1. Construction Site Accidents Prevention

Construction sites are the most hazardous environments than other workplace. So construction accidents likely happen more often than other working accidents. But construction accidents can be easily prevented by applying rigid and enforceable safety practices at all construction sites.

The general contractor and all subcontractors should be required to create and maintain a reasonably safe work site, with warnings of any dangers inherent in the site and the work to be done there. There should also be an emphasis put on the hiring of careful employees, with coordination of job safety as well as supervision to ensure compliance with all safety specifications. Additionally, all site workers should be adequately trained in the proper operation of all equipment on site and the site itself must be managed in keeping with all legal standards in order to prevent any construction sit accidents.

Even with precautions and adherence to safety practices, construction site injuries can still occur due to the inadequacy of these provisions. Accidents involving defective or collapsing scaffolds can result in construction site accident cases; falls off of or through roofing structures; electrocutions; falls off of ladders; defective machinery such as cranes, hoists, conveyors, tractors, and forklifts; malfunctioning construction equipment or other tools; and the collapse of floors or walls. The kinds of construction site accidents often result in serious injury and can sometimes even result in death. In fact, thousands of construction workers are injured or killed in construction site accidents each year.

2.  Construction Site Accidents Compensation

Virtually all significant injuries suffered in construction site accidents give rise to workers’ compensation rights. The Workers’ Compensation Act provides benefits to workers who are injured on the job. Unfortunately, Workers’ Compensation alone may be insufficient compensation especially in the case of very serious and catastrophic personal injuries which happen often in construction site accidents. The rights are dependent on the interpretation and application of several complicated laws and individual circumstances of the construction accident.

However, these limited workers’ compensation rights may be supplemented by legal actions against others who have responsibility for various activities on a construction site including construction managers, general contractors, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, etc. When a construction site accident occurs, the owners, architects, insurance companies and manufacturers of equipment can be held responsible for inadequate safety provisions.

The construction contractors are responsible for the construction of various kinds of buildings and complexes. With any kind of building construction, there are numbers of risks involved with it including the equipment failure or site damage. This further can make the construction contractor liable for all the damages and losses happened. In situation like this, availing the construction contractor insurance can be of great help. This kind of insurance covers the damages, which affect the people and the building involved in the construction project.

The construction contractor insurance alleviates all the losses that may occur during the construction process. These generally include the material damages, where the erection and construction works are being insured, but can be extended to incorporate construction machinery, installation and equipment and also clearance of debris.

Severe injuries or fatalities resulting from site accident, damaging construction works: equipment malfunctions, explosions, quality standards, falls or slips and poor construction control are often covered under the construction contractor insurance.

The introduction of the Internet has made availing the construction consultants insurance easier and simple. The products accessible in this scheme include Public and Employers Liability Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance, IR35 Tax Protection Insurance, Business Equipment Insurance, Health and Safety Insurance and Personal Accident and Sickness Insurance.

Numerous skill areas covered within the Construction Contractors Insurance are assistant site managers, building site managers, construction managers, contract managers, document control, fire safety audits and health and safety consultants among the major ones. Several other skill areas covered include:

• Maintenance managers and operation managers
• Project managers and site engineers
• Site managers
• Structural engineers and technical engineers
• Estimators and electrical engineers
• Highways engineers and planning engineers

Your kind of construction contractor insurance can be obtained from the online insurance service providers. Whether it is discussing renewal terms or coverage options, the online construction contractor insurance will assist you to give your kind of cover. It is feasible to gather insurance quotes from various insurance providers prior to availing the best affordable construction contractor insurance.

Painting is the most common way to protect steel structures. Before carrying out painting work, surface preparation must be properly taken. Here after is surface preparation procedure for steel structure painting.

Steel surface treatment:

1. Welded areas shall be checked to verify any defects that may affect the protection quality of coating paint.
2. Sharp edges shall be grinded to be round, smooth. Other imperfect weld or slag shall be treated by grinding machine or sand paper.
3. Noncontinuous welding line shall be filled again by welding.

