Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Civil Engineering

Rubber bearings of bridges are easy to age and cause the degradation of their mechanical properties. To probe into the impact of laminated bearing degradation on the seismic response of in-service skew bridges, a finite element model of in-service skew bridges with laminated bearings of different aging time is established using Midas Civil software. With the aging time set up as 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 years, nonlinear time-history analysis is carried out with full consideration of the pile–soil interaction, structural pounding effect, and material nonlinearity in this paper. The results show that: 1. The aging of laminated bearings has an adverse effect on the seismic performance of skew bridges. With the aging of laminated bearings, the displacement of the main girder will increase and the rotational effects are strengthened, thereby leading to a greater risk of superstructure pounding. In severe cases, it may even result in the falling of girders. 2. To a certain extent, the aging of laminated bearings can reduce the risk of damage to the substructure of bridges in common earthquakes, providing protection to the piers and preventing serious damage to the piers as well as other substructures segments. 3. The aging of bearings of in-service skew bridges deserves great attention, and it is crucial to replace the aged laminated bearings promptly.

As an alternative to hot-rolled steel, cold-formed steel (CFS) constructions such as beams, columns, trusses, wall frames, and portal frames as well as the usage of back-to-back built-up cold-formed steel channels as compression members are growing in popularity. However, for long-span structures, back-to-back built-up I sections as columns are not yet effective in replacing hot-rolled steel in terms of cost and profile stiffness. To address the instability problems in cold-formed steel sections, built-up sections are developed as innovative sectional profiles where the geometry of the section plays a vital role in enhancing the inherent resistance of such sections against premature buckling and increasing member capacity. In the literature, very few results for cold-formed steel have been reported for such conventional back-to-back built-up I sections and have never discussed the behavior of gapped built-up and built-up batten column sections on long-span structures. This paper presents a numerical investigation of the gapped built-up sections and built-up battened columns sections as alternatives to built-up section columns for long-span structures. The results show from a comparison of material weight with a gapped built-up column that an efficiency of 8.23 and 12.83% can be obtained from the built-up batten column compared to the standard back-to-back I section.

To determine the damage degree of the main shaft tower of a gold mine long in disrepair and provide guidance for rehabilitation, we conducted an in situ inspection and appraisal according to the current national standards. Testing instruments and equipment were used in the in situ inspection. The inspection covered various aspects including its foundation, load-bearing structural members, and connections, concrete strength, rebar cross-sectional area, crack width, structural horizontal displacement, and structural perpendicularity. Based on the data measured in situ and engineering drawings, a finite element model was established to review and calculate the seismic bearing capacity of the main shaft tower and evaluate its structural safety, serviceability, durability, and seismic resistance. It is ultimately found that the main shaft tower of the gold mine has suffered from various damages due to long-term use. The safety grade of the main shaft tower is Grade III, which does not conform to the safety requirements of the current national standards and affects the overall safety. The serviceability grade is Grade III, which does not conform to the requirements of the current national standards for normal use. Durability has also been compromised, significantly affecting normal use within the target service life. Additionally, the causes of the problems discovered were analyzed, and a scientific and reasonable rehabilitation plan was provided. This case project is of great referencing significance for the identification and rehabilitation of similar mine shaft towers.

Currently, the main methods to evaluate the global stability of single-layer grid shells are finite element analysis and continuum shell analogy, but both of them have applied limits and inconvenience for common engineers. This study aims to propose evaluation equations to calculate the global buckling load of single-layer grid shells simply. Accordingly, large amounts of parametric analysis cases are carried out to investigate the relation of geometric parameters with buckling load factors. In addition, the regression analysis based on the software “1stOpt” is adopted to fit the relationship of global buckling load, effectiveness stiffness and geometric parameters into the form of the equation. As a result, the calculating results of equations match the analysis results very well, which shows the high accuracy of the proposed equations.

