On Tuesday April 22nd, our lab activity was to go observe two constructiong projects on campus, the new dorm near Litton Reeves and the new basketball facility. I partnered up with Krysta and we went to observe. We found several similarities and several differences. We were looking at specifics and then we realized that all the commonalities and all the differences could be placed into pretty broad catagories that probably could be carried on for multiple construction sites.

We could find numerous similarities in things like the states of completion, the materials used, the site layouts, general housekeeping, and site security. We noticed that both projects were finalizing, nearing completion. Also, both were using the same building materials, hokie stone and precast concrete, and they both used precast window framing.For site security purposes, both sites were fenced in with fences with green netting. Similarities in site layouts could be seen also, both had worktrailers and storage tanks on site, along with sample mock walls in place for easy visualizion.


Along with the similarities we also found some differences in the same generalized catagories. While both sites utilized the same materials, the dorm is primarily hokiestone while the basketball facility is maily precast concrete. Also, while both sites had small groups of laborers working on several different taks, a lot larger workforce was visible on the dorm project. You saw mainly laborers at the dorm and hardly any higher ups. On the other hand, at the basketball facility you saw more higher ups and not as many laborers. This could have been because the basketball facility was closer to completion and doing more interior work so the supervisors were possibly checking the exterior and completing their punch list. Machinery could be seen on both sites, but the dorm had a lot more and larger equipment. Again, this is probably because the basketball facility is closer to finishing and done with all the heavy equipment. For general housekeeping you could see some differences in the jobsites. While both sites were extremely muddy the basketball facility seemed to be better organized and layed out. However, this is probably due to the fact that the basketball facility has a lot more space to utilize than the dorm does. Therefore the dorm's jobsite looks a little messy and unorganized when this might not be the case.

Industry Day March 17, 2009


Our lab assignment on Tuesday was to attend Industry Day. The first booth I encountered was the CMAA booth. There we met and talked to a woman about the upcoming field trip to the BMW plant in South Carolina to tour the new $750 million expansion. A number of us signed up and are looking forward to the trip. The woman then directed our attention to the machine across the way from her booth, a motor grader.

The next stop was the crane. We were just looking at it at first but the crane operator from Kiewit told us to come on up and give it a try. So unexpectedly we ended up in the drivers seat.

First the crane operator showed us how to work the machine to do simple tasks such as to lengthen and shorten the boom, and to move the block up and down. We weren't able to move it side to side obviously because we would hit Newman. As you can see in the picture of Liz above, her right hand is controlling the block while her left is controlling the boom.

The above picture is of the block, which we were able to raise and lower.

The above picture is of the boom which we were able to extend or lengthen.

This is a picture of the display inside the crane. A crane operator has to closely monitor the dimensions and elevations shown.

After I took my turn driving the crane, we all moved on to the Permatile display. An alumni of tech was there to talk about exactly what his company does. He showed us some pictures of foundations and then the completed houses or buildings. This helped us to visualize what his company does, and the quality of work.

Above, a finished house, and below a picture of the foundation of that same house.

After leaving the Permatile booth, we stopped at the Young Alumna's display. Michael Depp and a couple other people from the Young Alumni Committee had built a mock up of a hall way so we could see all the systems that are usually hidden behind a wall.

Michael Depp, was there to explain to us just how complicated and in depth things can be behind a simple gypsum or plaster wall. He said it takes a lot of time and effort to coordinate all the different systems and get them put into place in such a small area. Obviously things get very tight and a small miscalculation can cause big problems. Michael seemed to be very excited about Industry Day and hoped to get expanding and making it better and better each year. He also hoped to have his mock up wall updated next year with structural steel framing and operational outlets.



Michael Depp then took us over to his tent where he showed us some of the programs he works with for his job with Vertexco. He showed us Primavera, a program he is dependent on for his work. Michael said it is very helpful and useful on a jobsite because you can update information anytime, anywhere, anyplace. Also at this booth, we were able to watch a video of a time lapse of his current project, a medical building in Norfolk, Virginia. We could see it built from the ground up. It was very helpful to see the actual project being built then to look on Primavera and see all the things he had to do to put the work into place.

The next stop was the Spectra I.S tent where we looked at several pieces of surveying equipment. There we talked to a man who talked to us about where the future of construction is going. He said because of equipment like this, it is leaning towards design build. This is because, technological advances such as these pieces of equipment allow designers and constructors to update project information instantly. For example, if the architect changes the design, it will instantly update on the equipment and be available to the surveyor. Plus, those not on the jobsite can know exactly what is going on on the jobsite. This is all possible thanks to GPS.

He showed us this specific piece of equipment that can be extremely useful on a project site. He said it uses GPS just like our car GPS, however a car GPS ranges from about $100-$300 while this piece of equipment is $25,000. This is because this particular piece of equipment can give you almost exact readings for elevations, depths, dimensions, ect, down to a three-thousandth of an inch. This information can then be sent to the machines that do the earthworth, such as a bulldozer, and they will in turn do the work to the exact measurements needed. These devices help to make measurements more accurate and the excavation and sitework processes more efficient.

The small yellow thing on the top of the trailer is the base station, which the surveying equipment uses to get it's readings. Inside the trailer was the crane operator simulator, I didn't get a chance to try it because the line was too long. I watched some students try it out and it seemed to be pretty difficult. Each student seemed to be shocked by how much money they lost while doing the simulation. This just showed how simple minor mistakes can cost a company a lot of money.

