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.