The bending behavior of timber beams in a frame systems of modular timber house or permanent timber house needs to be known, specifically for the mechanical properties of bending forces, modulus of rupture, and modulus of elasticity. These three parameters are important parameters for the purposes of timber beam design in timber buildings both for non-multistorey and multistorey. One of the experimental testing methods in the laboratory for flexural or bending tests is based on the ASTM D143-21 Standard. The purpose of this study is to do the nonlinear finite element modeling of timber beam and experimental testing in the laboratory that is a flexural test to determine the behavior of beams. The scopes of the research, namely the bending behaviors, reviewed are as follows: the parameters of bending strength, modulus of rupture, and modulus of elasticity, the timber studied is Indonesian Berua timber, and bending testing is based on the ASTM standard reference which is D143-21. The method that used in this study is based on experimental tests and numerical analyses to obtain the empirical parameter of the bending strength. The results showed that the average flexural strength of timber with experimental test results obtained by 31.52 MPa, modulus of rupture 46.68 MPa, and modulus of elasticity 4143.51 MPa, while the results of the nonlinear finite element modeling showed the bending strength of 29.33 MPa (% difference with experimental results is − 6.96%), modulus of rupture 49.63 MPa (% difference with experimental results is 6.34%), and modulus of elasticity 3477.19 MPa (% difference with experimental results is − 16.09%). These results show that in general the nonlinear finite element modeling produces values that are close to the results of experimental testing. One of the important benefits of numerical modeling is to study the behavior of buildings due to working loads so that predictions of strength, rigidity, and stability behavior can be known. This is important as a reference to the feasibility requirements of the design of a building.

To study the structural performance of geopolymer concrete, a full-scale static load test of reinforced geopolymer concrete simply supported beams is designed to analyze the damage process and damage pattern of reinforced geopolymer concrete beams. Based on the test, a numerical model is established by numerical simulation using ABAQUS software. The dimensional sensitivity is further analyzed by finite elements based on the test. The experimental results show that the damage of the reinforced geopolymer concrete beam is characterized by ductile damage. The results of the size sensitivity analysis show that a reasonable mesh size division is essential for correctly analyzing the structural response, and the finite element results of the fine mesh show better agreement with the experimental results. The developed finite element model can be used as an effective tool for future design and application, which is of great significance for further research on geopolymer concrete and its application in engineering.

Girders with large spans are made of prefabricated elements which are produced off-site and transported to the construction site. The adjacent precast or prefabricated components are linked together with joints using different techniques. Splicing of beams is one of the effective used methods. Usually, these girders are subjected to repeated loads. This paper presents an experimental study to investigate the performance of spliced beams strengthened using steel fiber concrete (SFC) at the splice region or near-surface mounted carbon fiber-reinforced polymer NSM-CFRP bars under repeated loads. Four simply supported beams with dimensions 150 mm × 250 mm × 2200 mm spliced at midspan using joints of 320 mm in length were fabricated and then tested using four-point loading configuration. The investigated variables are existence of spliced joints, using of SFC of 1% volume fraction at the splice region, using NSM-CFRP bars to strengthen the spliced beams, and the effect of repeated load (ten successive cycles). Based on the results, using of SFC of 1% volume fraction at joint regions increased load-carrying capacity by 59.3% with a rather ductile failure. In addition, strengthening the spliced beams using NSM-CFRP bars improved the loading capacity by 36–116.7%.

Currently, research on the influence of different concrete expanded plate (CEP) pile parameters on bearing capacity under vertical pressure is primarily focused on the problem of CEP single pile, with little research on the problem of the CEP pile group. Therefore, this work uses ANSYS software to perform finite element simulation analysis of the CEP pile group. The effects of different plate positions of CEP double pile under vertical pressure on the damaged state of soil surrounding the pile and the compressive bearing performance of CEP double pile are discussed. By completing a comprehensive analysis of the displacement cloud diagrams and load–displacement curve of the CEP double pile, the pile-soil force mechanism and failure law are obtained, as well as improving the CEP double-pile carrying capacity calculation mode. It provides theoretical support for the promotion and application of CEP piles in actual engineering. The results show that when the pile spacing is fixed, the bearing capacity of the bearing plates of the CEP double pile is higher when the bearing plates are set at the same position than when the plate position is misaligned. When the plates are set at the same position, the closer the bearing plate is to the pile end, the greater the compressive bearing capacity of the CEP double pile.

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) retrofitting is a widely adopted strategy for enhancing the structural performance of concrete beams due to its ability to impart increased strength and durability. However, FRP retrofitted structures are susceptible to various damage mechanisms, with debonding being a critical issue. In this context, non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques play a crucial role in assessing and monitoring the structural health of FRP retrofitted concrete beams. Among these techniques, the application of the nonlinear guided wave technique emerges prominently as an efficient and effective approach. The nonlinear guided wave technique distinguishes itself for its inherent baseline-free characteristics and exceptional sensitivity to even minor damages. This feature set positions the nonlinear guided wave technique as a promising method for achieving accurate and precise debonding detection in FRP retrofitted concrete beams. The study delves into the challenges associated with debonding and underscores the advantages of utilizing the nonlinear guided wave technique as a standalone NDT method. This paper exclusively focuses on the application of contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) for debonding detection in FRP retrofitted beams. Through extensive numerical simulations, various models are considered, incorporating different debonding dimensions and through-thickness locations. The numerical results demonstrate the capability of the nonlinear guided wave technique to accurately detect debonding, offering a promising approach for structural health monitoring. In summary, this paper not only sheds light on the exclusive use of CAN but also provides a nuanced understanding of the interaction of guided waves with damages, enhancing our insights into the phenomena associated with CAN. The research uniquely contributes to our comprehension of the effectiveness of nonlinear techniques, specifically CAN, in contrast to traditional NDT methods.

