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Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2020) | Viewed by 54342

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Niksa Jajac

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy, University of Split, Matice hrvatske 15, 21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: project management; decision support; urban infrastructure; planning; transportation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) titled “Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management” provides an international forum for the dissemination of the latest original research, achievements, and developments in many areas of civil engineering and management. The Special Issue aims to provide a multidisciplinary forum for researchers, designers, users, and manufacturers involved in the different fields of civil engineering and management.

The aim of this Special Issue is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical research about topics related to civil engineering and management in as much detail as possible in order to promote scientific predictions and impact assessments of global change and development. Full experimental and methodical details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced.

The Special issue publishes articles in the following fields:

Building materials and structures;
Structural mechanics and physics;
Hydrotechnical and geotechnical engineering;
Transportation, road engineering and traffic management;
Urban engineering and management;
Constructions technology, economy, and management;
Rehabilitation and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure;
Waste management, water pollution, and sanitation;
Sustainable disaster (fires, floods, and earthquakes) management;
Decision support modeling;
Sustainable planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling within construction companies;
Project management and life cycle management.

Assoc. Prof. Niksa Jajac
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainability
civil engineering
management
building
construction technology
urban engineering
infrastructure management
waste management
rehabilitation
maintenance
transportation
planning
decision making
building materials

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2694 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Hotspot Segments with a Risk of Heavy-Vehicle Accidents Based on Spatial Analysis at Controlled-Access Highway

by Norhafizah Manap, Muhamad Nazri Borhan, Muhamad Razuhanafi Mat Yazid, Mohd Khairul Azman Hambali and Asyraf Rohan

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1487; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031487 - 01 Feb 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3480

Abstract

Significant risk factors that influence the occurrence of heavy vehicle accidents have been explored in numerous studies in order to lower injury severity in traffic accidents. It is imperative to explore road sections with a high risk of heavy vehicle accident occurrence by considering the significant consequences of such accidents for road users, despite the low number of heavy vehicles in traffic flow. To address this, this study proposes a method to predict clustering hotspots for heavy vehicle accidents on the basis of three different criteria, namely, heavy vehicle accident cases, the number of heavy vehicles involved, and accident severity index values. Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation was employed to identify the clustering for each criterion, and the Getis–Ord Gi* statistic was applied to estimate the likelihood of risk along the network. This study considers the features of hotspot points at significance levels from 0.10 to 0.01 with a 1355 m buffer radius to create segments for each criterion. The three criteria for hotspots were considered within the overlapped buffer zone. A total of 22 heavy vehicle risk segments (HVRSs) were identified and then ranked by crash rate. Overall, this study demonstrates the application of different criteria to identify accident hotspots involving a specific vehicle type, which could help in prioritizing segments with a high risk of heavy vehicle accidents, as well as providing information for HVRSs for the purpose of developing appropriate countermeasures for the identified accident hotspots. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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20 pages, 11947 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative Business Model for the Management of Airports in Purpose to Identify Runway Damage in Time

by Boštjan Kovačič, Damjan Doler and Drago Sever

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 613; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020613 - 11 Jan 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1980

Abstract

Runways are exposed to significant burdens and other external factors that cause their deformation. Monitoring runway deformities and determining the resulting damage is a complicated procedure which requires a rapid and accurate assessment of these deformities and evaluation of the damage they cause. In this study, an optimized process to determine this damage based on geodetic measurements was developed. A novelty of our research is a prototype model for the maintenance of smaller airport runways with an emphasis on damage detection. The model is also intended for sustainable development, as it is open source in which we can enter various data. A model and algorithm that enables tabulation and graphical display of surface anomalies were developed for the detailed analysis of the collected data. This model allows monitoring of runway deformities to determine the resulting damage, thus facilitating timely planning of necessary maintenance. As a result, unexpected runway closures and related high costs can be prevented. In this study, we also compared the obtained results with those obtained using the open-source program Quantum GIS (QGIS) to confirm the accuracy and applicability of the algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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18 pages, 1521 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Sustainable Approach for the Maintenance of Asphalt Pavement Construction

by Jelena Kilić Pamuković, Katarina Rogulj, Daniela Dumanić and Nikša Jajac

Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010109 - 24 Dec 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3620

