ECV4702

Construction technology
Week 1

Dr. Aidi Hizami bin Ales @ Alias

[email protected]
03-89466391
Room : 6-34
OUTLINE week 1
• Course Overview
• Course synopsis
• Learning Outcome (LO)
• Program Outcome (PO)
• Class schedule
• Consultation hours
• Teaching Plan
• Assessment
• References and notes

• Chapter 1: Site Location

Course overview
• Synopsis
• This course covers the discussion on the equipment and machinery for
construction works, as well as current construction technologies including
industrialised building system (IBS)

• 3 Learning Outcomes (LO)

• Students are able to identify the suitable plants and machineries for
construction and current construction technology
• Students are able to recommend temporary works requirement
• Students are able to plan services for construction and access to site
Course overview (con`t)
• Program Outcome (PO)
• PO1 (C) – Apply knowledge of math and science to complex engineering problems
• PO12 (C) – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of engineering and management
principles
• PO13 (C) – Entrepreneurship related to engineering

• Lecture
• Monday, 10 – 11 am, BK17
• Wednesday, 4 – 6 pm, BK17

• Consultation hours
• Wednesday, 9 – 11 am
• Or through appointment
Course Overview (con`t)
• Teaching Plan
• Site location and investigation (3 hours)
• Choice of methods and plants (6 hours)
• Earthworks (5 hours)
• Types of piles and piling methods (5 hours)
• Concrete technology (4 hours)
• Special structures (5 hours)
• Temporary works (4 hours)
• Industrialized building system (IBS) (7 hours)
• Seminar by professional practitioner (3 hours)
Course overview (con`t)
• Assessment
• Test 1 – 20%
• Test 2 – 20%
• 9 x Assignments – 20%
• Final Exam – 40%

• References and notes

• Peurifory, R.L. et al. (2010), Construction Planning, Equipment and Methods. New
York: McGraw-Hill
• Chudley, R. & Greeno, R. (2006). Advanced Construction Technologies (4th Edition).
London: Prentice Hall
• Any construction technique books
• Notes will be uploaded to PUTRABLAST (blast.upm.edu.my)
Chapter 1 : Site Location and investigation
• What is site investigation?

• Why do we need to conduct site investigation?

• Objectives of site investigation

• To assess the general suitability of the site with the proposed works
• To assist in producing adequate and economic design
• To overcome possible difficulties & delays that may arise during construction
period due to ground and other local conditions
• Information required from a site investigation

• Information affecting the design of the structure

• Information affecting the construction of the works

• Information on ground water conditions

• 6 Information / Issues to check for in site investigation
1. Site location
• Nearest town and city
• Schools, emergency services, entertainment, recreation, shops, transport and
employment
• Distance from head office and plant, and travelling time

2. Accessibility
• Approach and site access roads, width, gradient, bends, sharp corners, condition
and construction relative to transport of heavy plant and equipment
• Bridges strength, width and clearance height
• Temporary roads, rolled metal tracts or consider preparing sub-base for new
roads as temporary access
3. Availability of space
• Site offices, canteen, stores and compound
• Material storage and handling
• Construction area and assembly areas
• Plant location

4. Services
• Water, drainage, electricity, gas & telephone
5. Ground composition
• Required to determine:
• Changes in strata
• Strength of subsoil
• Toxicity of subsoil
• Stability of excavation
• Water table (depth below surface)

6. Site clearance and demolition

• Method and cost
• Effect of trees and structural orders
• Protection of adjacent building
• Special insurance requirement
• Compensation payment and liability for damage
• The process of site investigation
1. Desk study
2. Site reconnaissance/ walk over survey
3. Detailed exploration
Desk study
• First stage of SI which involves researching the site to gain as much
information as possible, both geological and historical
• Collation and review of information already available about a site to
inform and guide the remainder of the site investigation
• Maps (geological, ordinance survey etc)
• Air photograph
• Geological books and journal
• Mining records and reports of previous site investigation
• Library, newspaper, adjacent buildings etc
Site reconnaissance/ walk over survey
• The initial document search should be followed by a wal-over survey
of the site and its surroundings
• Complements the desk study and typically provides valuable
information on matters such as:
• Topography: indications of slope instability, spoil heaps or signs of ground
subsidence resulting from mining

• Geology: exposures of soils and rocks which can be examined and sampled

• Surface water and ground water: signs of flooding; springs; water logging
• Vegetation: signs of vegetation die-back or restricted vegetation as a result of
contamination of the ground; presence of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed;
trees which may cause shrinkage and swelling of clay soils

• Ecology: indicators of protected species or nesting birds

• Contamination: indications of spills, disturbed ground, areas of fill or spoil heaps, old
fuel or oil tanks

• Structures: settlement of existing structures or the use of asbestos; indicators of

archaeological value

• Local knowledge: anecdotal information on past uses of the site or past problems in
the area

