of the public and development policies and regulations prevailing in the locality of the intended project as well as (2) the capabilities and readiness of concerned project participants in enforcing, or at least, promoting more environmental, social, and economic consciousness into the procurement approach decision-making process.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.50
title: SCHEDULE RISK ASSESSMENT IN GREEN BUILDING PROJECTS

description: Construction projects are subjected to a variety of risks eventually affecting the overall duration and green building projects are no exception. Use of risk assessment means in such projects is also critical to complete them within aimed schedule. In this study, risks that have potential schedule impacts in certified green building projects are identified and their impact and likelihood of occurrence values are researched. For this purpose, a survey is administered to construction professionals with green building experience. Based on the responses, risks are plotted to draw their potential impact on schedule/likelihood of occurrence in a graph to identify the most significant risk factors. This tool may help the practitioners to identify and prioritize potential risks and allocate resources in projects accordingly to prevent or minimize their possible impacts.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.51
title: SIMULATION-BASED ANALYTICS: ADVANCING DECISION SUPPORT IN CONSTRUCTION

description: Construction projects are predominantly managed with a heavy reliance on the knowledge and experience of construction professionals and supporting enterprise resource planning systems. The construction sector continues to struggle with the management, analysis, and transformation of data into useful information for improved decision-making. While development of data-driven decision support systems for construction would improve the accuracy and relevancy of decision-making processes, several challenges currently limiting the incorporation of dynamic project data into prediction models must first be addressed. An envisioned solution for advancing datadriven decision making in construction using a simulation-based analytics framework capable of overcoming such limitations is presented and discussed.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.52
title: STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF CORROSION POTENTIAL IN CONCRETE BRIDGE DECKS

description: Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of concrete structures during construction, as well as over its service life, has recently become more attractive to owners and consulting engineers. With the introduction of new materials and construction methods, various types of concrete structures are being instrumented with monitoring devices to determine their performance and response to various loading conditions. Among many other objectives, this includes monitoring concrete performance at the serviceability and durability limit states. This paper is an overview of an on-going program for the SHM of concrete bridge decks in the State of New Jersey focusing on field performance. Three types of corrosion sensors are instrumented to monitor the corrosion activities in concrete decks
description: one is the silver-silver chloride electrode and the other two are multi element probe (MEP) corrosion sensors. Other types of MEPs were also instrumented on bridge decks during reconstruction in late 1990s to monitor the corrosion potential of the bridge decks. Various types of sensors are installed in precast panels during fabrication as well as in-situ cast concrete decks during and after construction. Moreover, a laboratory-based accelerated corrosion testing program is also performed on concrete specimens using various types of rebars. This ongoing study is aimed at correlating laboratory-accelerated corrosion results with long-term performance of the steel in concrete bridge decks under field conditions.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.53
title: THE COST IMPACT OF FRONT END ENGINEERING DESIGN (FEED) ACCURACY FOR LARGE INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

description: Assessing the accuracy of front end engineering design (FEED) for large industrial projects is a critical task with the potential to considerably impact overall project success. At this early phase of the project, the owner's expectation is to be able to make informed decisions including cost predictions to determine whether the project should proceed to the next phase. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate FEED accuracy and measure its impact on project cost performance. The authors collected and analyzed data from 33 completed large industrial projects representing over $8.83 billions of total installed cost. A primary finding is that projects with high FEED accuracy significantly outperformed projects with low FEED accuracy in terms of cost growth in relation to the approved budget at Phase Gate 3. This finding assists owners and contractors focusing on the front end planning phases of their large industrial projects to considerably improve cost performance.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.54
title: THE EFFECT OF IMPACT LOADS ON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE SLABS

description: Many research studies have been conducted on the effect of impact loading on structures, and design procedures were proposed for reinforced concrete (RC) slabs
description: however the availability of these studies and procedures are limited for prestressed slabs. The proposed research will examine, using numerical analysis, the impact of rock fall on prestressed concrete slabs with equivalent moment capacity reinforced concrete slabs. It is expected that prestressed concrete slabs will have different behavior to resist impact loading compared with traditional reinforced concrete slabs. The thickness of the prestressed concrete slab will be 25cm whereas that of the reinforced concrete slab will be 30cm. The impact loading consists of 500Kg drop weight. The drop height will be 10m, 15m and 20m.The structural analysis is performed using a Finite Element program "ABAQUS". A comparison will be done between both slab types in terms of failure mode, damage, and deflection. It has been found that both slabs failed in punching. However, the RC slab performed better than the prestressed concrete slab with respect to the value of the deflection at mid-span, while both showed punching shear mode of failure.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.55
title: THE EFFECT OF SHEAR REINFORCEMENT RATIO ON PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BEAMS SUBJECTED TO IMPACT LOAD