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a new decision support concept (DSC) related to the ever-growing problem of the maintenance of damaged asphalt pavements. In the process of defining a sustainable approach to resolving this problem, we found complexity in the different needs considering economic, social, and technical aspects. An additional contribution to the problem’s complexity was the many road sections that need to be ranked based on their need for maintenance. The priority ranking was based on the multicriteria Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method and the Analytic Hierarchy Processing (AHP) method. The DSC implementation contained the inclusion of relevant stakeholders and the definition of goals through identification of several different criteria and their weights. This approach to criteria determination provided a final ranking list of spatial units for maintenance, satisfying the needs of all stakeholders. The DSC presented in this paper was tested in the city of Split for the most important roads needing maintenance of asphalt pavements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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17 pages, 2455 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment and Utilization: A Conceptual Innovative Recycling Solution System for Water Resource Recovery

by Muhammad Bin Nisar, Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, Muhammad Owais Tariq and Muhammad Waseem

Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10350; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410350 - 11 Dec 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 10864

Abstract

The global demand for drinking water is increasing day by day. Different methods are used for desalination of water, which can help in the conservation of resources, such as seawater, highly saline, or treated water underground reservoirs. Polluted water can be treated by the utilization of different advanced techniques. In this study, wastewater mixed canal water has been taken into consideration for the utilization of humans and agriculture use as well. A two-stage conceptual methodology has been proposed to deal with the water conservation and utilization process. In the first phase, power has been produced using a Belgian vortex turbine, which is a safe, efficient, and eco-friendly technology working without disturbing waterways. The power produced by the vortex machine will be utilized to operate the water treatment plant to obtain clean water for utilization in the second phase. Since enough energy is produced, and its availability to the water head level base is a natural resource, this energy can be used to fulfill daily water requirements by maximizing the energy-driven treatment process as per WHO Guidelines. Water quality can be monitored at regular intervals, depending upon the selection and installation of a treatment plant. An increase in efficiency comes from nearly exponential patterns depending on water velocity and availability. This technique will not only help in the production of clean water but will also help in the conservation of groundwater resources and the efficient utilization of wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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28 pages, 2693 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Contribution of Workers’ Attributes on Sustainability of Construction Project Realization Goals—Survey on the Impact on Productivity in Croatia

by Držislav Vidaković, Marijana Hadzima-Nyarko and Saša Marenjak

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9946; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239946 - 27 Nov 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3032

Abstract

The work of workers is still dominant in the realization of most construction projects and therefore has a great impact on the productivity of contractors and, thereby, on the sustainability of realization of the goals of contractors and clients. This article provides an overview of the results of more than 100 studies from the previous decade on the impacts of factors related to the personal attributes of workers on the productivity and performance of construction projects. Based on the reviewed literature and semi-structured interviews with experienced professionals in the construction industry, the relation between worker characteristics and other influences on labor productivity is defined and a list of worker characteristics suitable for research in Croatia is compiled. A survey of 262 workers, engineers, and managers from construction industries of Croatia’s eastern region, Slavonia and Baranja, showed that the worker characteristics that most influence labor productivity are experience and dexterity. It was also noticed, with a high correlation between the different groups of respondents, that physical strength and morale and morality of the workers were rated as highly influential, while education level was rated as the least influential. The research results are useful because they indicate the possibility of significantly improving the productivity of construction contractors by selecting workers with appropriate physical abilities and cognitive and non-cognitive skills, as well as developing a suitable system for training and motivation of employees. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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21 pages, 44578 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Delay Factors Management and Ranking for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Projects Based on the Relative Importance Index (RII)

by Basem Al Khatib, Yap Soon Poh and Ahmed El-Shafie

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156171 - 31 Jul 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5370

