It takes a lot of people to complete a building project. I work on the design side – producing the documents that the contractors build from. The responsibility for translating those paper drawings into reality falls on the shoulders of a construction manager. They must coordinate the arrival of materials and sequencing of construction. Minimizing the project duration while ensuring quality and safety is a daunting task.

Just as computers have provided new analysis tools for designers, new software is also helping construction managers improve the efficiency of the construction process. Recently, I had a chance to talk with someone on the forefront of project management software tools.

Houston Neal reviews the latest construction management software at SoftwareAdvice.com. His goal is to help organizations in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction) industry make the right technology decisions. I asked him some questions about construction scheduling – specifically about a new program, called Synchro, that promises to combine traditional scheduling tools with Google Sketchup.

Who is responsible for project scheduling on a large construction site?

Construction managers are primarily responsible for project scheduling on large construction projects. They work closely with the building owner, architect, general contractor and engineer to develop a detailed schedule, construction task sequence and project budget during the construction planning process.

What is the critical path? How does this improve project efficiency?

In construction scheduling, critical path represents the construction activities and sequence of activities required to complete a project. It is the minimum amount of time needed for construction, and is calculated by determining the duration of each individual activity. Project managers need to consider predecessor relationships and resource constraints in order to properly sequence construction activities and assess the duration of a project.

There are often thousands of activities going on simultaneously during a construction project. Critical path scheduling helps managers allocate resources and labor to each activity, optimizing the time spent on each activity and ultimately affecting the duration/efficiency of a project.

What does Synchro software do? What is the goal of the 4D Project Scheduling program?

Synchro is a 4D (3D + time) construction simulation program that combines 3D drawings with a construction schedule, then displays the progression of construction over time. This helps project managers and stakeholders visualize construction and gain a better understanding of the spatial and temporal aspects of the construction schedule.

How would adding a 3D representation (Sketchup) of the building improve project planning?

3D modeling allows designers and architects to visually test ideas before they’re implemented. It provides a realistic representation of a project and often provides key insight into potential delays and miscalculations.

What other new project management tools do you foresee coming to market in the next 10 years?

The technology behind rich Internet applications is becoming more accessible and affordable. As a result, smaller software vendors will implement these technologies into their own systems. We’re already seeing increased adoption of web-based project management systems among AEC companies. With broadband Internet becoming more available and reaching “utility-class” service levels, we expect this trend to continue.

Using the Software Advice website, construction firms can identify and compare construction project management software products that meet their unique requirements.

My company is moving to a new office at the end of the year. Preparations for the move have been put off for months, but now we’re out of time.  Fortunately I only have about four years of stuff to sort through. Some of my colleagues have dug up drawings and calculations for projects that are decades old.  Every file cabinet is a treasure trove of long-forgotten projects and old product specifications.

However, we’ve been warned that our new work stations will have considerably less storage space.  This means that we all have to make some serious decisions about what to keep and what to recycle. Do I really need those notes that I took in college about non-linear responses to dynamic loading events? Why was I saving a contractor’s brochure for chemical treatments for limestone veneer? Despite what I consider to be an aggressive purge, I’m still over the limit.  I guess a lot is coming home.

As everyone in the office begins to take stock of their paper holdings, our office is beginning to look like the aftermath of the eruption of a volcano that spews reams of yellowed paper.  Despite a reputation for being meticulous and logical, most civil engineers are neither orderly nor are they minimalists when it comes to printed papers.

Perhaps because the field of civil engineering is so broad, civil engineers cling to almost any scrap of printed knowledge.  Consulting Engineers want to be prepared for anything that comes across their desk.  When I first started working, I used to wonder when I would begin to face the same design challenges for a second or third time.  In most cases, I’m still waiting.

Expecting that a time would come where I’d be able to re-use my old designs and calculations, I attempted to save all of my work.  A few things have come in handy, but I’ve also learned that there are many potential dangers from taking the shortcut and copying old work.  You can fall into bad habits, miss out on updates to products and codes, and fail to produce the most efficient design for the situation.

On the other hand, the most important thing to save is the contact information for clients, consultants, and peers.  If you really want to be prepared to face any design challenge, you need to have a network of experts that you can turn to for help.  No one has ever printed a resource that’s better than another experienced engineer.  And when it comes to moving up in the company, you had better know someone who is willing to send projects your way.  I may be a few years away from being on the hook for bringing in work, but I can see the writing on the wall.  That’s how you move up in the competitive private sector.

As I wade through all of my papers, I’ll be fishing for those old project contacts.  This year I’m going to put together a list of the people I’ve worked with, and I plan to contact them over the holidays.  I’ll probably just wish them the best.  Hopefully, they’ll reply and our relationship will open the doors to a lot more information and opportunity than I ever stored in those boxes around my desk.

————————————-

Brian Brenner wrote a very entertaining book based on his musings about that quintessential packrat nature of civil engineers.  The book, titled Don’t Throw This Away, is available in soft cover from ASCE Publications .

Abstract
In Don’t Throw This Away! The Civil Engineering Life, Brenner reports on what it’s like to be a civil engineer in the 21st century: the mindset, the practice, the profession. Equally skilled as a writer and an engineer, Brenner ranges from serious discussions of suburban sprawl, technology run amok, and bridge aesthetics, to comical accounts of packrat habits, quacking moments, and engineering fashion. This entertaining collection of essays displays Brenner’s distinctive combination of quirky humor and engineering “right stuff.”