The current study investigates the structural behavior of short steel tubular columns filled with concrete (STCFC), exposed to the corrosion process and then strengthened by CFRP strips to treat the corroded columns, and finally subjected to direct concentric and eccentric loads up to the failure. To find out the structural behavior, six specimens of an effective length of 1000 mm, cross-section dimensions of 100 × 100 mm, and a thickness of 1.5 mm for non-corroded columns and 0.68 mm for corroded columns were tested. To know the exact behavior of the tested columns, numerical analysis using Abaqus software was adopted. The experimental results show that the ultimate capacity of the corroded columns decreased by 47 and 44% for concentrically and eccentrically loaded columns, respectively, in comparison with the non-corroded specimens. Also, the ultimate capacity for the corroded-strengthened columns was increased by 152 and 132% for concentrically and eccentrically loaded columns, respectively, in comparison with the corroded specimens. The finite element analysis results were in good agreement with the failure mechanisms of the experimentally tested columns.

Floods, due to high rainfall and topographic conditions, can cause waterlogging high way underpass area. Underpass roads, as important infrastructure, are vulnerable to waterlogging, especially in several locations in Indonesia such as the Sentiong Underpass, Kemayoran, East Bekasi, and in Semarang (Dempel as local road, Soekarno Hatta as artery road). This research aims to determine the priority of alternative accessibility solutions to the problem of flooding in underpasses. There are three alternatives, including upperpass access road, underpass with raising elevation of toll roads, and underpass road without raising toll road elevation using micropolder system. The method used is the analytical hierarchy process. There are eight criteria to select alternative solution for non-level road models in flood areas, namely construction cost; construction implementation technical; construction implementation time; construction safety management system; comfort; operations and maintenance; environment; impact on society. Based on the results of weighting alternatives against all criteria, the most prioritized alternative is alternative 3, fixed elevation of toll road and environmental road accompanied by micropolder, with a weight of 0.403 (40.3%). Second place is alternative 2, raising the elevation of toll roads and environmental roads, with a weight of 0.318 (31.8%). Then, third place is alternative 1, upperpass, with a weight of 0.279 (27.9%). So, through alternative 3, an underground water storage wall structure can be created to regulate water discharge, equipped with a pump house. This aims to act as a temporary water reservoir to deal with excess water volume when it rains.

Scour is a natural process which occurs due to morphological changes taking place in river or streams or it is also happening due to presence of manmade structures, e.g., abutments, spurs, and piers. Spur dykes are the hydraulic structures those are employed to divert the flow in order to protect the both banks of the river from possibility of erosion. By changing the local spacing between permeable and impermeable spur dykes, there is a great influence on scour has been found. In this study, sand and gravel in equal proportion are mixed and then used as bed material for experimentation. Firstly, spur dyke having angle of inclination with downstream of the bank at 90°, 75°, and 60° was placed in flume to find maximum scour depth. Secondly, three different arrangements of pile group (having 25, 23, and 15 piles in each group) were placed in front of the spur dyke at 1L, 2L, 3L, and 4L spacing from the spur dyke having above-mentioned angle at each spacing. From experimental results, for spur dykes without protection, maximum scour depth is formed at 90°, while at 60° scour depth is minimum. When protections in form of group pile were used with spur dyke at 90°, 75°, and 60°, the maximum scour depth has reduced for all three cases. It is also concluded that for pile group with 23 piles has exhibited minimum scouring when placed at a distance of 3L spacing with spur dyke placed at 60° of all experiments.

