Roaring Brook News

Winter 2002 - 2003

The focus of this issue is the construction site, construction operations and construction safety.

We hope that our feature article will give you some useful concepts to consider.

The construction process is complex.

Anyone who has participated in a construction project knows that the process of conceiving, designing and producing a completed project is complex and involves many people with specialized expertise. Owners, financial instituations, engineers, architects, production planners and many other people are often involved in the design and planning of the project. However, in the end the physical aspects of the project must be produced by construction managers, construction contractors and construction workers who break the work into individual construction items to be delivered according to an organized work plan.

It's important to plan for what is not on the project plans.

In the construction industry, many of the things that need to be done at the project site are not specifically detailed on the project plans. In fact, it is customary for the project plans to describe the finished product that must be constructed in detail without giving detailed instructions regarding the means and methods to be used for delivering the finished product. Determination of the means and methods of construction is left to the discretion of the construction team engaged to deliver the finished project.

Two important and related items that are not detailed on the plans are temporary fixutres for constructing the work and construction safety planning. Both of these items have potentially enormous effects on the overall success of the project and on the welfare of the members of the construction team.

Don't forget the fixtures.

Construction fixtures are those items that are used to construct the project and that usually do not get incorporated into the finished product. Examples are shoring and bracing for excavations, construction staging, formwork, falsework and temporary hoisting apparatus. These items allow construction of the project but do not become a part of the finished work. In many cases, these items are as mechanically and structurally complex as the work to be constructed. Their purpose is to allow safe and efficient construction of the project. Design of construction fixutures must be approached with adequate regard for their importance in the construction process.

Design of construction fixutures is one of the work items that is often overlooked in project planning. Since these elements of the work have immediate and direct effects on the efficiency of production and on the safety of the construciton workers, it is important to give detailed consideration to the design of construction fixutures. It's just good safety and business practice.

Civil, Structural and Construction Engineering

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