Surface preparation

1. Thoroughly remove oil and grease out of the surface using solvent or other proper methods.
2. Thoroughly remove all “evidence” of salt and contaminants.
3. Sand blast to achieve standard SA 2.5 (surface is free from oil, grease and other contaminants)
4. Remove all the remaining during blasting by brush, pressed air or vacuum cleaner. Avoid re-contamination caused by clothes or hand touching.
5. Sand blasting shall be taken from one area to another, so that cleaned areas must be rust preventive and painted immediately before getting rust again. Surface ready for painting must be completely clean. No oxidized or contaminated is visible.
6. Surface temperature is at least 3 degrees above the dew point to avoid water condensing. (Dew point is depended on surface temperature and humidity)
7. Areas that cannot reach with blasting nozzle or less important can be mechanically treated with grinding machine

Inspection and evaluation for steel surface preparation

1. Oil and grease check
Oil and grease check shall be carried out a 2-3 locations per square meter and in 40-50% out of prepared area, as following:
Drip some drops of gasoline onto checked area. Wait for 10-15 seconds then adsorb the remaining gasoline with a piece of filter paper. Drip some other drops of gasoline onto another piece of filter paper. Wait and check the two dry stains on paper by naked eyes. If two colors look the same the surface is accepted as free from oil and grease.
2. Dust check
Dust check shall be carried out on whole prepared surface. Use a magnifier with 6 times magnification to survey. No visible dust is okay.
3. Cleanness check
Dust check shall be naked eyes or a magnifier according to cleanness levels. It also can be checked by comparing to standard images in ISO 801-1:1998
Another method of checking: Before surface preparation, take a sample that meets the cleanness of requirements. Cover the sample with transparent coating. Use the sample as standard for control.

Fast check: Cleanness check can be quickly conducted by wiping the surface with a white dry clean cotton. If the cotton becomes dirty, the surface is not clean. If the cotton becomes wet, the surface is either still wet or not free from oil.

About the author: Do Nguyen Hung (hungsika) is a Senior Civil engineer. He is expert author on Civil Engineering and Construction Project Management.

INTRODUCTION
Nowadays Silica Fume is widely used for producing high durable concrete for structures particularly exposed to aggressive environments, such as marine structures.
It is combined with Ordinary Portland Cement OPC (or portland cement type I according ASTM C150) as a substitution for sulfate resistance cement (cement type V according ASTM C150) in producing sulfate resistance concrete.

PRODUCTION PROCESS

Silica Fume is a by product of the silicone and ferro silicone industry.
It results from the reduction of quartize to silicone using high quality charcoal in an electric arc furnace.

Furnaces rotate slowly round carbon electrodes. These create electric arcs deep in the furnace and hence the high temperature needed to produce molten silicon.
The off gas and air drawn in over the furnace is exhausted by large fans to the baghouse. The Silica Fume drop into filter bin and are conveyed to silos.
Silica fume particles average size is 0.1 micron. These particles are thus 100 times finer than a grain of cement.
By blowing air through the Silica Fume in the silo, the particles will touch other particles and adhere to them by surface forces. This is principle of densification for producing Densified Silica Fume, much more practical and easy to use in concrete.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR USING IN HIGH DURABLE CONCRETE

The requirements for used in concrete are generally given in terms of:
SiO2 content: minimum specified of 85%
SiO3 content: maximum of 1%
Loss on Ignition: maximum of 6%
Moisture Content: maximum of 3%

The SiO2 minimum content will limit the quantity of impurities and contaminants in the Silica Fume. The SiO3 is restricted to limit the expansion due to the formation of ettringite. Moisture content of Silica Fume living the furnace is generally negligible. The 3% limit is generous and is likely to be exceed with poor storage. The standard Specification for Use in Hydraulic Cement Concrete is ASTM C1240.

