Strategies for reducing construction problems on archaeological sites

Shearman, J; Hughes, W P; Gilchrist, R and Elwazani, S (2005) Strategies for reducing construction problems on archaeological sites. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 21st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2005, London, UK.

Abstract

Construction and Archaeology are two disciplines that are not often content with one another. At the same time, historically speaking, construction operations have resulted in the discovery of many important cultural artifacts, and the recently increasing desire to preserve those materials has resulted in many protective regulations. With the growth in population, urban sprawl, and tourism, the demand for construction is also growing. This will increase the probability of archaeological encounters during construction operations. This research study will focus on the preconstruction phase of a project with an emphasis on the owners responsibility to proactively anticipate preservation-related issues for a specific project rather than reacting to such issues when they happen. The study’s goals and objectives are to evaluate preservation-related preconstruction considerations, developing strategies that affect the project specifications, and to devise alternative strategies for reducing construction problems in conjunction with archaeological constraints. Additional expenses associated with the strategies will be assessed as to the value they contribute to problem avoidance. Relevant case studies will be developed and examined that identify typical problems associated with archaeological encounters, document the challenges to construction practices with archaeological constraints and to appraise the methods by which the encounter problems have been resolved. Much of the intent of this study is to reveal any weakness in the preconstruction process with specific focus on historic and archaeological encounter avoidance planning. With the causes revealed, strategies can then be developed to reduce the problems during the construction project. Even at the early stages of the research, it is clear that focus on several factors need to be present prior to commencement of construction activities in order to reduce problems associated with archaeological encounters.

Item Type: Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords: archaeology; preconstruction; pre-investigation; specifications
Index terms: strategy, artifact, owner, construction activity, construction operation, urban sprawl, specification, archaeology, case study, population, construction project, tourism, investigation, regulation
Subjects: industry analysis, political science, demography, sociology, contractual condition, production management, management, urban form and morphology, research methods, construction operations, data collection methods
Topics: Stakeholder Management, Governance, Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Site Management, Contract Administration, Urban Studies
Descriptive scope: 5 PCTEA

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here