Master of Engineering in Construction Management

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item: Thesis-Abstract
A methodology for selecting and assigning contractors for construction projects in the Mahaweli Development Programme
Premakumara, HHP; Gunawardena, ND
Most of the construction works in the Mahaweli Development Project have been carried out through crash programmes. Even though, the project planning is vital for the economical and successful completion of any construction project this important aspect has not been given due recognition during the execution of downstream development works of the Mahaweli project. Instead of the proper project planning, the experience and knowledge of the Engineering staff with regard to the works and the performance of the contractors have been used for allocating works for the contractors. Although, this has resulted in achieving the targets of the scheduled programme, in many cases there have been failures too. Three models were developed for selecting and assigning contractors for three types of contracts used in the Mahaweli Development Project namely, Tendered Contracts, Fixed Rate Contracts and Labour Contracts. So far, no action has been taken to measure the performance level of the contractors and the performance standards to be maintained in respect of construction works in achieving the targets which are the main factors considered in the above models. As these are the most significant factors used in planning a construction project, this study reveals that the collection of performance data of contractors will be very useful in carring out future projects of similar nature. This research project also investigates the ways and means of determining the performance standards of different contractors as well as the standards of performance required by different construction activities for timely completion of the completion of the projects. Furthermore, recommendations are made regarding techniques that could be adopted for various types of contracts encountered in projects of a similar nature.
item: Thesis-Abstract
A Review of standard method of measurements of building works - Sri Lanka (revised edition SLS 573)
Dilkumar, C; Kodikara, GW
Sri Lanka did not have a Standard Method of measurement of Building works until 1982. Various organisations have been using different methods. These were modified versions of SMM 4 and SMM 5 of RICS (U.K.), SMM prepared by HAW in 1968 and other methods developed by the organisations to suit the practices of local industry. To achieve the uniformity in the method of measurement of building works in the industry, the standard methods of measurement of Building works, SLS 573, was introduced in 1982. Now after twelve years ICTAD has revised this document and named it as SLS 573, Revision: 1994. This research was to identify the differences between the revision and the first SLS 573 and to get the responses of the industry regarding the major changes. In order to get the responses of the industry, questionnaires were sent to twenty four consultants and contractors. Also some formats of bills of quantities were studied in order to get the good aspects of them. Based on these responses it can be said that SLS 573; revision: 1994 is fairly accepted with some improvements. Due to the limitations of time only the major changes as defined in this study were taken into consideration and it is worthy to undertake a study to observe whether the industry accepts all the differences given in Appendix A.
item: Thesis-Abstract
A study on costs of quality in building projects
Wickramaarachchi, MMP
The knowledge of quality costs makes the difference between costly way and beneficial way in achieving quality. These include costs associated with the achievement or non achievement of product quality as defined by requirements established by the company and it's contracts with customers and the society. Such quality costs are made up of three components namely prevention, appraisal and failure costs. Prevention cost is the cost of any action taken to prevent the risk of defects. Appraisal costs incorporate costs of evaluating the achievement of quality requirements such as inspection and testing performed at any stage. Losses associated with nonconformity/defects will accumulate as failures that detected during the process through inspections (internal failures such as rework) or once the client has accepted (external failures such as claims and replacements). Economic logic of above quality cost categories is to allow minimal quality cost applicable to each company by constructing a self correction quality cost system which will seek optimum cost for any business situation. Literature shows that quality costs make up 8-15% of total construction costs and most contractors can cut 25% of costs of buildings from a good quality cost management program. Hence, the problems of quality and related costs has been of a major concern to any building contractor running on a restricted budget. And it applies to clients/developers and society as large as much it does to builders. The research reviews the use and significance of issues of cost of quality in construction and concludes with a precise of a survey done on the usage in actual practice to get the perception of the industry on quality costing. It is aimed to device an appropriate strategy to improve the quality of strategic decision making as well as with regard to quality cost management in an uncertain and risky environment in firms. A simplified model (COQQS) is developed to assess the costs of quality that is incorporated in a software tool called "contractor's guide ". The proposed model (COQQS) consisted of