The construction of pumped-storage power stations has made significant progress in recent years. When selecting a reservoir site for such stations, gullies or depressions with natural reservoir basins are prior candidates. However, depressions in carbonate rock karst development areas exhibit characteristics such as karst erosion and vertical karst development. In such cases, understanding karst leakage is crucial for geological surveys related to such applications. The pumped-storage power station in Jiangyou presents highly complex karst development features and karst system. In this study, we investigate the karst hydrogeological features of the target area through water quality analysis and hydroxide isotope testing based on geological conditions. We studied the leakage conditions of the reservoir based on topographic and geological conditions, ground water distribution, water permeability of rock mass, and evolution trend of a relatively impermeable layer of the upper reservoir. Our findings provide geological references for selecting strategies to prevent reservoir leakage.

The general cost optimization problem of water distribution networks (WDNs) is categorized as NLP-Hard problem due to the nonlinearity and requirement of discrete pipe sizes. Obtaining the global optimal solution of NLP-Hard problem is always a challenging task. In most of the available techniques, multiple solutions are obtained and the best one is adopted. Hence, the global optimality of the adopted solution is not guaranteed. It is observed that improved solutions of few benchmark problems were provided from time to time by different researchers. This paper aims at suggesting some indicators to check the global optimality of the final adopted solution. These indicators are based on the characteristics observed in global optimal solution by different researchers. The methodology is useful to check the global optimality of solution for a new network. Herein, the methodology is tested with a benchmark network solved by more than 15 researchers, and its improved solution from the previous best is obtained in five occasions. Limitations of the proposed methodology are also discussed.

Urbanization leads to increased volume of stormwater and peak flow, resulting in flood disasters. Rain garden is a reliable best management practice. Rain garden reduces and delays flood peaks, helps groundwater recharge, and enhances biodiversity. Additionally, its vegetation works as a filter media for stormwater treatment. Unfortunately, due to little past knowledge and design guidelines, significant difficulties continue to exist in the construction and design of these systems. The present study aims to study the infiltration characteristics of rain gardens with different types of vegetation and flow conditions. Four rain gardens were constructed in the Hydraulics Laboratory of NIT, Kurukshetra, India. Vegetation used during the study is scutch grass (cynodon dactylon), Chandni flower (candytuft), marigold, and daisy flower plants. Results indicate that the average infiltration rate is minimum for bare rain gardens. The garden with a higher number of scutch grass plants infiltrates more quickly than daisy and candytuft plants. With an increase in the height of vegetation, the infiltration rate is improved. The infiltration rate of rain gardens under overflow situations is higher.

Urban design is a complex and iterative process that requires the involvement of multi-participation. Traditional digital tools that use generative algorithms have helped designers rapidly construct three-dimensional urban models. Yet, the lack of engagement from key stakeholders such as government entities, businesses, and the public has led to significant information gaps within the design process. This has consequently hindered the enhancement of modeling efficiency within practical urban design projects. With the development of web-based 3D frameworks, it has become possible to create platforms for participating in the urban design process directly on web applications. This paper combines actual urban design projects to explore the method of visualizing algorithmically generated three-dimensional urban spatial models using the Three.js framework and develops a web application for urban design developed using this method. This application incorporates primary interactive needs and functionalities such as spatial evaluation, morphological design parameters, and comparison of multiple schemes. Additionally, this web application allows various user groups to participate in the design interaction process in real time during design scenarios such as on-site inspections, social surveys, and data integration.

The convenience of using outdoor space directly affects the quality of life and subjective well-being of elderly individuals. This paper studies the availability of outdoor space in the context of aging. By taking the existing community in Chengdu as a case study, the differences between outdoor spaces were compared and analyzed from the perspectives of integration, intelligibility, and availability. The study found that a high-density and relatively regular road network structure has higher overall integration, accessibility, and intelligibility; accessibility and availability are not positively correlated and are also closely related to green space and public service facilities; the availability of the existing community in Chengdu varies greatly.

A mega port is a necessary driver of the country’s economy and its population. Despite its significant economic impacts, the mega port also creates numerous social impacts, both during its construction and operation phases. The quality of life of people living in the port’s vicinity is inevitably affected. To attain sustainable port development and improve people’s well-being at the same time, mitigation measures stated in the environmental and health assessment report need to be strictly followed. Since a mega port is constructed once in many decades, a case study like this article is very rare. The authors present how Thailand took care of local people’s life quality during an expansion of its biggest container port (Laem Chabang Port, phase 3). The reclamation construction to expand the port started in May 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2025. This article shows that the Thai government and the joint venture contractor of the reclamation project realize the need to care for society and the environment.