description: Structural elements subjected to impact loads have a different response than those subjected to static loads. This research studied the effect of using shear reinforcement to reduce the local damage occurred when an impact load applied on a prestressed concrete beam. An accurate finite element model was provided for the analysis using the advanced volumetric finite element modeling program (ABAQUS). The concrete material was defined using the built in concrete damage plasticity model (CDP), that considers the nonlinear behavior of concrete when subjected to dynamic loading. All material properties were modified using the dynamic increase factor (DIF) to consider the effect of impact loading. It was realized that the failure was concentrated in the impact zone. However, using shear reinforcement reduced the permanent damage occurred due to impact.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.56
title: THE ELEMENTS OF NATURAL CONCEPT IN SUSTAINABLE BUILDING SKINS

description: Introducing new ideas and solutions that serve environmental functions in sustainable building designs have become an enormous challenge recently, particularly with the current practices of architects and designers in this field. To achieve comfort zone in commercial and residential spaces, the three major aspects that have to be considered are thermal, ventilation and daylight. The proposed project is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the main purpose of choosing this location is the hot weather in the U.A.E. Therefore, applying the bio-mimicry design on building skins will react as a solution to improve the indoor thermal comfort in reducing solar heat gain and achieving uniformity in daylight as well as focusing on ventilation in certain seasons, to motivate and enhance the natural ventilation pattern and to reduce the energy consumption as well. This study will mainly focus on developing a building skin that considers locally sourced material such as clay and protect birds' habitat by creating a place for breeding and feeding the birds as well as to integrate plant pots into the skin to reduce pollution. Secondly, combining it with a natural concept strategy that matches the various systems used, to enhance the indoor environment and the indoor comfort needs. The Simulation software, ECOTECT/IES, was used to measure the daylight and thermal performance levels before and after applying the skin concept. The expected findings of this paper may also help in solving part of the existing building envelopes and evaluate their negative impacts in the hot climate region.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.57
title: THE HAWAII SUPERFERRY BUSINESS VENTURE NAVIGATES TO FAILURE

description: At first glance, the private business venture of the Hawaii Superferry appeared to be an economic opportunity for Superferry executives, the State of Hawaii, as well as tourists and residents looking for a cheaper alternative for inter-island travel. However, upon its introduction to the Hawaii Islands, it faced stiff opposition from several public interest groups. Plagued with legal troubles and roadblocks throughout the Superferry's short lifetime, the inter-island ferry business was no longer able to stay afloat financially. The poor implementation of conflict resolution and negotiation of the parties involved appeared to be the perfect storm for what was supposed to be smooth sailing. The eagerness with which the State waived environmental permits appeared to be done with the sole aim of benefiting the Superferry corporation, upon which the Court did not look with favor. This article explores the arguments made by the defense and opposition, and presents the findings of the court.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.58
title: USE OF RECYCLED GLASS IN CONCRETE PRODUCTION

description: Worldwide, rapid population growth causes an increasing production of solid waste, and sustainable waste management solutions are required to deal with this. Waste glass is a significant component of the solid waste stream, and most of the recycled glass cullet is used for new glassware. However, waste containers with mixed types of glass, such as windows, ovenware, and crystal, which have higher melting points and are of different colors, cannot be used for new glassware. Hence, the contaminated load is sent to landfill. As landfill capacity is limited, it is critical to consider using this waste material for other applications. While the effects of the substitution of fine or coarse aggregates have been extensively researched, information on the effects of partial replacement of coarse aggregates and total replacement of fine aggregate with glass cullet is scarce. This paper reports on continuing research at La Trobe University on using recycled aggregates in the production of concrete. The effects of partial or total replacement of coarse crushed rock aggregates with recycled glass aggregates on the strength and durability of concrete were investigated. It was found that concrete mixes produced with recycled glass exhibited lower performance than the mixes produced with crushed rock aggregates. However, the production costs were lower and the appearance of concrete was improved, making it applicable for finishing products, noise barriers and light-trafficked footpaths.
DOI: 10.14455/isec.res.2018.59
title: YIELD STRESS BASED ON NATURAL STRAIN THEORY UNDER CYCLIC SHEAR LOAD AFTER LARGE SIMPLE SHEAR

description: This paper describes the variation of yield stress under cyclic loads after applying large pre-deformation. In this research, the Natural Strain is used as a strain representation for describing an elastoplastic behavior under large deformation. Using test pieces which is already given a pre-deformation of large simple shear, the yield stress under cyclic shear loads in the forward direction and the reverse direction is examined. As for the method for estimating yield stress in each cycle, the slope of a tangent in the principal deviatoric stress and the principal deviatoric strain curve is adopted. The experiments are conducted with the different sizes of pre-deformation and strain amplitude in order to reveal the effect of pre-deformation on the yield phenomenon. Then, these experimental results are compared with the results of yield stress in the previous study, which is obtained under cyclic load for tension and compression after applying the large uniaxial tension.