This machine is called a well auger, unfortunately I was not able to talk to the people at this station and did not get to learn very much about this particular machine.

Our last stop was to talk to the two gentleman from Chandler. They had a concrete truck there along with a flat bed truck. The towing truck had the company name Marshall on the side but Chandler bought out Marshall so they are now the same company. Ricky, the driver of the concrete truck told us about what he does once he delivers the concrete to the jobsite. He said he takes it wherever they want him to go and will pour concrete where they need it. Stacy, the driver of the flat bed truck said he used to drive concrete trucks but he likes load trucks a lot better. All he has to do is drive the load where it needs to go, get on his forklift, transfer the pieces from the truck bed to wherever they are to be stored on site, and then he is done.

The purpose of Industry day was to give students an idea of what jobs are out there, and what those in the industry actually do. I found it to be a success and look forward to attending it again.

Domicile Sketches

The picture above is of my dorm room sketch. The top picture is a plan view of my dorm room. There is not much to draw due to the fact that I live in a small box, aka a dorm room. I took two sections through the door and the window. To the left of my plan view you can see the exterior wall section through the door and below it you can see the interior wall section through the window. I also included a detail of my window below the plan.

Steel Beam and Drip Pan

The picture above is of my sketch of the steel beam and drip pan on the third floor of Bishop Favro Hall. First I did a very detailed picture of everything I could see from the steel beam down to the drip pan. I then drew a detail of the drip pan and the steel beam. The drip pan is simply a pan used to collect the condensation released from the AC unit above, hence the term "drip pan".

BFH Stairwell Sketches

Above is my sketches of the Bishop Favro Hall stairs. In the top photo, you see a view of the stairs as I saw it from my viewpoint. From this view I then drew a plan view, and then a detail view of the steel tread. In the detail view of the steel tread, you can see that there are steel "z shape" tread pans that are fitted together and filled with concrete(I assume to be about a 4" concrete fill). Underneath each individual stair you can also see a "L" shaped steel reinforcement piece. Plus, you can see the steel stringer behind the stair running along the wall.



The detail shown above is of the landing. Like the previous detail you can see the steel stringer, the concrete fill in the stairs, the steel "z shaped" tread pans, and the "L" shaped steel reinforcement. However, in this detail you can also see the 4" concrete landing slab, the steel slab pan, and the two steel angles.

Mock-up Wall Assembly Sketches

Above is my sketch for the Mock-up Wall Assembly on Perry Street. I drew it from the front first to show the different layers and different pieces and parts that make up a wall. From the front you can see the different materials such as: hokie stone, cmu, cast stone, insulation, and vapor barrier on cmu. In the section view above you are able to see a more detailed drawing, which allows you to see exactly how the materials were put into place and what the inside of the wall looks like. The section view is through the hokie stone. The outside layer is hokiestone, then the inside consists of a layer of drainage fabric, an air gap, insulation, and then finally cmu. I drew a detail of the cast stone tie which is used to secure the parts of the wall together.



The section view shown above is a little different from the section view in the previous sketch. This is because this one is of a section through the cast stone as opposed to the one in the previous sketch which was oh a section through the hokie stone. In this one you are able to see even more detail and more of the smaller pieces and parts not seen in the sketch through the hokie stone. You can see the cmu on the outer layer then the insulation,vapor barrier,flashing, and then the cast stone.

Jobsite

I visited the basketball practice facility jobsite on Thursday morning, February 26. Very little work was visible due to the fact that most of the work was being done on the interior. I could hear workers on the scaffolding working on the exterior; however, I couldn't really see them because of the plastic sheets. After a while, they began to open up a hole in the plastic sheet so I was able to capture a few pictures of work being done.

The workers opened up a hole in the plastic sheet so that the crane would be able to lift the piece of pre-cast concrete to the workers to put into place.




This took a lot more time than you would think. The crane operator and the workers had to work together to get the concrete into a position that they could work with. As you can see in the next couple pictures the crane operator had to keep raising and lowering the piece of concrete until the workers were finally able to twist and turn the concrete so they could pull it through the scaffolding.










This is when they finally got the concrete in. There were mulitiple workers handling this piece of concrete and attempting to put it into place.



The workers finally succeeded in getting the piece of pre-cast concrete into the scaffolding. However after this, I was not able to see what they actually did with it due to the plastic sheet.

Estimating

Unit Cost Estimate










Assembly Cost Estimate












To complete a take off for the concrete included in this project, I created two excel files. One to show a unit cost estimate for the project, and one to show the assembly cost estimate for the project. For this estimate, not only did you have to include the concrete, you also had to include the materials and labor needed to complete the process. The assembly cost estimate included the main portions of concrete such as: the strip and spread footings, the 4” and 6” slabs, and the concrete wall. On the other hand, the unit cost estimate included the pieces and parts used to put the concrete into place. It included things such as: the elevated slab, the structural concrete ready mix, the concrete forms, the needed excavation; high chairs for the reinforcing steel, vapor retarders, and gravel fill. I used RS means to find the costs for all the pieces and parts involved in the construction process. RS means would give you the individual costs of each material, which made it easy to calculate the total cost of the concrete included in the project. All I had to do was take the information RSmeans provided, and multiply the cost of one unit by the number of units I would need for this particular project.

here

First Blog

My first blog with a video