Technical Services

Almost all departments of a construction company which are involved in the infrastructure project tender works are listed in table 7.2a. The technical service departments will be in the focus of the next sections due to the more technical background of this thesis. The technical services are the departments for planning and scheduling, engineering and construction and production. A hint will be given for the use of this information platform for the commercial departments like procurement and cost control and estimation.

7.2.1.1 Surveying department (GIS)

The surveying department is embedded in the technical service department and supports all other departments with overview layouts, coordination and implementation of information from the site visits, volume calculations according to the tender documents, preparation of design and volume calculations for the variants of construction methods in the optimization phase. Another important task is to merge various sources of data in a kind of format that a clear introduction of the project and its conditions are clear to all participating departments. The most important information in the merged maps is the location of the project, which is given in geographical coordinates. The national coordinate system is included to establish the link to the design drawings. The GIS tool for grid labelling several coordinate systems enables this opportunity. Figure 7.2.2.1a gives an example for a layout of a project of the 36 km bridge in Kuwait which was used for the first discussion about the construction method which could be used to realize this project. A major constraint in this project is the seabed level – especially the water depth. Because of the depth the use of a huge floating crane has to be considered to place the pre-cast elements or the use of small barges as an alternative solution has to be taken into account.

Figure 7.2.2.1a Bridge project in Kuwait (Merged raw Information: Digital Terrain Model from SRTM data, Seabed level from Ministry of communications of Kuwait, Alignment for bridge and connection points, Satellite images).

A first volume calculation in this phase has more the character of checking the information handed over by the client and comparing the results with the information stated in the bill of quantities (BoQ). The volumes of cut and fill are important for production and construction methods respectively the cycle times for the machines.

Further, the procurement of material from quarries of borrow pits must be checked. To clarify if the required amount and quality of material is available in the vicinity of the project.

The preparation of documents in the survey department will include further investigations of the design documents and conversion of the data to dynamic digital formats and parameter driven calculations in order to be prepared for a positive contract award. As an example one should think about the different slanted slopes left and right along a road – slopes changing because of the kind of soil or rock material.

The reason for this is to enable the fast tracking of targets to be ready for production at the beginning of project implementation.

The survey department prepares the first basis for the settlement calculations. The cut and fill calculations which have to be done at the beginning of a project to give an idea of how extensive the earthworks will be and the permanent observation of material

placing and removing. The first thoughts about the coordinate system, the geodetic network and the original ground survey will be done to check visibility between the survey pillars and it will be investigated if the geodetic net covers the whole area of the project circumference. For these tasks GIS can be used preferably because of its functions for checking visibility it offers a good tool for the placement of survey pillars especially in rough terrain and allows the checking if the entire project area is covered by the pillars [MCCOY].

The implementation of geographic information systems in the survey department is uncomplicated because surveyors have the basic idea and advanced knowledge of applying the system for specific use cases and for the project’s benefit.

7.2.1.2 Planning department

The focus of the planning department is the preparation of pre-qualification documents, documents for works preparation, time scheduling, construction logistics, material procurement, environmental protection, quality management and quality assurance and the utilising of knowledge which was experienced during construction phase. The pre-qualification section is processing customer and project specific pre-pre-qualification inquiries from external and internal departments and branches in teamwork with all project participating branches and joint venture partners with support of the departments with their particular disciplines.

The works preparation is executing contract checking, feasibility studies, vicinity analysis and structuring of further tasks during the groundwork, when the documents are received. The second part will be a first site visit and arrangement of coordination meetings and a suggestion for a project structure. The project structure and the tasks structure will initiate the internal process for construction method planning, the equipment use, the determination of material, inquiries of and to subcontractors, time scheduling and creation of cycle time tables. Variants and the final declarations will be discussed and will be summarized in method statements, time schedules, histograms and budget plans as well as time-way diagrams (technical offer). These technical processes will be extended and refined (construction logistics) in the case of a positive contract award.

The QA and QM sections permanently assist the process either during the tender phase or at construction time. Quality assurance plans, method valuation, method and process optimization supported by test, analyses, experiments and their documentation will be established. The QA and QM use laboratories, which test the situation before

QA and QM could be elegant supported by GIS functionality. All test (drilling cores, proctor density) which will be executed on a construction site like an airport, must be collected and presented to the client’s engineer. With the help of small handheld computers the location of the test can be pinpointed by GPS technology within a necessary accuracy and stored in a GIS (in a broader sense on a site specific Map Server) with the attached results and date of the test.

7.2.1.3 Estimation department

The goal of the estimation department’s main tasks, the preparation of tender estimates, is to achieve cost covering contracts. For this purpose, it is necessary to check the contract document’s regard to their technical, financial and contractual conditions. During estimation project- and country-specific information has to be obtained on wage and salary costs, material, equipment and subcontractors. If required on-the-spot inquiries are executed. These inquiries have to be discussed and agreed with the local partners. The methods in each individual case have to be concurred with the project management. The result of the tender estimate is presented to the project management at the so-called top sheet meeting at the latest. The project management examines the result and determines the final bid price.

The estimation department’s main tasks are the - Preparation of bid calculation (Tender Estimate) - Bid calculation (Estimation after Contract Award) Further tasks include, among others:

- Support of cost control activities

- Support for construction sites with claim management - Calculation of variation orders and additional works for sites - Support for local competence units in handling projects abroad - Technical audit service

- Support for third parties with estimating related works.

After the top sheet meeting the estimation department provides support for the preparation of the bid documents such as bill of quantities, payment plan, equipment list, material list, personnel curves, etc.

7.2.1.4 Plant and Machinery

The plant and machinery engineering department deals in close cooperation with the project teams, in all plant- and machinery related tasks in all project phases. During pre-qualification the department provides support to the market division for the compilation of required documentation. This includes

- Creation of plant concepts tailored for the individual project

- Conciliation of requirements with plant items available within the construction company or joint venture partners.

In the tender phase it will select the required equipment and will determine the cycle times for the equipment as well as planning necessary manpower involved.

In the construction phase the support for equipment procurement, plant and machinery erection and establishing of site infrastructure (power, water, sewage, and communication) is the task of the staff deputed to the construction site. At the end of construction the department is responsible for the dismantling of temporary plant items and temporary site installations.

An example for the implementation of GIS could be the documentation of temporary cable routes, water pipes and communication wires which have to be removed or transferred to the client after end of construction.