Investigation of the Use of Lean Construction Practices in Transportation Construction Projects

Abstract

The use of Lean Construction (LC) concepts and tools has advanced in different sectors in the United States, including but not limited to, delivery of commercial, educational, and hospital buildings. Many contractors working on these sectors appear to use more collaborative forms of contracts and have been more willing to experimenting with LC. However, in the transportation sector Lean Construction appears to be in its early phases of adoption. This sector has used tools aiming at fostering collaboration which are developed based on recommendations from departments of transportation in different states. Yet, the sector has not embraced Lean practices that could support the design, planning, and construction of these projects. This study aimed at identifying management practices used by organizations building or managing the construction of transportation projects in Southern California and identifying opportunities to use Lean practices to deliver these projects. Interviews were carried out with contractors, owners, and consultants and later categorized to identify the practices used, gaps where LC practices could be implemented, and the level of maturity of the organizations investigated regarding the use of Lean Construction practices. Findings revealed that organizations use collaborative practices, visual management tools, 5S, and root cause analysis to investigate problems.

Difficulties in Applying Lean Construction Principles within Afghanistan's Construction Sector

“…Lean construction (LC) is a new approach and method of manufacturing that aims to save material, time, cost, and effort in construction projects. Essentially, the objective outcome of this lean construction process would be to maximize value and produce the project while eliminating time delays and inefficiencies [1,2,3,4,5]. This outcome is achieved when professional building procedures are combined with a clear understanding of project information and materials, as well as two groups of management, control, and planning archetypes.…”

Lean and Sustainable Project Delivery in Building Construction: Development of a Conceptual Framework

“…Analyzing the literature on LC reveals certain themes which have been studied considerably. These topics include, but are not limited to, LC and BIM (e.g., [33][34][35][36][37][38]), waste and value (e.g., [39][40][41][42][43]), LC and sustainability [44][45][46][47][48][49], design and planning (e.g., [50][51][52][53]), LC implementation barriers and enablers (e.g., [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]), and implications of LC application (e.g., [3,[62][63][64][65]). LC-BIM and LC-sustainability themes are explained and discussed further in the following text, as they are closely connected to the purpose of this study.…”

Qualitative Evaluation of 5S Application Considering the Experience of Electrical Construction Experts

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