an improvement made to the Quality Cost Matrix for quantification and handling based on the Quality Cost Model and reviews done by Abdul Rahman (1997). In Case Study-I, the contractor had incurred nearly Rs.125Million as the quality and related costs that contributed 17.66% to the actual work done. Out of total quality costs failure costs represents nearly 90 % whilst weight given to prevention/appraisals is 10 %. Prevention has got the least priority (less than 3%) of the costs expended for the project. The highest frequency of quality failure against the type of associated cause was for design • rl) related issues. Similarly communication problems, planning and coordination, subcontractor related, construction, material/plant/labour related issues, client interventions and third party/othercauses had accounted for high frequency of occurrences respectively as the causes of quality losses. The cost effect on above was analyzed in a pareto diagram, giving the direction to which areas to consider most in terms of both cost effect and frequency of occurrence.In conclusion, it suggested that an increase on prevention activity would make thesecosts minimized, thereby achieving an optimum level in efficiency and effectiveness of operations. In that regard, the need for a structured and formal system of quality cost management to address the aspects of performance has arisen as a direct result of deficiencies and problems in design, construction, materials, workmanship, cost and time overruns. Thesimilar conclusions were made in Case Study -2 which involved construction of a power stationthat incurred Rs 28 million as mere quality losses comprising 13 % contract sum of Rs 54 Million ( for the reference period of 6 months) as quality costs consisting 99% cost on qualitylosses and less than 1% on prevention and appraisals quality costs. This represented a 50.4%cost on quality failures and related costs making a 33.54 % contribution of total cost occurredon project to the contractor so far during the study period. According to the pareto chart, both projects had a significant contribution of quality costs due to design and constructionrelated issues. The simplicity that was enough to validate the significance and consequences of quality costing is a key feature of these cases. This would unveil the gap of the absence of quality related cost data in Sri Lankan construction sector to a certain extent. Specially the failure cost, which is avoidable is researched further to identify steps to be taken to tackle problems offailure and other quality costs The possibility of application in Sri Lankan context as a tool is highlighted from key findingsmade on the survey. The feedback of a questionnaire survey and interviews were used to get an idea on Sri Lankan construction industry, conceptual application, opportunities, constraints and obstacles over the suggested system for "quality cost quantificationand collection". A system was proposed to trace the position of a company in the process of development of quality system in terms of both quality management and qualitycost management. Accordingly, the survey on the adoption process for a case study finnrevealed that the firm was still in the initial stage of development of quality management systemusing tools of quality costing. Further, several applications of the model and future workahead are identified to present conclusions and recommendations.
item: Thesis-Abstract
A Study on profitability of port of Colombo
Hewageegana, PAA; Gunawardana, N
In construction projects of a gigantic scale, the biggest and main problem to surmount is the provision of capital. If ready cash not in hand, then next option is to go for a long term or short term loan if no private investors or shares were issued to find equity. Last one and half decades Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) has borrowed nearly 550 Million US$ to develop the Port of Colombo mainly by container terminals, roads etc. The money has been borrowed from Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) through Sri Lanka Government. The first loan was in 1980 and the amount of loan is continuously increasing since. And the repayment too is proportionality but dramatically uphill. This study is mainly focused to ascertain the impact of these loans repayment components to Port financial structure, with a view of forecasting the future profitability. In case of Sri Lanka Ports and Harbor field is very narrow and it is much specified comparatively to the others such as roads, electricity, irrigation etc. Hence, a broad introduction of Port Revenues, Port tariff etc were discussed prior to reach to analysis part of this report. Owing to the fact that SLPA as a body composed of not only Colombo but Galle and Trincomalee as well, profit and losses at all these Ports has to be equitably shared. As only Port of Colombo is running at a profit, the other two Ports are more or less parasites sucking off Port of Colombo. Hence, according to a necessity SLPA as a whole or Port of Colombo and other two ports data also analyzed. Among the three ports mentioned above, main revenue earning component of the Port of. Colombo is cargo handling which container traffic is the major one. But, present capacity of the Port of Colombo will be saturated in the year 2001. If no further development take place before the year 2001, then the stagnating revenue, and increasing fixed cost and variable cost will divert the financial situation to a crisis. New development projects to the Port of Colombo or new developments to Galle and or Trincomalle are the most important factors to be considered at this stage, to over come the said financial crisis in future.
