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THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Amy Collie Jeffrey Durfee Tonia Jones Aaron Mathies Marcus Schock Kristi Norris July 24, 2007 Amy Collie Jeffrey Durfee Tonia Jones Aaron Mathies Marcus Schock Kristi Norris The Use of Technology in the Construction Industry Executive Summary Developed by the group of students as the study in Construction Industry research series, Use of Technology in the Construction Industry provides insight into the history of the Construction Industry along with the historical and organizational background illustrating the evolution of technology towards the practice. The present study thoroughly examines the process of implementation of new technology and provides implementation plan, costs / benefit analysis, and useful recommendations. The study provides quantitative data that will be helpful for a wide range of readers to answer some long-standing questions about the use of technology in the Construction Industry. The History of Construction According to Maslows hierarchy of needs, since man first walked the Earth, his first and most basic needs have been physiological in nature: food, water, air, and shelter (Maslows hierarchy of needs). Early humankind's shelters were quite primitive as they were initially natural such as caves, overhangs, or holes (Sebestyen). As humankind has been undergoing the process of evolution and has been inventing primitive stone tools, the artificial shelters made of stone, mud, branches, and leaves collected from forest has appeared.
Currently, the oldest man-made structure known to exist is located near ChiChibu, Japan, where scientists have discovered the remains of a dwelling they believe to be at least 500, 000 years old (Worlds oldest building discovered). Nearly all of these early structures served primarily as residences, providing humans warmth and protection from natural disasters, though there is an assumption that some of them may have been used for storage purposes (Sebestyen). With the emergence of the New Stone Age, collective societies began emerging along agricultural hotspots near the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, and Hwang Ho rivers (Sebestyen). It was within these societies that we see the emergence of dried brick wall construction, followed by primitive metal working and irrigation.
These societies would further progress to become the great cities of Egypt, China and the Middle East. With this progression came the honing of skills necessary for elaborate construction, as evident in the pyramids at Giza dated back to 2589 - 2566 B. C. Additionally, it is around this time that we witness the first recorded responsibilities or laws outlined for building, as laid out by the stone carvings of the Law Book of Hammurabi, King of Babylonia around 1792 B. C.
Around 2000 B. C. a great expansion of Greek settlements has been noticed. This growth in the Mediterranean eventually resulted in the most advanced construction ary society the world has ever seen, the Romans. At the peak of its blossom, the Roman Empire consisted of about 60 - 100 million people (Sebestyen). It was these peoples labor and resources that has transformed Rome into the worlds metropolis with structures like the Coliseum and the Pantheon, the remains of which we can still witness today.
It was also the Romans who printed the worlds first major publication on architecture and construction (Book). Amazingly, this masterpiece of Marcus Vitruvius Pollo, was thought to be lost until 1414, and since that time, it has gone on to countless reprints due to its comprehensive explanations about a construction process, building materials, building physics, astronomy, and machines (Sebestyen). The book focuses attention on the hypocaust, an early heating system that used ducts, furnaces, and chimneys (Book). Unfortunately, this technology was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, though similar technology can be found in the Korean know and the Chinese on-dol which can still be found in use today (Sebestyen). After the collapse of the Romans, the construction industry has witnessed nearly three centuries of stagnation. This, probably, occurred due to the armed conflict which left many towns and villages in Europe burned and abandoned (Sebestyen).
However, this period was known for another important event the spread of Christianity. During the eleventh century Europe witnessed a period of rapid growth and development assisted by the construction of churches and monasteries. During that time, not only the churches were being built by Europeans, but there also were drawing people, living in the villages nearby, who were drawing and compounding new constructions. This period was also known for the first problems associated with deforestation, due to the over-demand of building materials such as timber and stone (Sebestyen). However, with this boom in construction in Europe, we begin to see the emergence of elaborate craft training and education. It is here one can see the development of the master mason, carpenters, plumbers, and other guilds.
Though Europe is given credit for the hotbed of the Middle Ages, other regions were booming in the construction industry as well (for example, the Mayan Aztec cities, the Mughals Taj Mahal, and the Khmer empire with the Angkor temple complex) (Sebestyen). The seventeenth century is predominantly known as some sort of construction industry wash, though by the time of St. Pauls Cathedral (1675) and the old House of Commons (1714), there are some improvements in iron due to the use of coal and coke, which were also used to produce steam, outdoing the waterwheel (Sebestyen). Shortly after, we also witness the dissolution of the guilds (1837 in England) and, thus, the emergence of professional designers and contractors (Sebestyen). The scientific revolution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has leaded us to the great industrial developments of the eighteenth century and eventually on to the construction developments of the nineteenth century.
Cast iron, wrought iron, and steel became widely used during the construction of bridges, building frames, and railroads (Sebestyen). Portland cement was invented in 1824 and thus had a great impact on the building of foundations, reinforced concrete, and infrastructure (Sebestyen). The energy became a prime resource soon after the invention of the internal combustion engine, and the electromotor. The areas of transportation and heavy lifting made leaps and bounds after these inventions. Huge civil engineering projects appeared (like that of the Panama Canal (1914 - 1918), employing nearly 45, 000 workers) (Sebestyen). During the period of Great Depression in the U.
S. , residential building contractors suffered greatly, while some larger commercial companies continued to participate in such civil projects as the Boulder/ Hoover/ Grand Coulee dams (Sebestyen). Shorty after World War II, the residential housing market in the U. S. reversed, and both the residential and the commercial industry continued to boom. Since then the construction industry has learned to build sky scrapers, long-span bridges and roofs, and created the most complex infrastructure the world has ever known.
