4D CAD FOR HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS By Adam

127 Pages·2007·2.37 MB·English

4D CAD FOR HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

By
Adam Platt

Technical Report No. 54
August 2007

©Copyright 2007

Computer Integrated Construction Research Program
Department of Architectural Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University
104 Engineering Unit A
University Park, PA 16802
Abstract
Computer technology has become integrated into every facet of modern day life,
providing innovative solutions to a multitude of today’s problems. This is true in
the architectural, engineering, and construction industry, where new technologies
have been changing the way facilities are designed and constructed around the
world. One emerging technology is 4D CAD modeling, where a 3D CAD model
is linked to a construction schedule. This 4D CAD technology has been proven
to be beneficial in construction applications by several academic and industry
professionals, showing improved project planning, scheduling, and communication
capabilities. However, the majority of 4D CAD research has focused on building
and industrial construction applications, and has not explored highway construc-
tion applications. Therefore, this research investigates the applications of 4D CAD
for highway construction projects.
The primary research question identified in this thesis is “what are the best applica-
tions of 4D CAD for highway construction projects” This question is investigated
using a case study application of 4D CAD for a highway construction project. The
4D model was shown to three groups of highway construction professionals from
different companies. Once each group views the 4D CAD model, their thoughts
and opinions are collected to determine the best applications of 4D CAD for high-
way construction projects.
The results of this research show that in the opinions of highway construction
professionals, 4D CAD is beneficial for planning, scheduling and communication
applications in highway construction projects. The best applications of 4D CAD
for highway construction are for developing traffic plans and for communicating
the construction plan to the public. There was a prevailing optimism for 4D CAD
among the highway construction professionals, and was seen as “the next logical
step” in planning, scheduling, and it communication tools for the highway con-
struction industry.
iii
Table of Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables x
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Current 4D CAD Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Description of Research Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Introduction to Research Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.3 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.4 Research Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.5 Research Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.6 Research Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Relevance and Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.1 Relevance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.2 Research Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.2.1 Software Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.2.2 Government Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.2.3 Fewer Design and Construction Players . . . . . . . 11
1.4 Scope and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Thesis Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 Research Methodology 13
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
iv
2.2 Research Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.1 Case Study Research Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.1.1 Test 1 - Construct Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.1.2 Test 2 - Internal Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.1.3 Test 3 - External Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.1.4 Test 4 - Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2.2 Survey Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.2.1 Survey Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.2.2 Focus Group Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.2.3 Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3 Experimenter Expectancy and Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 3 Literature Review 21
3.1 Concepts in 4D Construction Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1.1 Product-Process Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.1.2 4D CAD Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.1.3 4D CAD in Highway Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2 Visualization Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2.1 Visualization in Highway Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.2.1.1 Computer Visualization for Highway Development 34
3.3 Summary of Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 4 Case Study: Route 28 - McLearen Road Interchange 37
4.1 Case Study Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1.1 Case Study Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.1.2 Project Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.1.2.1 General Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1.2.2 Project Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.2.1 Bridge Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.2.2 Traffic Control Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3 Model Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.3.1 3D CAD Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.3.1.1 3D Highway Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3.2 Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.3.3 4D CAD Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3.3.1 Navisworks Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3.4 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
v
Chapter 5 Data Collection and Results: Identifying the Best Ap-
plicationsof4DCADforHighwayConstructionProjects 55
5.1 Research Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2 Research Meeting Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5.3 Exercise 1 - Scaled Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.3.1 Scaled Questionnaire Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.3.1.1 Overall Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.1.2 Individual Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.4 Exercise 2 - Open Ended Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.4.1 Open Ended Question Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.5 Exercise 3: Focus Group Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.5.1 Focus Group Discussions Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.6 Discussion of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.6.1 General Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.6.2 Planning and Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.6.3 Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.6.4 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.7 Summary of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 6 Discussion, Suggestions, andImprovementsof4DCAD
in Highway Construction 85
6.1 Logical Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6.1.1 Linear Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
6.2 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.2.1 3D Model Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.2.1.1 Segmenting Corridors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.2.1.2 Managing Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.2.2 4D Model Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.2.2.1 Surface Proximity Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.3 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.3.1 Schedule Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.3.2 Viewing Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Chapter 7 Conclusion 105
