Lin, L-k (1994) Improving the productivity of roadway construction job sites with a portable expert system. PhD thesis, University of Utah, USA.
Abstract
This research developed an expert system on a portable computer, "Portable Expert System" (PES), which can increase the productivity at roadway construction job sites by improving the management of construction. The PES consists of two separate modules: (1) Inspection of the sidewalk, curb and gutter, and driveway approach rehabilitation: This "Portable Inspection Expert System" (PIES) can decide if replacement, jacking, or a do nothing treatment of concrete sections is required. An expert system was developed based on the following factors: displacement, surface, cracks, water effect, tree root effect, and shape of adjacent sections for rehabilitating sidewalk, curb and gutter, and driveway approach sections. (2) Inspection of roadway construction process: Three submodules were developed in this "Portable Asphalt Pavement Construction Expert System" (PAPCES) to aid in the inspection of roadway pavement construction process. (a) Controls on the paving equipment--advises the inspection engineer on the adjustments of the paving machine operation. (b) Allowed compaction time for asphalt pavement--supplies appropriate figures or data of asphalt compaction time period to inspection engineers. (c) Pavement construction and compaction techniques--provides the inspection engineer with appropriate expert advice on roadway construction and compaction techniques based on different job-site conditions. The PES program was developed by using "KnowledgePro Window" expert system shell and installed into "Dauphin DTR-1" pen-based portable computer. PES had been tested with several engineers, and a follow-up survey was conducted after the test. Feedback from the survey was analyzed to improved its limitations. The major advantage of PES is to input the existing field conditions into the computer, and then it will immediately recommend an appropriate decision at the construction job site. As a result, the consistency of decisions made by the inspectors at construction job sites can be significantly improved.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | pavement; replacement; expert system; feedback; productivity; rehabilitation |
| Index terms: | pavement construction, engineer, window, asphalt pavement, expert system, program, productivity, module, construction process, replacement, paving, inspection, survey |
| Subjects: | management, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, profession, materials science, software systems, transportation engineering, architectural elements, quality assurance, building construction, infrastructure engineering, data management |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Site Management, Digital Applications, Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Design Practice, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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