Porous concrete combined with vegetation has proved to be an ecofriendly and sustainable material. Thus far, it has been applied in slope protection, urban greening, highway embankments, and river revetment projects. Despite its versatility, the high alkalinity of porous concrete materials, particularly ordinary Portland cement, poses challenges to vegetation growth. This study focuses on formulating a porous concrete mixture tailored to enhance vegetation growth by prioritizing increased porosity, improved strength, and reduced pH levels. The investigation involved binary and ternary binder systems encompassing Portland composite cement, low calcium oxide fly ash, and calcined clay. Compressive strength, porosity, and pH were assessed through laboratory testing. Results indicated that the ternary binder mixture possessed the highest compressive strength (10.53 MPa), while the binary binder (70% cement and 30% calcined clay) exhibited the highest porosity (28.78%) and the lowest pH (11.01). Thus, the nature of the project determines the preferred mixture; if high strength is the priority, the ternary binder is preferred, whereas the binary binder is suitable when strength is less critical. The use of calcined clay and fly ash as partial replacements for cement could serve as a strategy to reduce the emission of CO2 brought about by cement production and also reduce the alkalinity of concrete to favor vegetation growth.

Public building is an important component of city and environment and an essential carrier of citizens’ life. With the development of the times, the connections between public buildings and cities, environment, and citizens are becoming increasingly close, and public building itself presents the characteristics of diversification and high integration. The development of digital technology application in the design field provides a new method for achieving the integration of multiple systems in public buildings. By elaborating on the design methodology of three practical projects that I participated in, this paper discusses the innovative application of digital technology in public buildings design and explores a new path for architectural design and construction in the era of human–machine symbiosis. In the three projects, we mainly utilize the three-dimensional digital information model as the carrier of digital collaborative technology, responding to three design questions, respectively: (1) How to generate public buildings closely connected with surrounding buildings and sites under complex terrain conditions, (2) How to coordinate the respective needs of form, structure, and function in the form-finding of long-span buildings, and (3) How to reduce the space occupation through the integration of multi-professional systems.

Infrastructure is a fundamental driver of urban development and has a profound impact on the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This research delves into the intricate relationship between urban infrastructure and the 17 SDGs in the context of Bangkok, Thailand. Building upon previous studies, we employed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to unveil latent structures connecting infrastructure and the overarching aspirations of the SDGs. The study's objective was to identify inherent structures that shed light on potential synergies and trade-offs within the urban context. Our findings revealed four latent factors of infrastructure, including infrastructure and safety services, community amenities and recreation, urban accessibility and mobility, and modern connectivity, and commercial hubs. Each factor represents essential aspects of urban infrastructure that significantly influence the quality of life and well-being of Bangkok's residents. Additionally, two latent factors of SDGs were identified: human well-being and resilient infrastructure, and equality of social and environment. These factors demonstrate varying degrees of infrastructure's impact on goal attainment. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on sustainable urban development and offers valuable insights to inform targeted strategies and policies, ultimately benefiting the citizens of Bangkok and beyond.

Nanoceramic waste material used in interlocking brick manufacturing not only provides a promising resource to produce a high-quality brick, but also helps to properly encounter the problem of waste disposal. It is a good option for use in mortar and concrete because waste ground ceramic has a highly resistant structure and cannot be processed by any recycling system and because it is produced in large quantities. Thus, this study focused on two different phases: in the first phase, the use of nanoceramic as a pozzolan in mortar as interlocking brick was investigated. The application of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30% nanoceramic powder replaced with cement by weight. In all cases, compressive strength, density, water absorption, effloresce, thermal conductivity, and elevated temperature tests were performed. The results show that adding nanoceramic powder up to 10% does not have a significant effect on the compressive strength of brick. But 15–30% nanoceramic powder provides excellent compressive strength and resistance to all other tests. Furthermore, using any amount of nanoceramic powder in the mortar reduces its water absorption capacity. In addition, using because of silica content available in nanoceramic powder and pozzolan simultaneously leads to improved compressive strength and a reduced water absorption capacity and other effects on tests.

Concrete, a widely utilized substance second only to water in terms of usage, necessitates an excess of Portland cement, a notable energy consumer that releases substantial amounts of CO2 emissions. Geopolymer concrete, an exceptional concrete variant, mitigates said emissions and exhibits enhanced durability. The process depends on the utilization of marginally treated natural resources or industrial wastes that possess elevated levels of alumina and silica, hence reducing carbon footprints. The proper management and disposal of these waste materials can effectively mitigate the issue of land pollution. The invention of SCGC was driven by the necessity to solve the failure problem coming from inadequate compaction. The SCGC undergoes self-compaction due to its inherent weight, obviating the requirement for further compaction measures. This study comprehensively examines the impact of many parameters on the machinability and mechanical characteristics of SCGC while also identifying areas of research that have not been adequately addressed and suggesting potential avenues for further investigation. The current body of literature provides evidence in favour of the utilization of sustainable concrete with ground granulated blast furnace slag (SCGC) as opposed to conventional concrete, primarily due to its reduced environmental footprint, improved waste management, and enhanced resource preservation. The current body of literature provides evidence of substituting conventional concrete with sustainable concrete materials, such as SCGC.

