BC 2024 Course Wrap Up - The Future of Construction

Throughout the semester in my Construction Principles II class I have been following various commercial construction sites in the hopes of getting an indication of what the construction site of the future, in say, 10 years may look like. Will the equipment used be the same? Will the work-force look the same? Will construction practices and technologies be the same? These are the types of questions I have been asking myself regarding the construction site of the future. It will be interesting to see if the predictions made about the technologies, processes, materials of the future will be very much different than those of the future.


In the first part of this assignment I made some predictions regarding the changes we may see on the construction sites in the future. I discussed various ideas surrounding how projects are designed and built. I explained that I thought that the drawings necessary to build large buildings or residential homes will go the way of comprehensive digital drawing systems where the drawings from each discipline are located in the same place, changes can be made on one set and then updated to others. While this is currently available for the design stage of a buildings life, it is uncertain the problems crews will run into while constructing the building itself. There are simply too many factors that affect the construction of a building, whether it is weather, work stoppages, or that collisions that aren’t detected in the design are found during construction. With a comprehensive set of digital drawings on an on-site computer system changes can be made to drawings and the appropriate documents sent to each discipline for approval. I believe this will be a welcomed change for the future and ultimately reduce each disciplines’ liability within the project as each discipline is able to comment on the changes made during construction.

Another aspect regarding the future of construction sites I mentioned was the fact that building materials used in construction projects change constantly. While I don’t believe that the core materials such as concrete, steel, and wood will change, I think there will be vast improvements made on these materials in the future as a result of new technologies and innovation. I think these innovations will be in the area of sustainability and “green” ideas. These core building materials will be the same in practice, however I think new technologies will make these materials more sustainable and ultimately more efficient for their continued use in the field of construction. It is on this subject that I came across an interesting piece of research being conducted by one of our faculty here at Virginia Tech in the department of Building Construction. Professor McCoy, along with other faculty members have been conducting research on the use rates of highly innovative products. There are many other aspects to this research I make mention of the use rates of highly innovative products because I think there could be an indicator of what the future of construction might be after examining how construction companies decide to adopt new technologies or construction techniques. If construction companies are analyzed and it is observed that construction companies are adopting new products and techniques, it could be said that by this indication construction sites of the future will be different than those of today. On the flip side if construction firms are examined to not be adopting new forms of technology or new products we should expect to see a similar construction site in the future as we see today. This research might be expanded to incorporate this idea, if it hasn’t been already.

The equipment used to construct the buildings is just as important as the materials used on the modern day construction site. I think this equipment won’t be different on construction sites in the future. The functions and actions of this equipment will remain the same. However, the efficiency which the equipment performs the function in which it is intended I believe will be somewhat different. What I think we will end up seeing is equipment that looks the same in form, however will be performing tasks with less pollution and in a more efficient manner. In terms of the construction site of the new Dining Hall here at Virginia Tech, the types of equipment used have all been around for more than ten years. Whether it is the boom crane, hydraulic excavator, bulldozer or the dump trucks used to transport dirt or materials, these forms of equipment have all been used on construction sites for decades. In the past couple years a movement towards using less petroleum based fuels has caused these pieces of equipment to start using new more “green” power plants. In looks the equipment essentially has not changed and I don’t think will, however, the cleanliness with which these pieces of equipment carry out their tasks I believe will improve.

Over the semester and tracking the construction of the Dining Hall it has shed some light on what types of construction practices they have been using along with the different types of products they have been using. While this was a short period of time to track a construction project and make assumptions or predictions regarding the future of the construction site, I was able to expand my knowledge of how different construction activities are carried out, as well as how quickly certain aspects of the project are constructed. Just like anything else, the future of the construction site is uncertain. Throughout a semester of school or a longer period of time the predictions that are made can be tracked by observing the practices and technologies used on various construction sites throughout the construction of different buildings. Tracking these predictions is important to understanding new technologies and innovations within the construction industry.

Schedule - Behind or Ahead

Recently after a discussion with my professor regarding the progress of the Dining Hall, I got to thinking about if they were on schedule or off schedule. At the beginning of the semester they were beginning to start the construction of the concrete wall that is seen in most of the photographs posted. Here almost 12 weeks or so later they are still working on pouring and constructing this wall. The construction schedule of a project is a heavily talked about issue in the classes I have taken so far in Building Construction. However, it just seems as though (on this construction project) that often times just walking by and looking at site may not be a good indicator of the progress that has taken place. Is the wall set-up on the schedule to take this long of a time? Are there other activities that are being completed that are not visible from a walk-through? I think this is interesting point and just wanted to make mention of it here. Just because a site looks like it hasn't been undergoing any progress, that isn't always the case.