MAIN ADVANTAGES OF USE FOR CONSTRUCTION

The material has been used all over the world for many years in the area where high strength and durable concrete were required. A certain know-how is needed for making good concrete. Simply state, the fresh concrete must have a consistency such that it can be transported, placed and compacted by available site equipment without segregation.
The use in combination with superplasticiser (for improve the dispersion of cement and thus greatly reduce the water demand) has been specified worldwide for producing high quality concrete. This help to improve the characteristics of both fresh and hard concrete

About author: Do Nguyen Hung (hungsika) is a Senior Civil Engineer. He is expert author on Civil Engineering and Construction Project Management

Prefabricated construction is a building process in which elements or modules of the structure are prefabricated at plants, then transported to the construction site for installation. Using this method can reduce  the time of building, also saving construction cost. Prefabricated construction is now widely applied for new houses or other building structures like bridge, tunnels,  culverts, water supply system…

The benefits of prefabricated construction method is from the  fabrication of standard components on factory floor. This  production is less time consumption compared to actual condition of construction process. The prefabricated elements are transported to the site for installing process. At the site, the modules are unloaded, moved into position with the support of heavy cranes, and assembled to form a designed building.

Together with the fast assembly, prefabricated construction also saves a lot of money on the construction project. By using standard patterns, the building materials are saved at the manufacturing factories. This help to reduce the waste in formwork and other materials that can occur during traditional building procedures.

Another considerable  profit using prefabricated construction method is the energy efficiency. Because the prefab elements of a panelized home are precut, they fit snugly together, making for a tighter edifice. This means less effort for heating and cooling, resulted  in lower energy bills.

The rapid development of prefabricated houses has led to the increasing of construction templates that homeowners have more choice for designs of their houses. By combining these templates, it is possible to design the layout of the house, specify the dimensions of each room, and build a home that is exactly to the specification of the owners. There are also complex building plans for prefabricated construction that can be adjusted slightly and still have the benefit of using materials of standard lengths, widths, and textures.

Prefabricated houses are not the only type of construction structures that can be produced using prefabrication construction method. As mentioned above, this method is widely used in many types of constructions like bridges, culverts or even swimming pools.

Definition of Construction Project Management?

Construction Project Management refers to the practice of administration construction projects in place of the title-holder while furthermore serving as the construction project consultant to its design and other aspects surrounded by the construction projects. Typically an boss, construction project managers preside over, coordinate and dream up a large variety of the construction project projects, even the selection and hiring of contractors and finances. Although here are construction project managers with the intention of sort out not frankly control the real organize construction project, approximately others sort out extensive construction project management with the intention of oversees the full construction project.

Construction Project Management furthermore refers to the study of construction project in stipulations of its managerial and technological aspects. That includes but not restricted to construction project science, construction project management, and construction project expose. The study of construction project management can be taken by several formats. The generally ordinary and better recognizable is the school degree which is unfilled on courses frequent, baccalaureate, and graduate degree. Other types of formats are the apprenticeship, on the job trainings and privileged education. Because construction project management degrees include an extensive range of theme topics with the intention of construction project management way must be taken by majors as projected by the American Council pro Construction Education.

The repayment of Construction Project Management?

Construction managers sort out a ration in thinking and planning, making each construction project element methodical. By outlining a construction project schedule, efficiency of calculate is regulated, making each event of delays, changes and disputes nil. Because construction project managers sort out study existing circumstances, optimum aid of hand skills are achieved, distressing a construction project quality.

This book teaches you how to take a project from start to finish and, using your own techniques and management style, complete the project. Whether you work as a project manager or have a bunch of unfinished projects on your plate, Project Management Made Easy! will help you.

1) This book will help you whether you have a project that you are trying to complete that is daunting or are in charge of projects at work. If you look at every task as a chore, you can learn how to manage them much easier with the skills taught in this book.

2) Instead of worrying about how you are going to complete a project, you can do so easily when you use this book. You will learn how to use your own personality to its fullest with the tools in this book.

Project Management Made Easy Ebook – Table of Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Creating a Project Management Methodology

Chapter 3. Where does  the buck stop?

Chapter 4. Can you manage your self out of a paper bag

Chapter 5. Setting the stage for a successful project

Chapter 6. The importance of Developing and Maintaining a Budget

Chapter 7. Taking action – Execution of a Plan

Chapter 8. Rules  to Manage by…

Chapter 9. Your personality and Project Management Style

Chapter 10. The cycle of Decision Making

Chapter 11. Getting your project back on track

Chapter 12. Keep in moving

Chapter 13. Problems and Solutions

Keep browsing to download Project Management Made Easy! ebook.

