Sungkwon Woo

Risk importance and allocation in the Pakistan Construction Industry: A contractors’ perspective

This paper on the basis of a questionnaire survey has investigated the perception of the contractors regarding risk importance and risk allocation. The purpose was to provide insight into the current attitude of Pakistani contractors towards the impact of different risks to the project delay and risk allocation. The respondents were asked to judge the relative importance of 31 risks types included in questionnaire. The risk types were generated on: a) an extensive literature review and b) consultation with the five key local experts participated in the survey. The weighted average score approach (WAS) is used to rank the potential risks based on the judgment of the respondents. The risks ranked by the contractors are analyzed and discussed. For risk allocation, the respondents have selected the party actually taking the risk from one of the following three options: owner, contractor or shared by both he owner and contractor. The results of this part of the survey are summarized in terms of percentages of the total number of respondents who have chosen the appropriate selection.

Enhancing Education of Construction Materials Course Using Guided Inquiry Modules Instruction

AbstractThis paper describes a study of the effects of guided inquiry module instruction on undergraduate construction engineering students’ understanding of course concepts and attitudes toward module instruction. Eighty-one students from two sections of the same Construction Materials engineering course participated in the study. Both sections received guided inquiry module instruction (treatment) for three of the six course topics. Participants completed pre- and posttests for each topic, exams (midterm and final), and a questionnaire to assess attitudes and perceptions. Results of the study show students perceived module instruction to be more effective than the traditional lecture. Students across both sections indicated that they participated more during module instruction and that this approach was more effective in encouraging participation and providing opportunities for discussion, activities, and teamwork. Additionally, students performed better on certain topic posttests under the treatment co...

Hibrid Approach of Cameras and GPS for Displacement Measurements of Super Long-Sapn Bridges

In a recent decade, the GPS has been introduced to directly measure the displacements of super long-span bridges. However, due to its high cost, it is not appropriate to apply a number of GPS receivers in a super-long span bridge in order to measure the displacements through the overall bridge. From the limited point-based measurements of the displacement, a mode shape model for the bridge maintenance gets more complicated and includes errors due to the assumption in the displacements other than the measured points. This study considers digital cameras as the supplementary approach for the displacement measurements to address the limitation of GPS receivers. The objective of this study is to theoretically investigate the feasibility to use digital cameras with GPS receivers to develop a more compelling mode shape model for the super long-span bridge maintenance. From a case study, it was found that digital cameras can provide a sufficient measuring width with a moderate resolution to measure the displacements of a super long-span bridge.

A Study on Simplified Payment Method by Progress Measurement for Specified Activity - Focusing on Construction of Eco-River

In domestic public works, there are several problems in the measurement of payments based on the bill of quantity, which doesn`t match with the activity progress rate, heavy paper works and complicated procedures. It can be classified formal and simplified method. By using the simplified method, it can be solved many problems by summarizing the procedure, but is not generally used. This paper proposes a payment method by progress measurement for specified activity based on WBS(Work Breakdown Structure) verifying efficiency which reduced cost account and advanced work on payment compare to method of domestic public works using the data about construction of eco-river. This method will be an important contribution on being a base for cost-schedule integrated management which were verified and also improving efficiency on measuring payment.

Approximate Cost Estimating System for Construction of Steel Mill

Enhancing the accuracy of an approximate cost estimate is a critical issue since the estimate ordinarily predicts the total cost of a project with insufficient project information. In order to facilitate the approximate cost estimate process, this paper proposes a computer-based integrated system that enables the flexibility to varying amount and accuracy of available information, higher accuracy by using several different adjustment factors at the same time, and decision supporting feature by fast manipulation of the profits and contingencies in determining the final bid price. Proposed methodology has been implemented for a steel mill construction company in Korea, and its viability was validated. Findings and practical implications are outlined.