7.1 Research Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.2 Research Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.2.1 Benefits of 4D CAD for Highway Construction Projects . . . 108
7.2.2 Issues in 4D CAD for Highway Construction Projects . . . . 109
7.3 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
vi
7.3.1 Case Study Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
7.3.2 Research Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.3.3 Software Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.4 Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.4.1 Further Define the Benefits of 4D CAD with Interactive Ex-
periments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.4.2 Modeling Earthwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.5 Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Bibliography 114
vii
List of Figures
1.1 Typical 4D CAD Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Streamlined 4D CAD Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.1 Level 0: Developing a 4D Construction Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.2 Level 1: Developing a 4D Construction Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.3 Level 2: Developing a 4D Construction Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.4 Linking 3D CAD with Construction Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.5 Screenshot of 4D Construction Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.6 Photo-Realistic Animation of Traffic Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.7 Flowchart for Visualization Application in Highway Projects . . . . 35
4.1 Existing Rt. 28 - McLearen Road Intersection . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2 Conceptual Rt. 28 - Mclearen Road Interchange . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3 Western Portion of Interchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.4 Eastern Portion of Interchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.5 Western Portion of Interchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.6 Bridge Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.7 Span Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.8 Deck Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.9 Traffic Plan: Phase I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4.10 Deck Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.11 Rt. 28 - McLearen Road Detour A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.12 Rt. 28 - McLearen Road Detour B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.13 Triangular Irregular Network in C3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.14 Horizontal Alignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.15 Ramp A Profile View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.16 Ramp Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.17 3D Corridor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
viii
4.18 Surfaces Tab in Corridor Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.19 3D TIN Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.20 3D Highway Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.21 CPM Schedule in Microsoft Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.22 Linking Model and Schedule in Navisworks with Timeliner . . . . . 53
4.23 Walking View of the Overpass Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.1 Average Rank of Question Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2 Open Ended Questions Results from Contractor 1 . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.3 Open Ended Questions Results from Contractor 2 . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.4 Open Ended Questions Results from Contractor 3 . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.5 Common Suggestions to Open Ended Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.6 Text Color Key for Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.7 Scheduling and Schedule Review Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.8 Planning and Phasing Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.9 Communication Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.1 Typical Civil 3D Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.2 New Surface Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.3 Display Properties Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
6.4 Display Properties Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.5 Defining Surface Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.6 Missing Slope Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.7 Missing Curb Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.8 Close Surfaces Conflict in Navisworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.9 Intermediate Asphalt Paving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.10 Top Asphalt Paving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.11 Green Wireframe Representing Earthwork in 4D CAD Model . . . . 102
ix
List of Tables
2.1 Relevant Situations for Different Research Strategies . . . . . . . . 14
5.1 Summary of Publications Documenting 4D CAD Benefits . . . . . . 57
5.2 Survey Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.3 Summary of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.4 Positions Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.5 Survey Results from Highway Contractor 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.6 Survey Results from Highway Contractor 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.7 Survey Results from Highway Contractor 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.8 Open Ended Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.9 Focus Group Discussion Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
x
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge and thank those people who contributed to this thesis.
I would like to thank Sunil Sinha, H. Randolph Thomas, and John Messner
for serving on my thesis committee. Your patience, guidance, and wisdom have
allowed me to accomplish this graduate research work.
I would like to thank Autodesk for their generous financial and intellectual
support of this research project. More specifically, I would like to thank Dan
Philbrick,RichardHumphrey,KermitWilliams,MikeRogerson,andeveryonefrom
the Building Solutions Division (Formally the Infrastructure solutions division)
who contributed to this work at some time.
I would like to thank the Shirley Contracting Company, LLC, HRI, Inc, the
Lane Construction Company, the Clark Construction Group, and Dewberry and
Davis, LLC for participating in this research.
I would like to thank The Pennsylvania State University, and in particular the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for their continued support
throughout my undergraduate and graduate work at the University.
I would like to thank my fellow graduate students in the construction engi-
neering and management group, the infrastructure asset management group, the
computing in construction group, and the civil engineering graduate program for
their insights and opinions throughout my graduate work.
Finally, I would like to thank my Mother and Father for their unwavering
support and unconditional love throughout my academic and personal life. It has
been a long, bumpy road, so thanks for always sticking behind me through thick
and thin. Also, my brother Spencer and my sister Ashley, for being the best
siblings I could ever imagine. To Jaimye, thank you for all your loving support
over the past three years, and into the future. To all my friends and family, thank
you for being being part of my life.
xi