If you are ready to enhance your career opportunities and are interested in construction management jobs, an online degree in construction management can be achieved on a very flexible schedule that works for you and your time commitments. You can take classes at night and on the weekends and complete tests online when it works for you – all in the comfort of your own home. You can even specialize your online degree in construction management by selecting construction management courses focused on topics like financial management, site planning, contract administration, cost estimating and engineering or architectural sciences.

Construction project management has become an increasingly popular career choice for those graduating from college today. This is partly because the industry has started to recognize how invaluable solid project management for construction sites is – especially considering the growing complexity of major construction projects and the many laws that must be taken into account. The people who are hired into construction management jobs are ultimately responsible for the entire project’s success or failure, which is why the not only requires a specialized degree, but also exceptional interpersonal communication and management skills.

Although these types of jobs can be complicated, they also have a fairly high level of compensation. A traditional or online degree in construction management can help qualify you for positions that pay as much as $63,000 per year, which was the industry average for those jobs in 2008. When you couple that with on-the-job construction management training, your earnings potential can increase dramatically as you move up the company ladder into higher-level positions. To help fast track your career, you could also search out a part-time apprenticeship or internship while you are still working toward your online degree in construction management.

If you are ready to start your search for the best undergraduate program offering an online degree in construction management, you can start by researching what online universities offer variations of the degree. One important piece of criteria is that the school you choose for your online degree in construction management must be an accredited online university. This essentially means the school has been evaluated by an independent committee to determine that the curriculum, staff, facilities and technology are up to current university standards. It also means that you should be able to easily transfer your credits to another university (if need be) and that all companies requiring a traditional or online degree in construction management for new hires will recognize your degree.

Original Article Construction Management Online Degrees

Antiwashout underwater concrete is an underwater concrete that has improved resistance to segregation as a result of adding an antiwashout admixture. Antiwashout underwater concrete (or underwater antiwash concrete) shall have the required strength, durability, compactness, and ability to protect steel materials, and the scatter in quality shall be small. Also, the concrete shall have a workability suitable for the placing operation and shall not cause water pollution.

As in the case of ordinary concrete, antiwashout underwater concrete should have the desired strength and durability, as well as the capacity to protect steel materials from corrosion. However, when a large unit water content is needed to obtain the required fluidity, i.e. greater than 200 kg/m3, the amount of cement as determined from the water-cement ratio sometimes exceeds 400kg/m3. It is therefore necessary to thoroughly examine not only the fluidity and strength needed for the structure, but also the temperature rise due to heat of hydration and whether it is proper to use various admixtures, etc. Furthermore, since the final quality of the concrete depends not only on fluctuations in the quality of the materials and measurement errors, but also on the effects of underwater drop height, underwater flow distance, and water currents in the area of construction, consideration should also be given to these points. That is, the final quality of antiwashout underwater concrete is greatly affected by the construction conditions as well as the materials used and the mix proportion, so it is important that these factors be comprehensively considered if a structure of the required performance is to be obtained.

There are a variety of types of antiwashout admixtures, such as those based on the cellulose system and the acrylic system. Also, the degree of antiwashout property and flow property differs depending on the brand of antiwashout admixture, even though the main Ingredient may be the same.

It is thus important to comprehend the performance of the antiwashout admixture to be used using available reference materials, as well as to confirm that the required quality can be obtained by conducting tests in advance using the chosen materials.

Quality control in construction typically involves insuring compliance with minimum standards of material and workmanship in order to insure the performance of the facility according to the design. These minimum standards are contained in the specifications described in the previous section. For the purpose of insuring compliance, random samples and statistical methods are commonly used as the basis for accepting or rejecting work completed and batches of materials. Rejection of a batch is based on non-conformance or violation of the relevant design specifications. Procedures for this quality control practice are described in the following sections.

An implicit assumption in these traditional quality control practices is the notion of an acceptable quality level which is a allowable fraction of defective items. Materials obtained from suppliers or work performed by an organization is inspected and passed as acceptable if the estimated defective percentage is within the acceptable quality level. Problems with materials or goods are corrected after delivery of the product.

