Master of Engineering in Construction Management

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item: Thesis-Abstract
Use of estimating data for construction planning.
Chandrapalan, S; Kodikara, GW
Use of estimating data for construction planning.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Review of roundabout design parameters and development of a roundabout design guideline for Sri Lanka
Ekanayake, EMCB; Mampearachchi, WK
Review of Roundabout Design Parameters and Development of a Roundabout Design Guideline for Sri Lanka Roundabouts are frequently used in urban areas in Sri Lanka. There is no proper guideline to design roundabouts in Sri Lanka. Increasing traffic and use of long vehicles resulted in malfunctioning some of the roundabouts. Geometry of roundabout has great influence on operation of the roundabouts. Objectives of the study are to review the roundabout design guidelines, identify the issues in existing roundabouts and formulate a roundabout design guideline for Sri Lanka. Five major design guidelines were considered to compare the design parameters of roundabout geometry. Twenty four roundabouts spread over major cities were selected for study. Main geometric parameters of each roundabout were collected using field measurements and calibrated satellite images. Standards of local roundabouts were compared with the international roundabout guidelines. Swept path analysis was carried out on selected roundabout layout for single unit truck to determine the adequacy of entry width, circulation width, exit width and operational speed. Design parameters that need to be improved on existing roundabout were identified and suitable values for selected design parameters were proposed.
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
Pre-tender planning for the Sri Lankan construction industry
(2014-07-09) Wijaratna, C; De silva, MWJA
Many clients and consultants in Sri Lanka believe that bad planning ( including pre-tender planning) is one of the main reasons for poor performance by local contractors. Construction contractors too, do not deny that their planning is inadequate. it is observed that, due to high competition and other factors, price war in tendering is common and many contractors do not try to develop specialised skills. As such, it was decided to study pre-tender planning procedures adopted by local contractors and compare with recommended practice, in order to propose a suitable pre tender planning procedure for the local industry. Books and journals were refered to, in order to find out, the circumstances that lead the local industry to this situation and learn good practice in overall planning and pre-tender planning is particular. A questionnaire survey was conducted among contractors. To supplement this seven consultants were interviewed using a separate questionnaire as a guide. This research lead to conclude construction contractor most of the time make decision on their intuition and experience. Their information system are not developed, and they do not have a long medium term business plan except for a few grade I and II who make an attempt for it. Tender periods are comparatively short and tender documents are generally not complete in all respects. It is recommended that. contractors should be market oriented and plan their business·, based on scientific · analysis of business environment and develop professional approach for pre-tender planning. Consultants;should help contractors by providing more accurate' and'complete tender documents, and sufficiently long period for tendering
item: Thesis-Abstract
A Study of traffic plan for Kurunegala municipal area
(2014-07-04) Anandan, SS; Kumarage, AS
Kurunegala is in the Centre of Sri Lanka and connects North and South, East and West. Even though it is in such a strategic point it is not adequately developed to accommodate this transport requirements. Sri Lanka has a road length of nearly 65,000 km. Of these over 25,000 km are classified roads, which belong to classes A, B, C, D and E. These are maintained by Road Development Authority, Provincial Councils, Municipal Councils, Urban Council and Pradeshiya Sabahas. Kurunagala Municipal roads are maintained by Road Development Authority and Municipal Council. To date in Kurunegala Municipal council, there has not been a single traffic survey carried out to identify the present traffic issues. Even though some surveys were canned out by Urban Development Authority, they are not up to the Highway Engineers' expectation. Some other surveys were carried out by Road Development Authority. They were also mostly concerned in certain locations/intersections they were interested in. The above factors motivated me to select Kurunegala for my research work to do a survey covering all aspects of traffic issues and to give proposals to have a better traffic management system for Kurunegala Municipality
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
Role of project management in road and bridge construction claims
Tennakoon, SD; Kodikara, GW
In Sri Lanka most of the road and bridge construction works are handled by a contractor and supervised by a consultant. Road Development Authority of Sri Lanka (RDA) is the client organization for the National roads operating directly under the Ministry of Highways. Most of the road and bridge construction works are handled by the Road Construction and Development Co. (PVT) Ltd., (RC & DC) which is the main contractor organization and the subsidiary of the Road Development Authority. Some of the road and bridge construction works , mainly the foreign funded works are awarded to the independent consultants and contractors through tenders. Claim situations rarely arise with RC & DC as the contracts handled are negotiated contacts between RDA and RCDC . However, claim situations are common in contracts given on tenders to parties out side the RC & DC where independent consultants administer the works of independent contractors. Appointment of a separate Project Manager to look after client's interests from the inception is one of the arrangements used successfully in contract administration. In this research it was considered the Project Management approach could be used to administer the road and bridge construction works. Main objectives of this research were to establish the relevancy of the project management concept to road and bridge construction work and to study some cases and evaluate how this concept could be applied in road and bridge construction claims. For the purpose of achieving the first objective a literature survey and an opinion survey was carried out. Results showed the necessity of a separate Project Manager for the road and bridge construction work and the requirement of an independent Project Manager for large Projects. Five case studies were carried out in view of achieving the second objective. Results of these analyses showed the significance of management inputs to projects which could be utilized to minimize the claim situations.