item:
A Study on quality control and assurance measures in using asphalt concrete
Mayakaduwa, KW; Gunawardana, ND
During the past two decades, Sri Lanka achieved rapid industrial and economic development. The increased development activities have created sudden surge on traffic volume on roads. Hence, the government has given priority to road development programmes in which more than 75% of the roads are going to be over laid by asphalt concrete. It was observed that, the recently laid asphalt concrete surfaces recently laid by various contractors have failed within 5 years after construction. The failure of above asphalt surfaces may .be due to various problems associated with designing, mixing, laying and environmental factors during service. This research was carried out to identify the problems associated with asphalt concrete surfaces, to investigate the possible causes of them and to suggest better quality control and assurance measures to eliminate the above problems. Using the information collected from site investigations. past research papers, discussions, text books etc, the main causes for asphalt concrete deformations were identified and cause and effect diagram was drawn. The causes were analyzed in more detail in relation to cause and effect diagram to make conclusions and recommendations. Recommendations were made in relation to the methods of mix design, type and quantity of bitumen used for production of asphalt and remedial measures to be taken during production and laying asphalt concrete.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Analysis of perfromance of estimators in competitive bidding
Fernando, RC; Perera, AADAJ
Competitive bidding is an intriguing game for company estimators and offer an equal opportunity to submit bids to the prospective clients. The analysis of previous estimating performances of contractors is very important when submitting bids in successive stages in order to become the lowest bidder. In this research, the estimator's performances are analyzed in three main headings; analysis of current estimating performances, variability of lowest tenders and the relationship between the estimating inaccuracies and the marginal loss. Under the analysis of current estimating performance the variation of contractor’s cost estimate to the lowest bid. variability of contractor's bid with respect to time. Variation of lowest bid and mean bid against nu1i1ber of bidders, statistical test of randomness and success rate sensitivity to change in mark up policies arc discussed. different mark up policies for different cost estimates were determined giving indication to the contractor that \hut range of projects (cost) to be bid. In addition. the success rates for different project types Were also analysed. Success rate sensitivity to change in mark up policies gives indication to the contractor that how he increases his success rate in future bidding. The analysis of variability of lowest tenders gives some indication about the mean of the lowest bids for different range of cost estimates. The coefficient of variation gives some indication about the dispersion of lowest bids so that the contractor can determine the lowest bid l for given significance level. Determination of estimating inaccuracy gives very useful information on estimating variability and the site costing performances. The prospective contractors need to minimize their estimating inaccuracies in succeeding bidding situations. The estimating iJ1accurac:-(obtained as
item: Thesis-Abstract
Developing a cashflow forecasting model for road construction projects in Kalutara district and in districts with similar terrain in Sri Lanka.
Dissanayake, DMSC; Panditha, C
At present cash flow forecasting can be done construction programme or the standard curves. The method using the construction programme is tedious and time consuming. The method using the standard curves is simple and less time consuming. Hence in our study the method of standard curves is adopted. Upto now in Sri Lanka, cash flow forecasting has not been carried out for road projects. In this method standard curves are developed using data of past projects. A simple computer programme is developed to get the output very quickly. This report comes out with a best fit curve or a computer programme and an equation for cash flow forecasting where contractors cash flow for class A,B & C roads in a similar terrain can be predicted within a very short time. The required information is the estimated cost, the duration of the project, owing to similar terrain conditions. By using this method, the cash flow forecasting can be carried out quickly. In obtaining the .standard curve linear programming and method of regression was used with Lotus 123 software package and graphics and statistical analysis on a mackintosh computer. The programme listing and guidelines to use the developed programme is illustrated in the appendix. Key words; Cash flow, Estimated cost, terrain, linear programming, regression, graphics and statistical analysis .
item: Thesis-Abstract
Development of a management information system retaining key conventional controls.
Chandrasinghe, SDAR; Perera, AADAJ
The objectives of this research study are to carry out a literature Survey to establish the current development and applications in the field of Management Information Systems and propose them in an appropriate manner to the selected organisation viz. 4th Engineer Regiment of Sri Lanka Army, in order to streamline and improve its information processing capability. This action has been found necessary due to the current increase of the undertakings of the organisation in Civil Engineering Construction and Project Management activities along with pure Military Deployment. It was also found important not to discard some documentation in practice required for audit purposes. After carrying out the literature survey the most appropriate Management System applications have been established. A framework for the managerial activities in the organisation has been formed to identify the distinct information needs in the categories of strategic planning, Tactical control and operational control. The information processing systems have been proposed to suit the requirement under each category. The literature survey has resulted in formulating guidelines to view the managerial activities and information needs of the organisation. MIS proposals suggested introduce a host of techniques to the current in practice which will enhance the effective decision making capability of the organisation. This forms the basic guidelines ,for computer software applications.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Development of an appropriate conditions of contract for major civil engineering works.