Wrap of Photographs of Virginia Tech Dining Hall - Fall 2010

These were taken on December 3rd and are the wrap up photographs of the new dining hall here at Virginia Tech. There are a couple of things to note about the pictures here. becase the concrete wall is still being poured I have obsevered this front wall several times and wondered what the square holes in the foundation wall are for, utilities maybe? Below a large hydraulic excavator and boom crane can be seen during the construction process. In the next post there will be some discussion regarding the progess that has been made on this site throughtout this semester.

Two Large LEED Buildings in Pittsburgh

This picture is of the overhang at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. I think this is interesting because this overhang is huge, from the side of the building you can see how they have achieved this structurally. Another thing to note about this building is that it is completely green construction as well as LEED certified. The water for the building comes from an underground river that runs under the city.

http://www.pittsburghcc.com/cc/

This is the Alcoa Building. It also is LEED certified, at a GOLD level.

http://www.alcoa.com/global/en/news/news_detail.asp?pageID=20100916006024en&newsYear=2010

Video of Foundation Wall Pour - Dining Hall - Virginia Tech

This is a video of the foundation wall pour.

Dining Hall - Virginia Tech

In this photo the foundation walls are being poured. You can notice the forming system that they workers are being used in this project. This is one of the types of systems we talked about in class regarding the ties and the horizontal braces.

Pittsburgh - North Shore

Old painted sign.

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Reinforcing steel

This is the side of a building in the strip district of downtown Pittsburgh. The building is so old and has been losing the concrete that surrounds the reinforcing steel in the columns. (As seen in the picture above)

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New Residential Site - Foundation Progress

This semester I am following a "Green" residential site on South Village Way here in Blacksburg. This site is a poured foundation wall job, with a partial basement and slab on grade under the garage. The picture above shows the 1/2" expansion joint material installed and the basement plumbing has been roughed in. Also, the vapor barrier over top of gravel has been laid out. The picture below shows the placement of rebar for a portion of the thickened slab. Because the slab is thicker at this point rebar is required to prevent cracking.

New VA Tech Dining Hall

This semester I am switching up commercial AND residential sites. This video is from the new VA Tech dining hall. They are currently drilling caissons and dropping in rebar cages. Soon they will be pouring the concrete for these caissons and starting the next phase of the foundation system. Check back for more updates and photos.

Wedge Anchoring System - Hilti

In class earlier today there was a discussion about Wedge Anchor Fastening systems. I have had plenty of experience using these while working at FDH Engineering. These types of fasteners are typically used to connect structural steel to concrete. I am familiar with Hilti products so I have attached the link to these types of fasteners here: http://www.hilti.com/holcom/page/module/product/prca_catnavigation.jsf?lang=en&nodeId=-10929 and below have posted a picture of one.

Hoisting & Setting Metwood Beam

During this latest site visit to Redbud they were installing the Metwood beams that were discussed in an earlier post. I have posted a video (below) of them installing one. There are three of these beams that will hold the metal deck and concrete for the garage slab. This picture shows the beam from the video (below) in the preformed beam pockets in the poured concrete wall.

Out at the Redbud Site as I was checking out the progress of the floor system I ran across an interesting type of beam. It is a Metwood Technologies steel through span beam. (http://metwood.com/) Among the normal engineered floor trusses being used on this project, there are several of these different types of beams in certain places around this layout. They are used at critial load points where there is more bearing load than what the normal floor trusses can handle.

Installing 1/2" Expansion Joint Material

1238 Redbud Rd: At this residential site in Blacksburg these workers are installing expansion joint material in preperation for the basement slab pour. This joint allows the slab to flex independently from the poured foundation wall.

Holdiay Inn Christiansburg: At this site there is probably 7 or 8 pieces of quipment that in all the visits to observe have been idle each time. Not once has one been doing any work around the site. This can't be efficient, especially since all the equipment appears to be rented.

Holiday Inn in Christiansburg: This site is a slab on grade hotel project with a steel skeleton. (As seen in this photo.) What is interesting about this site is the fact that they seem to have all the materials stockpiled already. It may have been that they got a better price on materials if they purchased them in bulk or all at the same time. It will be interesting to see how the materials stand the elements as some won't be used for a long period of time in the construction process.

Construction Progress

This blog is dedicated to following construction sites and commenting on different aspects as they relate to what I have been learning in my educational career so far in Virginia Tech's Building Construction program as well as working for FDH Engineering, Inc. It will mostly be comprised of pictures during the progress of several construction projects around the Blacksburg, VA and then eventually will expand to wherever my career in construction takes me.