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
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-Abstract
Willigness to pay for water in the Trincomalee District
Barathithasan, T; Ranasinghe, M
In the past less attention has been paid to the equity and public goods aspects of willingness to pay for water. The pricing of water services are an important element of urban infrastructure. The absence of good water services can cause serious public health implications as well as substandard living conditions for the affected families. Presently for most of the infrastructure development projects of water supply, studies on willingness to pay by consumers are carried out. However most of these are not successfully completed and implemented. Being a developing country it is therefore important to find out the willingness to pay for public utilities in order to optimize the resource inputs without causing too much economic hardships. This research attempts to develop a questionnaire for WTP study, to develop equations to estimate the willingness to pay for water in the Trincomalee district. And also make recommendations to the NWSDB on conducting willingness to pay study for water by consumers. The questionnaire was developed after and extensive review of previous literatures available on this subject. Datas were collected through house hold visits to conduct the survey about willingness to pay for those receiving water through service connections, stand posts and wells respectively. Since willingness to pay by consumers is an important part of the economic feasibility of projects in water supply, this study has made recommendations such that NWS&DBcan plan and carryout WTP study accurately and easily.
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
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
Review of ICTAD conditions of contact for building construction works.
Logeswaran, N; De Silva, MWJA
The objective of this research project is to review the ICTAD conditions of contract suitable for local building construction works. The Government of Sri Lanka had approved the said document in August 1988 to use in the state sector for both building and civil engineering construction works, which was prepared by the ICTAD, commonly known as the 'ICTAD conditions of contract'. Since the building and civil engineering construction works have some differences in their character and contract administration, which are described in chapter 4, the use of one document is not a desirable approach given the diversity of practices and traditions prevailing in both works. The ICTAD conditions of contract is a document far from perfect and there are plenty of scope for improvements, because this was prepared based on the FIDIC conditions of contract (Third edition) which is 17years old document. Use of a single document to cover the both construction works is not practice in the international construction scene. By considering all the above action was taken to review the ICT AD conditions of contract mainly through literature survey, questionnaire survey and the comparison of selected conditions of contracts. Chapter 7 gives the necessary modifications to the ICTAD conditions of contract. ICTAD should also take necessary steps to review its conditions of contract for building construction works in association with the ACCSL, the Institute of Architects, the Institution of Engineers and the Institute of Quantity Surveyors.
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
Pre - construction delays in civil engineering projects in Sri Lanka.
Fernando, WMC; Perera, AADAJ
This research was conducted to ascertain the Pe-construction delays in Civil Engineering Projects where it is executed by the State Organisations in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, it was observed that most of the major civil engineering projects were executed with the assistance of Donor Agencies, where special emphasis is highlighted throughout this research. A similar study had be carried out by Mr W S Jayasinghe for Building Projects for his MEng thesis. The main findings were analysed categorically from this Research and they were stated as - Procedural, Institutional and any other clear illustrations. Data was collected from a pilot study of 27 Projects, where Cabinet approval was sought for Projects value exceeding over Rs.5 million. Interviews and documentary research are the two methods adopted for data collection. For detail analysis only 12 Projects were considered since the rest of the Projects had no data available to retrieval. The final conclusion of the research was that the un-necessary delay resulted in obtaining concurrence from Donors. Awareness of the procedure to be adopted by the officers involved in the project work, obtaining cabinet approval at some stage and the submission of TEC Reports in time.
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
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
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
Management information system (MIS) for consultants : engaged in road construction / rehabilitation work in Sri Lanka
Herath, AK; Perera, AADAJ
The construction of roads has become a major construction industry in the country from early eighties. Huge sums of money is being spent on Construction / Rehabilitation of roads. The Consultative work, ie Feasibility Studies, Construction Supervision, etc. is done by foreign companies jointly with local companies, who take the contract from the RDA. This exercise is to identify the Management Information System (MIS) adopt by them and the problems they encounter in order to develop a suitable MIS. Management of information by integrating various technologies to help the managers in making decisions has become popular in the present day world. Initial stages, the MIS were developed in the fields of marketing, manufacturing and production. This can be extended to the Consultative work of the road construction industry too. With the advancement of the computer hardware and software, computer based MIS help the Consultants to achieve the ir tasks effectively. Information collected from the individual engineers and the project reports produced by Consultants for six large road projects in Sri Lanka were analyzed in this document. The results obtained indicate that a computer based MIS can be developed for the Consultants engaged in road construction/rehabilitation works in Sri Lanka and the Road Development Authority (RDA) has sufficient institutional capacity to provide information required by the Consultants. This study leads to further research on detail design of the MIS and it's sub-systems
item: Thesis-Abstract
Study on project management applications in the local building construction industry
Leelaratna, SV; Gunasekara, PM
The traditional method of Project delivery system with the Architect as team leader, responsible for both design and management of the project with the contractor appointed on the basis of a competitive tender, still predominates in Sri Lanka. However, in recent years variations of this method have emerged and we have seen almost the entire spectrum of alternative procurement systems including Executive Project Management, Non executive Project Management, construction management, etc. The objective of this study was to find out the actual practices being used in the field of Project Management in Sri Lanka, what services are offered and by whom, how effective they are and recommendations to improve the existing practices and to increase Project Managers participation. The study found out that, most of the problems could have overcome by educating the clients. The other significant finding was the requirement of a form of contract defining the responsibilities and accountability of a Project Manager. The report goes on to state that leadership qualities are more important than the technical qualifications of a Project Manager to keep the project participants as a team. Further it recommends that Project Management should be recognized as a separate discipline with an institute.' It also shows the need for professional bodies and government to encourage and recognize the functions of project management.