Indeed, the world has witnessed many drastic changes and rapid developments during the recent centuries. The construction industry, at 10 % of the Worlds GDP, is no different and is perhaps, one of the most obvious evidences of these changes (Sebestyen). Unfortunately, there is no one market that can be used to illustrate the beginning of such drastic change. Todays construction industry has been shaped by thousands of years of evolving thought and invention, though some of the more recent changes are easily discussed. The practices of prefabrication and mechanization have been major developments to the construction industry during the last century. Prefabrication is based on the industrial manufacture of building components off-site or near the site, and though it can be traced many centuries back, its widespread use has not come about until the last century (Sebestyen).
Mechanization can also be traced back thousands of years through simple machines; though in the last few centuries the field has exploded. Through inventions like that of the internal combustion engine, electricity and the electromotor, the construction industry has been revolutionized, and fundamentally mechanized. From cranes and backhoes, to power tools and transportation, mechanization has changed the industry, and the world. Another technological advancement of recent years is that of Modular and Dimensional Co-Ordination. Dimensional Co-ordination stems from ancient Japanese Stonemasons. This theory suggests a necessitated co-ordination of dimension upon all things built, such as wall and floor components that must exist in certain proportional dimensions (Sebestyen).
The concept of basic dimensional items with other multiples or fractions has lead modern engineers to the module (Sebestyen). This system has ensured that all the components fit each other through assembly and interchange, and has assisted to define tolerances. These tolerances can then be used to control fire, smoke, noise, heat, and sound, as well as defining compression, tension, shear, torsion, and minimum life requirements (Sebestyen). The adaption of codes and standards is another industry breakthrough that occurred during the last century. Although there are over 200 international standards drafting organizations, 96 % of all standards stem from three Geneva based institutions alone (Sebestyen). The U.
S. has also seen drastic changes here in the form of codes set forth by government regulated agencies like OSHA, as well as codes set forth by municipalities. This has ensured a level of standard and professionalism in the construction industry as well as to keep society safe. In addition to the above, the construction industry has been drastically shaped in recent years through the knowledge and use of mathematics.
Galileo was the first man to study structural mechanics in 1638 when he published Two New Sciences (Sebestyen). Shortly after that, Newton and Leibniz invented differential and integral calculus. These inventions were soon followed by Hookes discovery of proportional stress of elastic materials (Sebestyen). Among the most recent discoveries one can recall the discovery of matrix calculus, the theory of graphs, and the finite elements method. All of them have changed the concept of engineering, thus allowing the industry to stretch their imagination and allowing for the implementation of new architecture that hardly could be imagined before (Sebestyen). Finally, it was the computer that has undoubtedly revolutionized the construction industry to a greater extent than any other invention.
It is through the computer the humankind can now apply the above listed complex math equations to everyday and wide-scale use. Computers have simplified Modular and Dimensional Co-ordination, and made possible computer-aided design, virtual reality, and networking, to mention a few. Computers facilitated communication across vast geographic areas, increased logistical power exponentially and created a global construction industry. It is the computer that has brought the construction industry to the third phase of globalization, as outlined by Thomas L. Friedman, creating a worldwide industry that truly is flat (Jessup and Valacich). The Basic Stages in the Construction Industry Wireless technology has helped the construction industry to expand its options from the startup process to the completion stage.
Startup process begins with making plans and placing a manager to oversee the project as progress is made. After plans stage is completed, the plan guidelines are given to companies who would like to submit a bid for the job. The plans are rarely printed out and handled to the contractors or suppliers personally, but instead, they are published to be available in internet. The Reproductive Company is one of the most well-known companies.
On the web site contractors and companies who would like to bid for the project go to the plan room in order to see all job offers available. There they can upload the plans (if they would like to view them). The plans are also available at the nearest office if contractors would prefer to have a printed set. After the bid stage is done all the data is put into a computer spreadsheet to create a report showing bid amounts as well as the companies.
Then the company looks for the lowest reasonable bid and the most responsible party to award the job and begin working on the project. A schedule is then set up so the Superintend on site can keep the job on target to be completed by a date set by the owner. The Timberline Software helps to create the schedule will all the information required. The next stage in construction before the work can actually begin is getting the permit, financing and suppliers lined up. Guidelines for permits are determined based on where the construction will be done. Financing is provided either by the builder (owner) or prospective client who will own the structure upon completion.
A budget is set to make sure the cost corresponds to the amount financed. Suppliers are as important as the financing, because they need to make sure the supplies are available when the builder gets ready for them. Another important piece of technology used during the bid and budget process is a software called Timberline. It is a database that keeps up to date information per zip code so builders can specify costs of material, cost and labor for a particular area required. The zip code is input into the system so Timberline will know where to pull the information from. Timberline is also used to compare the estimates with the other jobs.
This user-friendly software also stores previous information allowing you to see how well the project was estimated. After all the bids are completed, the contractor, who has the lowest possible bid, is awarded the job. Then the contract is issued, where the dollar amount and work expected are specified. After the contract is issued, and all the requirements within the contract are completed, the work stage begins. Financing is the main factor that keeps the job rolling. As work is completed the construction company prepares a draw for payment based on the contract terms.
Subcontractors are obliged to turn in a draw for payment monthly. The draws are then used to prepare a draw to the owner consisting of the work completed by contractors, supplies and overhead percentage. The AIA (American Institute of Architects) draw form is the most widely used one. It consists of columns listing the budget, percentages completed based on dollar amount, and amount remaining on the job. Then the draws...
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