Risk Management during Construction Operations

Running head: BET314 BET314 Name of student Name of university Authors note: 1 BET314 Abstract Constructio n industry has benefited significa ntly from the applicatio n of innovatio n and technology. One of the leading technologies which is helping the constructio n industry in increasing productivity and effic ie nc y in constructio n projects is artific ia l intellige nce and robotics. The report has analyzed applicatio n of drones combining artific ia l intellige nce and robotics in inspectio n operations in constructio n projects. The report has also described a case study that shows how drones can bring effic ie ncy in constructio n projects while minimiz in g errors and increasing safety of workers in constructio n projects. Specifica lly, the report has identified the impact and benefits of artific ia l intellige nc e or AI and robotics in construc tio n projects. 2 BET314 Table of Conte nts 1 Introd uc tio n ........................................................................................................................ 3 2 Descriptio n o f case stud y ................................................................................................... 3 3 Eva lua tio n o f case stud y .................................................................................................... 4 4 Find ings a nd ke y lesso ns/insights ...................................................................................... 4 5 Conc lusio n ......................................................................................................................... 6 6 Re fe re nces .......................................................................................................................... 7 3 BET314 1 Introduction Constructio n industry is one of the leading and largest industries in the world in whic h technology has played a major role in transforming the industry. The industry has evolved quite a lot over the years which is evident in the ways constructio n professiona ls and organizat io ns design, plan and build structures (Pan and Zhang 2021). Survey and inspectio n of constructio n work progress are considered as an important aspect of constructio n operations to ensure that the work is progressing as per plan so that the project can be completed in time and within budget. However, sometimes physical inspectio n of constructio n sites, especially sites that expose human workers to hazards is considered as one of the major reasons for injuries and accidents in constructio n projects (Blanco et al. 2018). The report in this context has discussed applicatio n of drones that combine artific ia l intellige nce and robotics in inspectio n operations in constructio n projects and a case study has been described that shows how drones can bring effic ie nc y in constructio n projects while minimizing errors and increasing safety of workers in constructio n projects. 2 Description of case study Artific ia l intellige nce and robotics have been leading innovatio n in many industrie s and the constructio n industry has been a key player in adopting new and cutting age technologie s to enhance efficie nc y, increase productivity and improve overall quality of constructio n projects (Hossain and Nadeem 2019). For any constructio n project, inspection of constructio n work progress is considered as an important and essential aspect of constructio n operations in the pre-constructio n phase. However, depending on the location and conditio n of the site, this can be really dangerous and may lead to injuries and accidents. 4 BET314 Highwa ys England employed drones at their upgrade projects to the M6, between Junctio ns Two and Four near Coventry, and the A14, between Cambridge and Huntingdo n. The project was delivered by Balfour Beatty, a UK based infrastruc ture company in partnership with VINCI Constructio n (Douglas 2021). 3 Evaluation of case study Drones were primarily used in this project, for observing progress in the project. It allo we d specialists to observe progress in the projects in 3D quality across a vast expanse of highwa y. Along with this, it also provided accurate and detailed informa tio n on gantries, foundatio ns, and other such structures. Once footage and imagery sent by the drones, they were download e d by specialists and obtained various important informa tio n which helped them in limiting the extent of road closures around planned development works (Douglas 2021). Therefore, it helped in minimizing the disruptio n to motorists. According to the offic ia ls of the project, applicatio n of drones in the project helped them in increasing effic ie nc y, improving quality of decision-mak ing process and enhancing safety of workers while ensuring success in this project. 