• Access and services: information such as access for site equipment and location of
buried or overhead services
Detailed exploration/ Ground Investigation
(gi)
• The principal objective of the detailed soil test/ ground investigation
are as follows:

• To determine in detail the geological structure of the site, including the

thickness, sequence and extent of the strata

• To determine the ground water conditions

• To obtain disturbed and undisturbed samples for identification and laboratory

testing

• To carry out tests to determine the mechanical properties of the soil in-situ
• Information required from GI

• Depth, thickness and properties of each soil layer

• Location of groundwater table

• Depth to bedrock
• Three principal methods of investigating the ground conditions:

1. Direct method – Trial Pits

2. Semi-direct method – Boreholes

3. Indirect method – Penetration tests, geophysical methods

• Trial Pits

• Excavating a hole large enough for a person to work in and revealing the soil strata for
examining and sampling

• Shallow excavations going down to a depth < 5m (sometimes require sheeting or

battering to ensure ground stability)

• Used extensively at the surface for block sampling and detection of service prior to
borehole excavation

• Can be dug by hand or mechanical excavator

• Only suitable in dry areas, as they allow hand cut samples to be taken which minimize
the disturbance of sample

• Most suitable to be used in exploring back filled area and sites overlain by variable
natural deposits
Example of trial pit dimension
• Boreholes
• Refer to MS2038
• Principal method for detailed ground investigations
• Used to determine the nature of the ground in a qualitative manner
• Recover undisturbed samples for quantitative examination
• The greater the number of boreholes, the more certain it is possible to be of the
correlation and thus to trust in the results
• Includes coring, sampling, in-situ testing and water table observation
• Drill through soils and core through rocks
• Two commonly used method
• Rotary drilling method
• Rotary wash boring
• Rock coring
Typical Rotary Drilling Rig
• Care in sampling
• Standard Penetration tests
• According to MS1056

• Hammer weight = 65 kg

• Drop height = 760 mm

• Total penetration is 450 mm and the number of blows for the last 300 mm is the SPT’N’
value
• Water table elevation determination

• Measure down the hole to the water table as water fills the hole

• Easily done for granular soils

• Piezometer for fine grained clay soils

• Field log of the test hole
• Sample number, depth and type
• Field test, depth and results
• Depth to layer changes
• Field soil description
• Type of soil grains
• Moisture conditions
• Consistency or density
• Seams and stratification
• Other distinguishing features
• Laboratory testing
• Representative samples of each soil type found at the site
• Types of testing done depends on soil type, cohesive or granular, and if the
sample is disturbed or undisturbed
• Soil report
• Includes a summary of the test program
• General description of soil conditions
• Detailed analysis of each soil type found
• Recommendations for the design
• Copies of test hole logs and a soil profile
Constraint for site
• What is constraint??

• Constraint is defined as a constraining condition, agency or force that limits the

system`s performance in a given context/environment (Mayer et al., 1995; Whelton
et al., 2004).

• Constraint describes the relationships between objects and processes (Whelton et

al., 2004; Tam, 2006)

• Constraints may cause undesirable consequences or are not supportive of the

organizational goals.

• Identifying and removing constraints from bottleneck activities help to reduce

uncertainties in construction process (Chua et al., 2003)
• Constraint management contributes to two major project functions;
planning and control (Chua et al., 2005)

• Planning emphasize developing optimal schedules with the objective of fulfilling

project goals such as duration, cost and quality

• Control focused on both plan and implementation work such as work

assignment and resource allocation, and supply chain management such as
material delivery and inventory control.
• Categories of Constraints

• A function of two variables

• Capacity
• Demand

• McMullen (1998)
• Constraints with lesser impact
• Constraints with greater impact

• Lau and Kong (2006)

• Internal constraints
• Site hierarchy
• External constraints
• Less under control, can only minimize
• 5 types of constraints in construction project

• Economic constraints
• Budget limit
• Adopted construction system may not be the best for achieving goal and quality
• Allocation of money
• Will affect the quality of product and performance of project

• Legal constraints
• Mainly related to work law, safety regulations and supervision plan
• May affect schedule and lead to project delay
• E.g. traffic diversion requiring immediate decision
• May affect planning and progress of the project
• E.g. traffic ordinance and excavation permit
• Environmental constraints
• Public concerns and regulations requiring the environment to be protected
• E.g. air protection, tree preservation, traffic limit, noise control etc
• If the approval is not obtained on time, will affect the progress of the project
• Technical constraints may also arise from environmental constraints

• Technical constraints
• The ability and competency of local engineers to design and construct the project,
especially when dealing with state-of-the-art projects
• Usage of international expatriates
• May also arise from other type of constraints

• Social constraints
• May appear minor and insignificant, but is very complicated to deal with
• Sometimes may bring big problems for the project, and affect the progress of the project
• E.g. compensation of properties, dirty and faulty roads, proper use of public money etc.
END OF CHAPTER 1