Piyadasa, WMSC; DE SILVA, MWJA
The objective of this research project is to develop a new Conditions of Contract suitable for major civil engineering works, appropriate to the local conditions. Works having estimated value of more than Rs.100 millions have been considered as 'major works'. Although the focus is on major works, the document developed is equally applicable to small and medium scale civil engineering works, with minor modifications. At present the local construction industry, particularly the civil engineering sector is handicapped by the non-availability of an upto date and appropriate Conditions of Contract. The government has made mandatory in the state sector, the use of the document CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT FOR WORKS OF BUILDING & CIVIL ENGINEERING -SRI LANKA, produced by the Institute for Construction Training and Development, commonly known as the 'ICTAD Conditions'. The ICTAD Conditions of Contract is a document far from perfect and there is a plenty of scope for improvements. Furthermore the ICTAD Conditions attempt to encompass both building construction and civil engineering sectors into a single document which is not a desirable approach, given the diversity of practices and traditions prevailing in the two sectors. Use of a single document to cover the whole gamut of construction activities has been long abandoned in the international construction scene, in favour of specialised documents to cater for each sector. The Conditions of Contract developed as the outcome of this research, is generally based on the Fourth edition of 'CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT FOR WORKS OF CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION' (Reprinted in 1992 with editorial amendments) produced by Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conseils (FIDIC). This document has been endorsed by most international development and financial institutions including the World Bank. Recent developments and trends in the international construction scene have been taken cognizance of, in the development of the new. Conditions of Contract .A literature survey was carried out, and views and suggestions of senior engineers representing Employers, Engineers and Contractors were elicited by means of a questionnaire and interviews. Furthermore Conditions of Contracts drawn up for several major construction projects in Sri Lanka were analysed. Each clause of the FIDIC document was analysed and amendments have been proposed where necessary. The proposed Conditions of Contract would contribute to the successful completion of civil engineering projects by establishing a fair and just contract, in line with modem international practice.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Effectiveness of computer applications in management of building construction projects in Sri Lanka
Jayaweerasingham, GP; Gunasekara, PM
Today, construction activity is becoming increasingly complex due to rapid improvement in design and technology. Completing construction project without time and cost overrun is a great challenge. In the Sri Lankan conditions, the need for efficient management is more urgent than ever before. In fact, inefficient construction management has contributed to long drawn-out projects in the past with inflated costs and delayed utilisation. Professional construction project management input is a mandatory requirement for successful project completion, and one tool the project manager can effectively use to manage the project is a computer system. This study reports, research in to the application of computers in construction management by building contractors in Sri Lanka. The focus of this research was to gather industry experience in the use and application of construction management software and to asses the benefits realised by the industry. It is based on a survey of local and foreign building contractors and property developers. The local building firms were selected among ICTAD registered contractors and only Grade 1 and Grade 2 contractors were surveyed. The industry experience in computer applications in construction management were studied under five major functional areas : Construction Planning and Control; Contract Administration; Stores Management; Estimation and Valuation; and Finance and Office administration. This was done through a questionnaire based interview. Contractors views on reasons for using computers, difficulties faced, benefits realised, future development and the level of user satisfaction were also considered. The results indicates the computer applications in construction management currently practised by contracting firms in Sri Lanka are not successful in generating information to control cost and time. The effectiveness of computer application in construction management was found to be largely contingent upon the commitment and involvement of the user as well as the quality of the computer system used and the professional advice received.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Engineering management of time extension claims for the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.