Abstract

In recent decades, the construction industry has developed rapidly. Delay was and remains one of the most important challenges negatively affecting not only this industry but also the economy and sustainable development. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the delay factors in reconstruction projects because of the vital importance of these types of projects. This is the first attempt to conduct such an analysis for reconstruction projects in particular, and it is a continuation of the previous case study, which was considered one of the most important reconstruction projects in the Middle East region. The previous study focused on determining the types of delay factors used in this project. It is necessary to carry out advance in-depth analysis to sort the delay factors based on their effect on the project plan. In order to achieve the study goal, 93 questionnaires were distributed by hand to experts working on the project: some of them working the day shift, and the others working the night shift. The questionnaire results were analyzed and delay factors were sorted in descending order according to the relative importance index (RII). The three main factors affecting the overall reconstruction project duration were site restrictions and conditions, electrical and mechanical rerouting works, and design buildability and adjustment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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18 pages, 440 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Survey on Integration of Optimization and Project Management Tools for Sustainable Construction Scheduling

by Borna Dasović, Mario Galić and Uroš Klanšek

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3405; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083405 - 22 Apr 2020

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 8341

Abstract

Construction scheduling, in practice, commonly relies on the usage of commercial project management tools (PMT) without specific optimization features. To obtain optimal schedules, planners often need to develop separate optimization models with special tools, which, however, demand further processing and editing of optimization results by PMT into forms expected for project management. In this regard, separation of optimization and PMT also requires considerable additional work for complete and harmonized updating of schedules during construction execution. Mentioned drawbacks and lack of available time may take to deficient construction scheduling during the implementation phase resulting in poor or even insufficient realization of project goals. Therefore, this paper presents an achievements survey on the integration of optimization and PMT that allow sustainable construction scheduling, particularly in terms of continuous optimal time and resource allocation throughout the project life cycle. Such work has not yet been comprehensively done up to now and the present contribution intends to fill a literature gap in the aforesaid area. Following a brief introduction, the optimization platform for construction scheduling is given in the article. Focusing on construction scheduling, an in-depth achievements survey on the integration of heuristics methods, mathematical programming and special solving methods with conventional PMT as well as optimization-based building information modeling (BIM) tools is then performed and findings are reported. The paper ends with conclusions and recommendations for further research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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16 pages, 2359 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid Genetic Algorithm-Based Approach for Estimating Flood Losses on Structures of Buildings

by Tomáš Hanák, Martin Tuscher and Oto Přibyl

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 3047; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12073047 - 10 Apr 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2830

Abstract

Occurrence of extreme natural events raises the need for a quick and accurate estimation of losses on the insured residential property in order to support timely recovery of the area. Although various models are now available to estimate the amount of loss on buildings, there is a lack of models providing a sufficient level of detail and accuracy that can be used for insurance purposes. In this study, a hybrid genetic algorithm-based model for flood loss estimation on the structures of buildings is presented. The proposed model combines the ordinary least squares method, a genetic algorithm, and the bill of costs method, which offers a good balance of maximum simplicity on the one hand and the accuracy of calculation on the other hand. The model considers the geometric characteristics (dimensions and shape) of rooms and is enabled to work with various types of materials and structures, as well as a variable depth of flooding. The results achieved show that in quick loss estimation, the model provides highly accurate results which meet the requirements for its use for the purposes of settlement of real insurance claims by insurance companies. The article outlines the potential automated connection of the model to insurance companies’ information system in order to create a simple building information model (BIM) of the insured property (building’s structures). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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25 pages, 6955 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of High Temperature and Inclination Angle on Mechanical Properties and Fracture Behavior of Granite at Low Strain Rate

by Liang Chen, Xianbiao Mao and Peng Wu

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1255; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031255 - 10 Feb 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2614

Abstract

Comprehensive understanding of the effects of temperature and inclination angle on mechanical properties and fracture modes of rock is essential for the design of rock engineering under complex loads, such as the construction of nuclear waste repository, geothermal energy development and stability assessment of deep pillar. In this paper, a novel inclined uniaxial compression (inclined UCS) test system was introduced to carry out two series of inclined uniaxial compression tests on granite specimens under various inclination angles (0–20°) and treated temperatures (25–800 °C) at 5° inclination. Experimental results revealed that the peak compression stress and elastic modulus gradually decreased, while peak shear stress increased nonlinearly with the increasing inclination angle; the peak compression and shear stress as well as elastic modulus slightly increased from 25 to 200 °C, then gradually decreased onwards with the increasing temperature. The effect of temperature on peak axial strain was the same as that on peak shear displacement. Acoustic emission (AE) results suggested that the relationship between crack initiation stress, inclination angle and treated temperature followed a similar trend as that of the peak compression stress and elastic modulus. Particularly, the crack initiation (CI) stress threshold and shear stress corresponding to CI threshold under 800 °C were only 7.4% of that under 200 °C and revealed a severe heat damage phenomenon, which was consistent with the results of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with the appearance of a large number of thermal pores observed only under 800 °C. The failure modes tended to shear failure with the increasing inclination angle, indicating that the shear stress component can accelerate sliding instability of rocks. On the other hand, the failure patterns with different temperatures changed from combined splitting-shear failure (25–400 °C) to single shear failure (600 and 800 °C). The study results can provide an extremely important reference for underground thermal engineering construction under complex loading environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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27 pages, 10587 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study on Physical-mechanical Properties and Fracture Behaviors of Saturated Yellow Sandstone Considering Coupling Effect of Freeze-Thaw and Specimen Inclination