In contrast to this traditional approach of quality control is the goal of total quality control. In this system, no defective items are allowed anywhere in the construction process. While the zero defects goal can never be permanently obtained, it provides a goal so that an organization is never satisfied with its quality control program even if defects are reduced by substantial amounts year after year. This concept and approach to quality control was first developed in manufacturing firms in Japan and Europe, but has since spread to many construction companies. The best known formal certification for quality improvement is the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 9000 standard. ISO 9000 emphasizes good documentation, quality goals and a series of cycles of planning, implementation and review.

Total quality control is a commitment to quality expressed in all parts of an organization and typically involves many elements. Design reviews to insure safe and effective construction procedures are a major element. Other elements include extensive training for personnel, shifting the responsibility for detecting defects from quality control inspectors to workers, and continually maintaining equipment. Worker involvement in improved quality control is often formalized in quality circles in which groups of workers meet regularly to make suggestions for quality improvement. Material suppliers are also required to insure zero defects in delivered goods. Initally, all materials from a supplier are inspected and batches of goods with any defective items are returned. Suppliers with good records can be certified and not subject to complete inspection subsequently.

The traditional microeconomic view of quality control is that there is an “optimum” proportion of defective items. Trying to achieve greater quality than this optimum would substantially increase costs of inspection and reduce worker productivity. However, many companies have found that commitment to total quality control has substantial economic benefits that had been unappreciated in traditional approaches. Expenses associated with inventory, rework, scrap and warranties were reduced. Worker enthusiasm and commitment improved. Customers often appreciated higher quality work and would pay a premium for good quality. As a result, improved quality control became a competitive advantage.

Of course, total quality control is difficult to apply, particular in construction. The unique nature of each facility, the variability in the workforce, the multitude of subcontractors and the cost of making necessary investments in education and procedures make programs of total quality control in construction difficult. Nevertheless, a commitment to improved quality even without endorsing the goal of zero defects can pay real dividends to organizations.

Specifications of work quality are an important feature of facility designs. Specifications of required quality and components represent part of the necessary documentation to describe a facility. Typically, this documentation includes any special provisions of the facility design as well as references to generally accepted specifications to be used during construction.

General specifications of work quality are available in numerous fields and are issued in publications of organizations such as the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). Distinct specifications are formalized for particular types of construction activities, such as welding standards issued by the American Welding Society, or for particular facility types, such as the Standard Specifications for Highway Bridges issued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. These general specifications must be modified to reflect local conditions, policies, available materials, local regulations and other special circumstances.

Construction specifications normally consist of a series of instructions or prohibitions for specific operations. For example, the following passage illustrates a typical specification, in this case for excavation for structures:

Conform to elevations and dimensions shown on plan within a tolerance of plus or minus 0.10 foot, and extending a sufficient distance from footings and foundations to permit placing and removal of concrete formwork, installation of services, other construction, and for inspection. In excavating for footings and foundations, take care not to disturb bottom of excavation. Excavate by hand to final grade just before concrete reinforcement is placed. Trim bottoms to required lines and grades to leave solid base to receive concrete.

This set of specifications requires judgment in application since some items are not precisely specified. For example, excavation must extend a “sufficient” distance to permit inspection and other activities. Obviously, the term “sufficient” in this case may be subject to varying interpretations. In contrast, a specification that tolerances are within plus or minus a tenth of a foot is subject to direct measurement. However, specific requirements of the facility or characteristics of the site may make the standard tolerance of a tenth of a foot inappropriate. Writing specifications typically requires a trade-off between assuming reasonable behavior on the part of all the parties concerned in interpreting words such as “sufficient” versus the effort and possible inaccuracy in pre-specifying all operations.

In recent years, performance specifications have been developed for many construction operations. Rather than specifying the required construction process, these specifications refer to the required performance or quality of the finished facility. The exact method by which this performance is obtained is left to the construction contractor. For example, traditional specifications for asphalt pavement specified the composition of the asphalt material, the asphalt temperature during paving, and compacting procedures. In contrast, a performance specification for asphalt would detail the desired performance of the pavement with respect to impermeability, strength, etc. How the desired performance level was attained would be up to the paving contractor. In some cases, the payment for asphalt paving might increase with better quality of asphalt beyond some minimum level of performance.