Premanath, KLL; Kodikara, GW
In the sphere of construction contracts where the two parties Client and Contractor are involved it is characteristic to anticipate the susceptibility of the construction projects to many variation claims which generally cover a vast scope. These claims include Increase of Cost and/or Time Extensions. This research which has been limited to the subject of Time Extension Claims has been done with the objective of enlightening the NWS&DB Engineers with the problems associated in Time Extension Claims. In order to achieve this target a familiarization was found necessary of the Conditions of Contract (ICTAD 1989), Government Financial Regulations (Ministry of Finance 1992) and delegation of Financial Authority (NWS&DB 1991), which have been studied in relevance. It was found practically helpful and interesting to analyse a number of case studies from various construction contracts that were relevant to Time Extension Issues in order to give better expression to the subject under scrutiny, thus enabling achievements of the required objectives.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Evaluation of advance payment systems
Talagala, SJ; Perera, AADAJ
The research was conducted to evaluate the advance payment methods in the construction sector. Data were collected from different contractors, consultants & clients to analyses the contractor's financing state and the effect of the advance payment methods on the contractor's finance. Interviews and the documentary research are the two methods adopted for the data collection. From the data analysed during this research it is clear that the almost of all contractors are facing to cash flow problems during the projects. The existing advance payment practice of providing 20% advance at the beginning of the project is not sufficient to overcome these cash flow problems. Therefore improvement in the advance payment system is urgently required for the development of the construction sector in Sri Lanka. The main conclusions of the research were that a better advance payment proposal couldn't be generalize. The three advance payment" proposals considered in the research were: A. Providing advance payment of20% at the beginning. B. 20% advance at the beginning and another 10% advance at the middle third of the project; and C. Providing 20% advance & the material advances for the main construction materials. The suitable advance payment proposal has a greater bearing on the variable factors for the contractors finance. These variable factors and their effect on each of these advance payment proposals are analysed and presented. By observing in to the data analysed it's clear that the advance payment system for each and every contract, must be decided by considering limitations of the contractors finance. Presently the client & the consultant decide the advance payment method. But this system has to be modified, as the contractor will be able to request for his preferred advance payment option. By looking in to the other possible alternatives available for the contractors,( for to find the finance); going for his preferred advance payment system is profitable for the contractor even after allowing of a discount to the client. Therefore the existing advance payment system can be used to improve the contractors finance without increasing the advance payment percentage. However allowing the selection of the advance payment option to the contractor may create an another difficulty in evaluation of the contracts at the tendering stage. If the request for discount percentages, for each and every advance payment option &their modifications (Delayed advance payment recovery or reduced payback period )are included in the tender document the evaluation of the tender can be done under the grounds of equity.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Evalution of state sector pre - construction delays.
Jayasinghe, WS; Perera, AADAJ
This research was conducted to ascertain the pre-construction delays in state sector projects. Data were collected from a sample of 22 projects, where contract value were over Rs.5.0 million for the study, from 11 different state sector organisations. Also, preconstruction durations of 08 private sector projects were obtained and analysed to compare the results with state sector projects. Interviews and documentary research are the two methods adopted for data collection. From the state sector projects surveyed, it was evident that an average of 131.9 weeks with a standard diviation of 55.5 weeks, were taken for the preconstruction phase, where minimum time taken and maximum time taken were 24.6 weeks and 226.3 weeks respectively. In comparison, private sector projects had taken an average 38.1 weeks with a standard diviation of 27.2 weeks, for pre-construciton phase which has a minimum and maximum time of 12.1 weeks and 81.3 weeks respectively. The main conclusions of the research were that unnecessary delay was .resulted due to pre-qualification of consultants and contractors without selecting from ICTAD register/Data bases maintained by respective state sector orgainzations for projects below 10 Million in value. Also, the time delay caused by Consultants/ Technical Evaluation committee to submit the evaluation report and to obtain Cabinet Approval were prominent in the pre-construction stage in state sector projects.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Factors affecting delays in the building construction industry
Panditha, HGW; Jayawardane, AKW
