Potential of Virtual Design Construction Technologies to Improve Job-Site Safety in Gulf Corporation Council

Shafiq, Muhammad Tariq; Afzal, Muneeb

doi:10.3390/su12093826

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(55 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This method was applied in this study to seek expert opinion on the following questions: (1) What is a digital twin for built environments? (2) What is the relationship of digital twins with BIM and other associated technologies? (3) What are the potential applications and challenges for the implementation of digital twins?…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The industry-wide acceptance of building information modeling (BIM) has accelerated the efforts to digitalize existing processes within the construction sector. BIM has emerged as a technology-led process, offering numerous opportunities to improve decision making during the design, construction, and management of built assets [1,2]. More recently, industry and research efforts have been exploring new technological advancements, such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), Industry 4.0, and Internet of Things (IoT), to further extend BIM capabilities with enhanced data-driven applications [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Digital Twins in Built Environments: An Investigation of the Characteristics, Applications, and Challenges

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The concept of digital twins is proposed as a new technology-led advancement to support the processes of the design, construction, and operation of built assets. Commonalities between the emerging definitions of digital twins describe them as digital or cyber environments that are bidirectionally-linked to their physical or real-life replica to enable simulation and data-centric decision making. Studies have started to investigate their role in the digitalization of asset delivery, including the management of built assets at different levels within the building and infrastructure sectors. However, questions persist regarding their actual applications and implementation challenges, including their integration with other digital technologies (i.e., building information modeling, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing). Within the built environment context, this study seeks to analyze the definitions and characteristics of a digital twin, its interactions with other digital technologies used in built asset delivery and operation, and its applications and challenges. To achieve this aim, the research utilizes a thorough literature review and semi-structured interviews with ten industry experts. The literature review explores the merits and the relevance of digital twins relative to existing digital technologies and highlights potential applications and challenges for their implementation. The data from the semi-structured interviews are classified into five themes: definitions and enablers of digital twins, applications and benefits, implementation challenges, existing practical applications, and future development. The findings provide a point of departure for future research aimed at clarifying the relationship between digital twins and other digital technologies and their key implementation challenges.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Twins in Built Environments: An Investigation of the Characteristics, Applications, and Challenges

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Generally, UAE construction projects are challenged with strict deadlines and capital expenditure caps because of private sector developers' commercial and marketing policies. As per Shafiq and Afzal (2020), different infrastructure projects costing more than US$55bn are underway in the UAE, including the construction of metro lines, Expo 2020 and airport extensions, among others. Dubai, one of the UAE's emirates, is famous for having the highest per square kilometer of construction activity globally (Faridi and El-Sayegh, 2006).…”

Section: Literature Review Significance Of the United Arab Emirates Construction Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The construction industry is slow to adopt innovative technologies and engage in digital transformation and is perceived as being stuck with old business models and practices (Takim et al, 2013). Many IT-enabled tools are available that have proven their effectiveness and reliability in achieving the successful execution of construction projects; examples include BIM (Sami Ur Rehman et al, 2020), virtual design and construction (Shafiq and Afzal, 2020), radio frequency identification (RFID) , 3D printing (Arunothayan et al, 2020) and Internet of Things (IoT) (Panteli et al, 2020). The COVID-19 The participants identified that the UAE construction industry successfully implemented different IT-based tools and techniques to reduce the number of workers at sites and allowed their teams to work remotely.…”

Section: Pandemic and Digital Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Rehman

Shafiq

Afzal

2021

JEDT

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global economy and, thus, the global construction industry. This paper aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on construction project performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and its policies on project performance in the UAE construction industry in critical areas of the project management body of knowledge (e.g. schedule, cost, resources and contracts). Semi-structured interview questions were asked from ten construction professional to obtain valuable insights into the pandemic’s effects on the UAE construction industry and the effectiveness of policies implemented to rectify the damage and identify the industry’s new normal. Findings The findings indicate that the construction industry faced several challenges such as schedule delays, disrupted cashflows, delayed permits, approvals and inspections, travel restrictions, serious health and safety concerns, material and equipment shortages, among others which hindered the timely delivery of construction projects. It also indicates that efforts made by the government institutions and the construction industry of the UAE such as economic support programs, digitization of processes, fee and fine waivers, health facilities, among other statutory relaxations proved effective in supporting the construction industry against the adverse effects of the pandemic. Research limitations/implications The research findings are limited to the literature review and ten semi-structured interviews seeking an expert’s opinion from industry professionals working in the UAE construction industry. The research team did not get access to project documents, contracts and project progress reports which may be required to validate the interview findings, and to perform an in-depth analysis quantifying the impact of COVID 19 on construction projects performance, which is a limitation of this research. Practical implications The implication is that, owing to the imposed lockdowns and strict precautionary measures to curb the rapid spread of the pandemic, smooth execution of the construction project across the country was affected. The government institutions and stakeholders of the construction projects introduced and implemented various techniques and solutions which effectively handled the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry of the UAE. Originality/value This study has identified the challenges faced by the construction industry of the UAE in the context of the management of project schedule, project cost, construction contracts, health and safety of construction employees and other related aspects of the construction projects. This study also identified the techniques and solutions adopted by various public and private institutions of the country and their implications on construction projects. Therefore, this study provides guidelines for policymakers and future research studies alike.

show abstract

“…The construction industry recorded high injury and fatal incident rates over the past few decades [1][2][3]. In the construction industry, according to the '2019 Analysis of Industrial Accident Status' by South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of victims of industrial accidents in 2019 was 25,298, which accounted for 26.9% of all industrial accident victims during that year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvements of Design for Safety in Construction through Multi-Participants Perception Analysis

Soh¹,

Jeong²,

Jeong³

2020

Applied Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For several decades, the number of reported accidents and fatal incidents in the construction industry has remained high compared to those in other industries. Therefore, many studies have been conducted in an effort to reduce accidents and fatal incidents in the construction industry. Recently, construction safety management has shifted from the construction phase to the pre-construction phase, ultimately to eliminate fatal incidents. In line with this change, South Korea enacted the Design for Safety (DfS) process in 2016. However, the current DfS process remains not well implemented for several reasons. Therefore, this study aims to present eight alternatives to improve the DfS process and suggests DfS improvement priorities by considering construction project participants and career levels using what is known as a fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) analysis. The results of this study are as follows. First, respondents overall suggested improvements in the area of ‘assignment of responsibility for DfS to the client’ (0.196). Second, improvement priorities were also identified according to construction project participants and career levels. The results of the study can be utilized as basic information for DfS improvements during construction projects.

show abstract

Potential of Virtual Design Construction Technologies to Improve Job-Site Safety in Gulf Corporation Council

Cited by 21 publications

References 48 publications

Digital Twins in Built Environments: An Investigation of the Characteristics, Applications, and Challenges

Digital Twins in Built Environments: An Investigation of the Characteristics, Applications, and Challenges

Impact of COVID-19 on project performance in the UAE construction industry

Improvements of Design for Safety in Construction through Multi-Participants Perception Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About