This study investigates the potential of utilizing rice husk ash (RHA) as a sustainable soil stabilizer in regions with weak and expansive soils. RHA, a plentiful byproduct of rice milling, contains high levels of amorphous silica, making it a promising ground improvement material. By integrating RHA into subgrade layers, numerous benefits are realized, including environmental preservation, cost reduction, and decreased reliance on traditional stabilizers like cement and lime. Through experimental analysis, sixteen specimen combinations of soil–RHA–cement were studied to assess their impact on geotechnical properties. Various admixtures were prepared, incorporating different percentages of RHA (2, 4, and 6%) and cement (2, 4, and 6%) within the upper, bottom, and double subgrade layers. Mechanical testing and SEM and EDS analyses provided insights into stabilized soils’ microstructural and elemental composition. Results indicated significant improvement in shear strength across all subgrade layers, highlighting the effectiveness of this innovative approach.

The shear strength is one of the parameters that is used for the design of beam members in wood buildings. Shear strength is also used as a parameter for bridge girder design. Red meranti (Shorea spp.) is a species that is easily found in Indonesia and is commonly used as a construction material for buildings, docks, or bridges. The objective of this study is to obtain an empirical equation for the shear strength with different grain angles from 0° to 10°. The research of the influence of the grain angle must be carried out under real conditions, since the direction of the wood grain is not perfectly 0° and the inclination of the grain can influence the shear strength of the wood. The method of making the specimens and the experimental methods refer to ASTM D143-22, and the total number of test specimens was 33 specimens. The tests were performed using a universal testing machine, with the test speed (crosshead) 0.6 mm/minute. The test results show that the shear strength of wood with a directional fiber angle ranging from 0° to 10° in a range from 2.77 MPa (10° grain angle) to 7.57 MPa (0° grain angle). The results of the analysis by the polynomial regression method give an empirical equation, namely Fv = 7.03 − 0.97θ + 0.066θ2 with R-Sq = 74.7%. Fiber angle has an effect on shear strength. Empirical equations offer advantages to building designers in calculating the design capacity of wood beams, especially due to shear forces.

The urban built environment has a great impact on the thermal comfort of the summer microclimate. Taking the urban built environment as the research object, the effects of different built environments on summer microclimate air temperature, relative humidity, and thermal comfort were investigated. The study found that arbors are the key factor for cooling and humidifying in the built environment; arbors and covered facilities can effectively improve the summer microclimate thermal comfort of the built environment. Based on the results of the above research, climate adaptation optimization strategies such as proper selection of arbors to provide shading, selection of appropriate underlay materials, and improvement of ventilation capacity of the built environment are proposed.

The significant environmental impacts of a two-story residential building in the study region have been estimated using open source data. The structure has a floor area of 222.96 m2 and is expected to have a life period of 50 years. In this study, Life Cycle Environmental Assessment (LCA) of the building has been performed using unit impact values obtained from research papers having related scope and context. It has been used to determine the building’s life cycle energy consumption and Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the analysis, it has been observed that the first floor of the building contributes more to the total impact. Moreover, only 69.66% of total energy is consumed during the operation phase. In most buildings, the life cycle stages have a significant impact on some categories, even though, only two life cycle stages, i.e., construction and operation appear to be more significant in all impact categories (energy and emissions).

In many developing nations, most formal educational facilities are designed and built without active ventilation to reduce costs, relying solely on passive cooling. In spite of this trend, the influence of plan shapes on the effectiveness of passive cooling in educational facilities situated in warm humid tropics has not been thoroughly researched. The research objective is to examine the impact of building plan shape on the desired natural ventilation required for thermal comfort in the classroom buildings of government owned primary schools located in Enugu city, south-eastern sub-Saharan Nigeria. A hybrid research design, encompassing both experimental and survey methods, was implemented to evaluate the outdoor and indoor climates of sixty school structures in the metropolitan area, utilizing two thermo-anemometers (AZ 9871). The selection of these structures was based on a stratified random sampling technique. To analyze the data, the global ventilation coefficient (G), building total opening wall area (TOA) to floor area (FA) ratio standards, and linear regression analysis were employed. The findings of this study indicate a significant correlation between classroom plan shape and effective natural ventilation. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that 25% was the mean TOA/FA of all classroom buildings examined, falling within the recommended range of 20%–30%. These ratios positively influenced effective natural ventilation and ultimately impacted their thermal conditions. The study surmises that the design of classroom buildings should adequately prioritize square plan shape and wall openings to ensure optimal natural ventilation.