History of the construction industry has witnessed that delays in construction projects are a common occurrence. These delays make the contractual parties involved in a particular project to vulnerable conditions and adversarial relationships complaining of other party's faults as the causes for delays. Those delays are an indication of lack of professionalism, which leads to bad reputation and less work for local contractors as client's tend to select more and more foreign contractors for their work. Therefore, it has become a timely need to study the factors affecting delays in the construction industry and suggest possible solutions in order to minimise these delays. The objectives of the research covered three main areas, namely identification of factors affecting delays in building construction industry during the construction stage, study the importance of the identified delay factors and delay groups, and make recommendations in order to minimise delays in the building construction industry during construction. Research methodology consists of (a) a detailed literature survey, (b) collection of data based on a structured survey, and (c) data analysis and development of recommendations so as to minimize delays. Similar research undertaken in Sri Lanka was found to be very limited. However, the limited research compiled in Sri Lanka and research conducted in the other part of the world, were quite helpful in developing the investigation programme and to get a broader knowledge in the research area. A well structured questionnaire was prepared using the information gathered from the literature survey. It was further refined based on the pilot survey, which was undertaken on 5 building sites and the views obtained from the experts involved in the building construction industry. Subsequently, data collection was carried out by an interview survey comprising 30 case studies in the Sri Lankan building construction industry. Totally, 60 completed questionnaires were collected from sites by interviewing the contractor and either the consultant or the client. Engineers, architects and quantity surveyors who were attached to sites were interviewed for collection of data. A commonly used statistical technique of Importance Index method was used for the analysis of data in this research. The delay factors were then ranked using these importance index values. In addition to ranking of delay factors, importance index values were further used to analyse the delay factors with respect to their relationship with delay causes such as client's status, contract sum etc. Based on these findings, recommendations were determined to minimise delays in the Sri Lankan building construction industry during the construction period. Both the consultant and the contractor have selected "Rainy weather" as the most important delay factor with the important index values of 78.86 and 68.9 respectively. Contractors have selected "changes by the owner and the consultant" as the second most important delay factor while consultants selected the "manpower shortage" as the second most important delay factor. Both the contractor and the consultant have collectively ranked "rainy weather", "manpower skills" and "material shortage" as the top ranking causes for construction delays. This indicates the need for proper planning of all types of resources and improve the skills of the different labour trades required for the construction industry. Among the several types of delay groups, manpower, financing and changes have been ranked as top order delay groups. Environment and resources especially materials and equipment were also identified as important delay groups. Application of proper planning methods from pre-construction stage onwards, allocation of adequate funds for the project, identification of the needs and introduction of vocational training facilities for specialised jobs, review and evaluation of project alternatives in the pre-construction stage, frequent site meetings and joint site inspections are among the recommendations suggested to minimise construction delays. 11
item: Thesis-Abstract
Feasibility of ISO 9000 quality management standards to the department of irrigation Sri Lanka
Sumanadasa, E; Gunawardana, ND
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed series of standards and guidelines popularly known as ISO 9000 to enable any organization to develop Quality Management System for that particular organization. Application of this system as a management technique enables to reduce the undisciplined use of resources of human and machine power, material and time. Quality Management as a managerial tool is being applied in many manufacturing organizations today in Sri Lanka. In the construction industry public as well as the private sector, requirement of application of the ISO 9000 quality management has not been fully identified so far and the Department of Irrigation is not an exception in this regard. To study in detail the present quality practices prevailing in the divisional level of the Irrigation Department, with reference to the most appropriate clauses of ISO 9001 standards, a questionnaire surveywas carried out. The basic requirement of the ISO 9000 quality management system is the development of a set of documents namely Quality Manual, Quality Procedures and Work Instructions and Project Quality Plans for any new project. Implementation of the documented system with necessary modifications when required is simply the application of ISO 9000 series. lt is evident from this survey, the practices in related to quality within the Department of Irrigation far behind the ISO 9000 system Awarding contracts to the lower grade contractors of lesser technical knowledge and experience is very common in all the divisions. Obtaining quality works relevant to the ISO 9000 requirements from such groups seems to be very difficult. Selection of contractors especially with quality management capabilities is an urgent need to maintain the quality standards of the construction works related to irrigation system development. This study revealed that the development of a quality system in accordance with ISO 9000 standards and implementation is a need for the Irrigation Department for further improvement of quality all the activities. Development of a Quality Policy and commitment of the entire staff of the Irrigation Department from the senior management to the field level in this respect would facilitateto achieve the objectives. 11
item: Thesis-Abstract
Handbook for the Sri Lankan House Builder
Fernando, WFSE; Perera, AADAJ
