Nabeel Khwaja

Benefits of Three- and Four-Dimensional Computer-Aided Design Model Applications for Review of Constructability

This paper presents recent developments and applications of three- (3-D) and four-dimensional (4-D) modeling on two transportation projects and their added value for constructability reviews. Transportation projects are characterized by challenges, such as design complexity, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, and traffic management, which truly need to be addressed by constructability reviews so as to make projects successful by minimizing delays, cost overruns, change orders, and so on. The 3-D and 4-D computer-aided drafting (CAD) models are new emerging tools that can tremendously aid constructability reviews. Although the models are extensively used in building projects for this purpose, their use in transportation projects is limited. The 3-D and 4-D CAD models in building projects could also be applied to transportation projects. The 3-D and 4-D CAD model applications developed for the two transportation projects in this paper emphasize the value added by this new technology to communication, technical design checking, construction planning, and work area management applied to transportation projects.

Civil Integrated Management for Highway Infrastructure: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

The use of information modeling and digital data for highway projects has seen a considerable surge over the past decade. These tools have enhanced the predictability and performance of several tasks in the project delivery process. This study explores the implementation of civil integrated management (CIM) practices in four case studies and documents the lessons learned to enhance CIM inclusion in project delivery processes. CIM encompasses the system of interdependent technologies and practices that facilitate collection, management, and utilization of digital information for project delivery and asset management processes. CIM is an emerging practice, and studies concerning integration of CIM technologies with project life cycle are limited. Through case studies of four highway projects, this study emphasizes the standards and processes that played a vital role in utilizing CIM technologies for contract documentation, design coordination, construction automation, and project management. The two small-scale projects investigated as part of this study demonstrate that pilot initiatives could be successfully carried out to harvest best practices in overcoming contract and legal challenges while embracing new technologies in agencies’ workflow. The two large-scale projects indicate that with the owner’s participation and expertise, the role of CIM technologies can be further enhanced toward performing project management functions. The lessons learned from the case studies are organized to provide a synthesis of process and organizational considerations that would enhance the agencywide adoption of CIM technologies.

Innovative Strategies on Dallas High Five Project

The

Evaluation of a Development Program for Transportation Engineers

262.9 million Dallas High Five project is reconstructing the busiest freeway interchange in the largest metropolitan area in Texas. The five-level, fully directional interchange between US-75 (North Central Expressway) and I-635 (Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway) is being reconstructed to replace the existing three-level partial cloverleaf interchange built in the mid-1960s. It was the single largest contract ever let by the Texas Department of Transportation and was more than double the previous largest contract. The project site is in the middle of a highly developed commercial zone of the city and poses all the challenges associated with urban freeway reconstruction. Almost 500,000 vehicles pass through the construction site every day, and extraordinary care was taken to minimize the impact on traffic and abutting businesses by instituting innovative strategies in the construction contract, including lane rental, windowed milestones, and no-excuse incentives. The financing concept adopted for this project has since become a statewide criterion. Details about contracting strategies and the thought processes involved in their development and application are presented, along with results from their application so far.

Improving the Transparency of Construction Projects Through Visualization Technology

A shortage of trained, prepared transportation engineers for leadership positions is growing in state departments of transportation (DOTs). This shortage is influenced by four factors. First, insufficient numbers of engineering graduates choose work at DOTs. Second, those who do choose DOT jobs enter with deficits in transportation-related engineering knowledge. Third, the DOTs have difficulty retaining the new engineers. Finally, increasing levels of experienced staff are retiring, adding to the expertise and leadership deficit. DOTs are reaching out to students at college and high school levels to encourage careers in transportation engineering; this outreach includes diversity programs and summer internships. Some DOTs work with colleges through cooperative research programs. To maintain engineering staff expertise, those agencies are increasingly providing young unlicensed engineers with in-house training that can include mentoring, functional area rotations, instructional training, and support for staff preparing to take the professional engineer exam. This study examines the steps that DOTs are taking nationally to train unlicensed engineers and focuses on a training program at the Dallas District of the Texas DOT. The research team performed a literature review and collected data about DOT training programs. Two surveys were conducted to compare programs at various DOTs and to assess the effectiveness of the training program from the Texas DOT Dallas District in improving staff performance (e.g., increase staff attainment of professional engineer licenses, rapid promotion within the agency, leadership, improved retention rates). Survey feedback, including recommendations for improving existing training programs, was analyzed. Training programs appear to improve both retention and expertise and are positive investments.

LESSONS-LEARNED SYSTEM FOR HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTIBILITY

Reconstruction of major metropolitan highway projects is a complex engineering process during which detailed engineering plans and specifications are prepared and the construction operations are performed according to those plans and specifications. Most of these complex projects take years to plan and design and several more years to construct. One major challenge associated with urban and metropolitan highway reconstruction is balancing the mobility needs of the driving public and the construction needs of the contractor. In general, this balance is accomplished through the development of detailed traffic control plans (TCPs). These TCPs are primarily engineering documents. Typically, they are shared between an engineer, owner, and contractor on printed sheets of 11- 3 17-in. paper. On large projects, a TCP document can consist of several thousand sheets. A TCP depicts the sequence of construction and the management of traffic (i.e., spatial information only). Timeline information (i.e., temporal data on the construction sequences) is contained in a separate system for scheduling data. Since the turn of this century and through the availability of powerful personal-computer-based, three-dimensional modeling tools, scheduling software, and their integration, the latest visual modeling techniques have become possible and cost-effective to use in the development and presentation of complex spatial and temporal engineering information to project stakeholders in a user-friendly format. This paper presents a case study of the successful use of this technology on the

GIS-based visualization of integrated highway maintenance and construction planning: a case study of Fort Worth, Texas

2.6 billion Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway reconstruction project in Dallas, Texas.

An Integrated Visualization Technique for Transportation Management Planning in Highway Infrastructure Projects

A 14.5-km (9-mi) stretch of the North Central Expressway in Dallas, Texas, was reconstructed to increase capacity and improve the geometric design of the freeway. The decade-long reconstruction project is considered by many industry experts to be one of the most complex ever undertaken by the Texas Department of Transportation. Much was learned concerning constructibility of urban freeway reconstruction projects, presenting the opportunity to document lessons and store them in an electronic format. A relational database using Microsoft Access was created to classify and store the lessons for easy retrieval and distribution.