4 F indings and key lessons/insights Traditio na lly inspectio n of sites, as part of inspectio n operations in constructio n projects, have been done by human workers and required a significa nt amount of time before the survey of the site can be completed. Apart from the danger of conducting inspectio n operations in constructio n sites, errors in surveys and inspectio n to document project progress have also been an important issue in constructio n works. It has been a major challenge for organiza tio ns to address these issues while ensuring safety of workers and accuracy in site investigatio n whic h has an important impact on quality and sustainab ility of constructio n structures (Zaychenk o , Smirnova and Borremans 2018). 5 BET314 If inspectio n of the site is not properly done and progress of the project is not accura te ly reported, then it will affect accuracy in design and constructio n of build ings and othe r infrastruc tures which are to be imple me nted on the chosen constructio n site. Howeve r, incorporatio n of drones for surveying constructio n sites in the case project has proved to be benefic ia l. Infrastruc ture projects are not only complex but require a significa nt time to be completed. However, depending on the type and location of the project, inspectio n of the project progress can be time consuming and may put the workers conducting the project progress at risk (Hossain and Nadeem 2019). However, applicatio n of AI assisted robots lik e drones as described in the case study can not only bring significa nt improve me nt in terms of speed, effic ie nc y and accuracy but can also bring significa nt improve me nt in safety of workers. Machines equipped with artific ia l intellige nce can complete inspectio n of the project progress within hours which may require days if it had been performed manually by human workers. Drones are becoming popular in constructio n projects as large constructio n organizatio ns are adopting this technology in large scale projects (Zaychenko, Smirnova and Borremans 2018). Machines equipped with artific ia l intellige nce can collect data includ ing images and can communicate these data remotely which helps designers, architects and project managers in obtaining accurate ideas regarding project status and identify any issues in the constructio n site within hours. Therefore, it will be helpful for organizatio ns to design strategies for resolvin g any issues identified in the constructio n site while improving decision making process givin g organiza tio ns a far more control on the project progress which is essential for managing large scale and advanced constructio n projects (Jayaraj and Divakar 2018). Therefore, organizat io ns need to consider adoption of artific ia l intellige nce and robotics for doing repetitive, time consuming and dangerous works for enhancing effic ie nc y and also safety aspects of constructio n projects. 6 BET314 5 Conclusion Artific ia l intellige nce and robotics have transformed the constructio n industry and contrib ute d in increasing efficie nc y and productivity in constructio n projects. An important area of constructio n project which has been clearly benefited from the adoption of artific ia l intellige nce and robotics is inspection of constructio n works, especially in large scale projects which need organiza tio ns to have an enhanced control on project progress to ensure tha t projects are completed in time and within budget. The case study as described in this conte xt provides a significa nt insight on how incorporating drones for inspecting project progress has helped organizatio ns in increasing effic ie nc y, productivity and accuracy in the project. Therefore, organizatio ns need to consider applicatio n of advanced technologies like artific ia l intellige nce and robotics for enhancing effic ie nc y, productivity and overall quality of the project while enhancing safety of workers in constructio n projects. 7 BET314 6 References Blanco, J.L., Fuchs, S., Parsons, M. and Ribeirinho, M.J., 2018. Artific ia l intellige nc e : Constructio n technology's next frontier. Build ing Economist, The, (Sep 2018), pp.7-13. Douglas, A., 2021. Balfour Beatty deploys drone tech as part of M6 smart motorwa y development. [online] Commercia l Drone Professiona l. Availab le at: [Accessed 4 May 2021]. Hossain, A. and Nadeem, A., 2019. Towards digitizing the constructio n industry: State of the art of constructio n 4.0. Structural Engineering and Constructio n Management, pp.1-6. Jayaraj, A. and Divakar, H.N., 2018, June. Robotics in constructio n industry. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 376, No. 1, p. 012114). IOP Publishing. Li, Y. and Liu, C., 2019. Applicatio ns of multirotor drone technologie s in construc tio n manageme nt. Internatio na l Journal of Constructio n Management, 19(5), pp.401-412. Pan, Y. and Zhang, L., 2021. Roles of artific ia l intellige nce in constructio n engineering and manageme nt: A critical review and future trends. Automatio n in Constructio n, 122, p.103517. Zaychenko, I., Smirnova, A. and Borremans, A., 2018. Digita l transformation: the case of the applicatio n of drones in constructio n. In MATEC web of conferences (Vol. 193, p. 05066). EDP Sciences.