The assessment of noise pollution is very essential in developing countries like India. This study’s main objective is to assess the level of noise pollution during the Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra, and Diwali festivals at various locations in Raipur City. Ten places from the commercial, residential, and silent zones were chosen for this investigation. Noise monitoring was carried out with a sound level meter, the Extech SL 400 at selected locations in the city on the pre-, during-, and post-festival days. All locations of commercial areas recorded average noise equivalent levels higher than 75 dB at all festivals and the maximum noise level was recorded 80.16 dB at Purani Basti location. In the residential area, noise level varies between 70 and 78 dB and the silent area reading varies between 66 and 73 dB at all festivals. The study revealed that the main cause of the rise in noise level was found to be heavy traffic movement due to festivals and the bursting of crackers.

The construction industry is significant in the economy of any country, being both lucrative and costly. This concomitantly makes the sector immensely important to protect and incredibly profitable. Unfortunately, it is regarded by both public opinion and independent research as one of the most corrupt industries, particularly in the public sphere. To battle these emerging cases, there is a pressing need for anti-fraud initiatives and monitoring systems. Currently, there is a lacuna in our understanding of fraudulence detection within the construction industry. To deliver a cost-effective and precise solution, the researchers opt to employ a hybrid genetic algorithm—artificial neural network algorithm to serve as a first-pass mechanism to filter public road projects en masse in order to isolate projects that have outlying costs with regards to their scale and scope. A hybrid genetic algorithm-artificial neural network was initialized for a regression-based cost estimation model and a classification-based fraud detection model. Synthetic data generation techniques were applied to generate a well-behaved dataset of 1000 tuples each of fraudulent and non-fraudulent data, validated by histogram analysis, pairwise mutual information comparison, and a two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The cross-validation results yield an MSE of 0.057 for the cost estimation model and a 99.50% accuracy for the corruption detection model for the best network architecture.

Delays in bridge construction are crucial problems that slow down the economic development in an area. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was utilized to create a model for predicting the duration delay in bridge construction projects which includes the project amount, length of bank protection, length of bridge approach slope protection, total area of bridge approach, number of item of works, number of foundations, type of foundation, number of girders, type of girder, number of lanes, number of spans, total width, total length, and type of construction as the independent variables (IV). The modeling results showed that the best performing model is the 14–14–1 network with R = 0.99406 and MAPE of 3.524%. By removing each of the parameters, the influence of the independent variables to the duration delay was determined. Using the sensitivity index method, the findings revealed that the ranking of influence of the factors (IF) to the duration delay was observed as LBASP > NS > TW > TC > NIW > LBP > PA > TABA > TL > NG > NF > NL > TG > TF with the length of bridge approach slope protection was seen to be the most influential parameter (MIP) to the duration delay.

“Strong owner” was identified as an important factor in the success of megaprojects and has been recognized for the importance of megaprojects as owner organizational capabilities. However, the question is what owner organizational capabilities are needed to make a megaproject success. Strong owner has deconstructed as organizational capabilities of megaproject owners. And the other perspective is how owner capabilities affect the success of several construction projects. However, they do not study how owner capabilities influence construction project performance. To answer these questions, this research identified the owner’s capabilities influencing the construction projects in Thailand. The relative importance of owner capability is for construction projects including the government sector state-owned enterprise and private sector in Thailand. Factor analysis revealed the appropriate grouping for owner organization capabilities such as owner systems integration capabilities, owner motivation capabilities, owner coordination capabilities, and owner dynamic capability and how this capability influences on construction project performance in the construction industry.