Once a construction contract is reached, a variety of problems may emerge during the course of work. Disputes may arise over quality of work, over responsibility for delays, over appropriate payments due to changed conditions, or a multitude of other considerations. Resolution of contract disputes is an important task for project managers. The mechanism for contract dispute resolution can be specified in the original contract or, less desireably, decided when a dispute arises.

The most prominent mechanism for dispute resolution is adjudication in a court of law. This process tends to be expensive and time consuming since it involves legal representation and waiting in queues of cases for available court times. Any party to a contract can bring a suit. In adjudication, the dispute is decided by a neutral, third party with no necessary specialized expertise in the disputed subject. After all, it is not a prerequisite for judges to be familiar with construction procedures! Legal procedures are highly structured with rigid, formal rules for presentations and fact finding. On the positive side, legal adjudication strives for consistency and predictability of results. The results of previous cases are published and can be used as precedents for resolution of new disputes.

Negotiation among the contract parties is a second important dispute resolution mechanism. These negotiations can involve the same sorts of concerns and issues as with the original contracts. Negotiation typically does not involve third parties such as judges. The negotiation process is usually informal, unstructured and relatively inexpensive. If an agreement is not reached between the parties, then adjudication is a possible remedy.

A third dispute resolution mechanism is the resort to arbitration or mediation and conciliation. In these procedures, a third party serves a central role in the resolution. These outside parties are usually chosen by mutually agreement of the parties involved and will have specialized knowledge of the dispute subject. In arbitration, the third party may make a decision which is binding on the participants. In mediation and conciliation, the third party serves only as a facilitator to help the participants reach a mutually acceptable resolution. Like negotiation, these procedures can be informal and unstructured.

Finally, the high cost of adjudication has inspired a series of non-traditional dispute resolution mechanisms that have some of the characteristics of judicial proceedings. These mechanisms include:

* Private judging in which the participants hire a third party judge to make a decision,
* Neutral expert fact-finding in which a third party with specialized knowledge makes a recommendation, and
* Mini-trial in which legal summaries of the participants’ positions are presented to a jury comprised of principals of the affected parties.

Some of these procedures may be court sponsored or required for particular types of disputes.

While these various disputes resolution mechanisms involve varying costs, it is important to note that the most important mechanism for reducing costs and problems in dispute resolution is the reasonableness of the initial contract among the parties as well as the competence of the project manager.

When the whole world is looking for ways to cope with the severe energy crisis, what is the least we can do? We need to begin by saving the power we have and generating more power using alternate power solutions like solar and wind power systems.

The implementation of a windmill is not considered very cheap; however, it turns out a huge money saver in the long run when the cost of producing power becomes zero. It has been observed lately that people are implementing wind power solutions even at places with the average speed of power less than 11 miles per hour. Ideally, the average speed of wind at the site you propose to set up the windmill at should be 11 miles per hour, but a slightly lower average is also reaping good results for people.

One thing that dissuades people from setting up a windmill is the initial cost. However, one can set up a windmill at home at a much less price. It is, however, important to consider certain things while setting up a windmill on your own.

• Get a good plan to make a windmill at home. Keep in mind the output you want the windmill to generate.

• Look for sturdy components. Your homemade windmill should not get damaged by heavy winds.

• Compare the prices of the equipment in the market and go for the components that suit your budget and your site.

When looking for a windmill plan, look for the following features:

• Illustrations: Visual descriptions work better than only-text ones. If your windmill guide has illustrative descriptions for making a windmill, it makes your task easier.

• Easy language: If your windmill-making guide uses a lot of jargon and technical information, it is better to look for a different one. Look for one that has easy-to-understand language making your task fluid.

• Component descriptions: Your homemade windmill guide should be able to provide you with detailed visual and textual descriptions of all the components you need to use. It is also important that the guide tells you which type of component works best for a site like yours.

• Local information: If your guide gives you information about the best available equipment in Europe while you are reading it from a countryside location in western USA, your guide is as good as useless. Look for a guide that provides equipment information of places around you.

You can get full detailed instruction for building your Homemade Windmill  at www.earth4energy.com