by Liang Chen, Peng Wu, Yanlong Chen and Wei Zhang

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1029; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031029 - 31 Jan 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2254

Abstract

The effect of freeze-thaw on the physical-mechanical properties and fracture behavior of rock under combined compression and shear loading was crucial for revealing the instability mechanism and optimizing the structure design of rock engineering in cold regions. However, there were few reports on the failure behavior of rock treated by freeze-thaw under combined compression and shear loading due to the lack of test equipment. In this work, a novel combined compression and shear test (C-CAST) system was introduced to carry out a series of uniaxial compression tests on saturated yellow sandstone under various inclination angles (θ = 0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°) and the number of freeze-thaw cycles (N = 0, 20, 40, and 60). The test results showed that the P-wave velocity dramatically decreased, while the rock quality and porosity increased gradually as N increased; the peak compression strength and elastic modulus obviously decreased with the increasing θ and N, while the peak shear stress increased gradually with the increasing θ and decreased with the increase of N, indicating that the shear stress component can accelerate the crack propagation and reduce its resistance to deformation. The acoustic emission (AE) results revealed that the change of crack initiation (CI) stress and crack damage (CD) stress with the θ and N had a similar trend as that of the peak compression strength and elastic modulus. Particularly, the CI and CD thresholds at 60 cycles were only 81.31% and 84.47% of that at 0° cycle and indicated a serious freeze-thaw damage phenomenon, which was consistent with the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with the appearance of some large-size damage cracks. The fracture mode of sandstone was dependent on the inclination angle. The failure mode developed from both the tensile mode (0°) and combined tensile-shear mode (5°) to a pure shear failure (10°–15°) with the increasing inclination angle. Meanwhile, the freeze-thaw cycle only had an obvious effect on the failure mode of the specimen at a 5° inclination. Finally, a novel multivariate regression analysis method was used to predict the peak compression strength and elastic modulus based on the initial strength parameters (θ = 0°, N = 0). The study results can provide an important reference for the engineering design of rock subjected to a complex stress environment in cold regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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Review

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25 pages, 2109 KiB

Open AccessReview

Understanding the Key Quality Factors in Construction Projects—A Systematic Literature Review

by Sławomir Wawak, Žanesa Ljevo and Mladen Vukomanović

Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10376; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410376 - 11 Dec 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8943

Abstract

Project management frameworks describe the preferred approaches to project quality management, as well as applicable methods and tools. Despite this, quality problems in the construction project are still widespread. This study aimed to identify crucial quality-related factors in construction project management and find relations between them, to help researchers and project managers better respond to quality issues. A systematic literature review (SLR) was used to identify previous studies on quality-related factors. Literature review and further quantitative analysis revealed that quality-related factors are related to three categories: Quality of project process, quality of organisational processes, and quality of results (products), which together create the quality of the whole construction project. The results highlight quality-related factors (14 related to the quality of processes, 6 to quality of an organisation, and 13 to quality of products) that should be taken into account in further research, as well as planning and executing construction projects. Their inclusion at the planning stage should help project managers, sponsors, and steering committees avoid or minimise quality-related problems. Moreover, this study sheds an interesting light on quality. We found that the quality of processes and quality of an organisation has precedence over the final product quality. Based on the results of the study, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to create a null model that will be the starting point for further research in the construction enterprises. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Issues in Civil Engineering and Management)

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