A green-oriented project management system will be different from projects in general. Differences occur in the planning process to the construction process. To support sustainable and environmentally friendly development, it is very necessary to implement green buildings. For this reason, the Indonesian government, through the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry, has standards regarding green buildings in the form of indicators of green construction variables as requirements for green building certification. Green construction practices also influence performance achievements, such as cost, schedule, quality, environmental, and occupational health and safety (OHS) performance, hereinafter referred to as project performance variables. The aim of the research is to identify green construction indicators that will be applied and project performance indicators that will be used to assess project performance in green construction based project management. There are 17 indicators from the results of previous research synthesis. Meanwhile, the project performance variables obtained were nine cost performance items, five schedule performance items, six quality performance items, and eight OHS performance items. Analysis using the Delphi method, the first round was carried out to identify indicators for each variable that were ranked in the high category. The second round was to obtain consensus from all respondents. The Delphi survey was conducted using Google Form on 20 respondents representing all stakeholders in the construction services industry and project owners with a five-point Likert scale. The analysis resulted in 17 indicators identified in the initial survey being highly rated for application to green projects. Meanwhile, for project performance, the results obtained were nine cost performance items, four schedule performance items, six quality performance items, and seven K3 performance items identified in the initial survey which received high ratings to be used as project performance assessment indicators.

In recent years, the construction sector in the Philippines has faced significant challenges stemming from various events and occurrences, leading to cost overruns and delays in project timelines. A critical element for every construction undertaking's accomplishment is cost evaluation. Precisely approximating the cost of a project involves thorough consideration of various elements, making it a difficult undertaking to forecast. Several building constructions nowadays produce high cost overrun because of unforeseen change in the project budget that raises the overall project cost such as the complexity of the building system and the organization’s environment. The aim of this paper is to offer a potential prediction for cost estimation, with the goal of minimizing the substantial risk of cost overruns in low- to mid-rise buildings. In this study, the structural elements for low- to mid-rise buildings were utilized from building constructions, such as the number of exterior walls (QEW), type of construction material (TCM), building height (HB), total gross area (TGA), building footprint area (BFA), type of occupancy (TO), number of floors (NF), quantity of shear walls (QSW), and number of columns (NC); an artificial neural network (ANN) model was employed in this research to establish a model for forecasting the total construction cost (TCC). With a correlation value (R) of 0.999890 and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.601%, the modeling results shown that the best model structure was 9-25-1 (input-hidden-output), indicating its effectiveness and efficacy in forecasting the TCC. The impact of each variable employed as an input variable (IV) in the model establishment was seen employing the connection weights (CW) through Garson’s algorithm (GA). The calculation exhibited the order of influence observed as QSW > NC > HB > NF > QEW > TGA > BFA > TO > TCM, wherein the quantity of the shear walls is seen to have the most contribution to the construction cost. Moreover, to check its performance versus other prediction modeling tools, a multiple linear regression (MLR) model was also created and compared to the governing prediction model (GPM). The MAPE of the BP-NN is 7.108 times better than that of the created MLR model.

The need for sustainable buildings has gained traction as a result of escalating negative environmental impacts of the conventional building type. A plethora of different green building rating systems and assessment tools have been developed and implemented around the globe to gage the performance of buildings in meeting sustainability goals. However, it is not clear the most common and widely adopted green building rating tools (GBRTs). This study identifies the most widely adopted GBRTs and their features through a systematic review of literature. A total of 52 articles published between 1997 and 2021 drawn from the World Green Building Council database and Google Scholar were included in this review. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The results reviewed that there are ten most widely adopted GBRTs across the world with the LEED, BREEAM, and Passivhaus being the top three. It was also observed that even though each of the ten identified GBRTs has its focus on one or more elements of green building design, there exists a marked variation in the level of emphasis on the different green building elements due to different regional considerations. The study concludes that adequate knowledge of the most widely used GBRTs and their key features is a prerequisite for their adoption by industry stakeholders for the attainment of sustainability goals.

The aim of this research is to identify new normal risks and adopt responses related to military coups that emerge in privately funded building construction projects in Myanmar. Additionally, the manageability of risks and effectiveness of risk responses were assessed on a five-point Likert scale. The data collection methods were firstly semi-structured interviews and secondly structured questionnaire surveys. A sum of 21 experts were interviewed to identify risks and responses. A sum of 62 professionals conducted assessments of risk manageability and response effectiveness. The major risks identified from the interviews include 28 risks related to scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, procurement, and stakeholder. The risk ‘construction material costs increase due to the inflation rate as a result of the military coup’ is considered a very low manageable risk. The response ‘using alternative power solutions such as generators and/or solar, and buying water from non-government entities’ is considered a very high-effective risk response. These results may be used by construction companies working on building projects to understand the risks due to the military coup and the risk responses to increase the likelihood that their projects will be successful.