The theme "Hand Book for the Sri Lankan House Builder" was selected due to the lack of literature available for the potential literate Sri Lankan house builder, with an aim to convey the knowledge of project management. The house builder who is planning to build his unique home visualising a set-goal, could be benefited by saving time and money finally achieving a satisfactory end-result. A literature survey was carried out to identify the available books written for the house builder. Out of these identified hooks, a set of activities (topics) were differentiated and sorted out to be incorporated under the heading of literature survey. A questionnaire was prepared for the purpose of further identification of activities to be incorporated in the hand book. The questionnaire was revised twice to suit the human sample. For future research, the questionnaire should be altered, specially to suit to the widely spreaded Sri Lankan income holders and answers should be weighted in the order of priorities. (Using a preference method), The house builders hand book was prepared with the help of these available literatures, the knowledge gathered from the post graduated construction management course and geared for the activities selected according to the questionnaire. The booklet was curtailed mainly to preliminary stage in order to limit the report bulkiness. The technical (bra, Lost saving alternative designs and standard practices, new cost saving materials, formats etc. to be used for book keeping and account purpose were omitted and left for future continuation or the hand book.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Influence of linings on stress and deformation in rock around elliptical tunnels
(2014-08-01) Gunatilaka, IRP; Puswewala, UGA
Stress and deformation behavior in rock surrounding elliptical tunnels with concrete liners is investigated by finite element analysis. The loading condition is limited to hydrostatic pressure applied inside the tunnel and it is assumed that the constitutive behaviors of both rock and concrete are according to isotropic linear elasticity. Plain strain conditions are assumed to prevail for the tunnels, which is the case when tunnels with straight axis in uniform rock media are considered. Three elliptical tunnel geometries with major to minor axis ratios of 1.156, 1.358 and 1.500 are considered for the study. Each problem geometry was analysed for liner thickness varying from 0.0 m (unlined case) to 1.0 m in steps of 0.2 m, assuming that the Young's Modulus for rock is 1/10th of that of concrete. The result for stress and deformation are presented for the rock domain, both in tabular and graphical forms. These numerical results illustrate the effect of concrete liner thickness and tunnel geometry on stress and deformation in rock. A limited parametric study is conducted by varying the Young's Modulus of rock for a selected tunnel geometry with a concrete liner thickness of 0.2 m. The present research makes a significant contribution to tunnel engineers, providing numerical tools to arrive at an optimum tunnel geometry and liner thickness, by striking a balance between cost and efficiency.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Information technology for the construction industry
Dassanayake, DRC; Kodikara, GW
Information Technology (IT) has become a vital component in the context of policy for science and technology development in many countries. Construction industry as a whole is now geared to explore the full benefits of IT. It is evident that the construction industry differs from other industries due to its fragmented nature and involvement of expert knowledge, Judgment and experience. Because of this complexity in the construction industry there is a greater potential for IT and many countries are now considering to extend beyond productivity gains to strategic applications. This research establishes the current use of IT in the construction industry giving special regard to the Sri Lankan contex1. The research also draws out recommendations for strategic use of. IT and suggests an IT framework for Sri Lankan Construction Industry. Key words: Information Technology, Construction industry, Computers, Telecommunications.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Life cycle cost analysis for road pavements
Daluwatte, VR; Perera, AADAJ
The construction of roads has become a major Construction Industry in this country. Huge sums of money is being spent on Construction and Maintenance of roads. The cost effectiveness of three Road Pavement types which are currently in use are investigated in this exercise. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) technique which has become very much popular in the building industry has been used here for that purpose. Construction costs and maintenance costs for the three pavement types were collected from a sample of 18 roads in the western province and these data were analyzed in this document. The results obtained indicate that the present system of road maintenance has increased the LCC of all road types and the Life time of a road can be extended if due maintenance is regularly carried out. This would result in a lower LCC for all road types. The use of Asphalt Concrete for flexible pavements is recommended on the findings of analysis in this report as the LCC of the other pavement types with a inferior wearing surfaces are not much lower than the LCC of Asphalt Concrete type pavement. This study also guides further research on the type of data required to carry out a LCC·analysis of any road type. This study also highlights the dearth of recorded expenditure data in many important cost areas.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Life cycle costing and value analysis for design of buildings
Kunaseelan, S; Perera, AADAJ
The research was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of life cycle costing and value analysis for design of buildings in Sri Lanka. Data were collected from different designers to analyze how the designers' design decisions vary relevant to the life cycle costing and value analysis aspects and to find what are the difficulties faced by the designers to use the same for their designs. It was found that the most of the designers are willing to change their designs when they are considering the life cycle costing and value analysis aspects for their designs. But, there are some obstructions taking away the designers from using the same for their designs, which are explained under conclusion chapter. Further, it was found that 93.75%(15 out of 16) of the designers do not consider life cycle costing and value analysis aspects for their design of buildings in Sri Lanka. If the followings are satisfied, it will be feasible to perform life cycle costing and value anal ysis aspects for the designs of buildings by most of the designers in Sri Lanka. a) The awareness of life cycle costing and value analysis aspects are to be improved. b) There should be a readily available source of running cost and replacement period. c) Designers should have sufficient time period at pre-contract stage. d) Designers should be paid additional fee for performing life cycle costing and value analysis. (i)