CONSTRUCTION

Electronic Submission in Construction: Government Approval Practice and Potential Issues in Malaysia

Nurillya Zahimi — 2024-03-03

Post-COVID-19 has strongly impacted the construction industry worldwide; many parties took alternatives to facilitate the relatively overdue work arrangements. The Malaysian construction industry has been directly affected and has had to increase the adoption of One-Stop Centre (OSC) electronic submissions. According to the Malaysian online system submission policies, it is necessary to obtain construction approval from the OSC through the implementation by town councils. Not understanding the process and documents involved in this procedure might result in ineffective submissions. Hence, the study objectives are to identify: 1) The current submission process and documents for construction approval to town councils, and 2) Issues related to the e-submission process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals from twenty town (20) city councils in Malaysia to achieve those objectives. The results indicate that the general process includes submitting the required documents through the OSC, validation of submittals, and meeting approvals. The required documents include planning permissions, drawings, engineering plans, environmental management plans, landowner documents, and approvals by other government agencies. Finally, the issues with the e-submission include technical problems and the lack of experience of all involved stakeholders. These findings can be used by policymakers to improve the submission system and industry practitioners in acquiring construction approvals.

Use of Seashell as Cement Replacement in Construction Material: A Review

Sofia Adibah Jasni — 2024-03-03

Growing construction industry boost cement manufacturing industry which consume a large amount of natural resources and releases greenhouse gases during cement production affects the environment. A lot of researchers attempt to find alternatives in integrating waste into concrete mixes and can be reused in cementitious construction material. Seashells are one of the waste materials that would give harm to their own biodiversity as it would occupy the landfills and seashores. Seashell is known to be very hard and protective on the outer layer produced by an animal that lives in the sea. This review paper is focused in using seashells as cement replacements in construction material. This academic review paper examines the potential of utilizing seashells, including various types such as a cockle, clam, oyster, and scallop as a sustainable and environmentally beneficial alternative to traditional usage in construction. By exploring the practical applications and economic viability of seashell-based concrete, this research aims to contribute to the broader discourse on eco-friendly construction practices and sustainable resources utilization in the construction industry.

Effect of Mega Railway Projects on Small and Medium Construction Companies: Impact and Problems

Nurul Atiqah Ab Hakim — 2024-03-03

Railway mega-projects are typically enormous large-scale investment projects that require a long time to develop and build. However, compared to other types of transportation, the railway is a safe mode of land transportation. Therefore, development such as railway mega-projects positively impacts small and medium construction companies. This study aims to study the impact of railway mega-projects on small and medium construction companies and investigate the problems that small and medium construction companies experience involving railway mega-projects. This study used a qualitative method of open-ended interviews to collect data from small and medium construction companies. The collected data from twenty individuals were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The results show that the challenges of mega railway projects are divided into technical and resources. Apart from that, job opportunities are the main factor contributing to the impact of mega railway projects. The study contributes by providing insights on the impact of mega railway projects on small and medium construction companies and the challenges involving mega railway projects.

Recycling of Oil Palm Shell as Aggregate in Concrete: A Review

Norasyimah Ahmad @ Mohd Din — 2024-03-13

The consideration of using alternative materials as coarse aggregates in construction industry is to conserve the natural resources, reduce undesirable carbon dioxide (CO2) and environmental degradation related to conventional aggregate. Oil palm shell (OPS) which is a by-product from oil palm industry has shown potentials as an alternative to the conventional aggregate in concrete production. This paper reviews the previous studies on the application of OPS as a construction material and has been extensively used in tropical countries. The performance of OPS meets the minimum requirements for lightweight aggregates. It is suitable material for the production of structural lightweight aggregate concrete with 28-day compressive strength more than 25 MPa. The various improvement techniques employed OPS concrete that resulted in improved OPS concrete performance are also highlighted in this review.

Water Quality Evaluation of Tigris River by using Canadian and Horton Water Quality Index

Zainab Altemimi — 2024-03-13

Water quality index (WQI) is a simplified and explicable number calcuated from data on tested prameters in water. In this study, two methods for calculating water quality index (WQI) were used to assess the water quality of Tigris River using monthly data from 2011 to 2013. The data were collected at four different gauging stations. Two gauing stations are located on Tigris River at upstream in Mosul city while the other two downstream gauging stations are located on Tigris River at downstream in Al-Amarah city. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment’s (CCME WQI) and Horton (Horton’s WQI) methods were applied to assess the water quality of Tigris River at the selected stations. The data used in the assessment included several parameters such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), sulfate (SO₄), bicarbonate (HCO₃), nitrate (NO₃), total dissolved solid (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) and electric conductivity (EC). According to the values of CCME WQI mehod, the quality of Tigris River in Mosul city was at a good level (the values of WQI were varied from 83 to 94) while it and falls under the marginal category in Al-Amarah city (the values were varied from varied from 52 to 59). However, the application of Horton’s WQI method showed that the quality of Tigris River in Mosul city was fluctuated from excellent to good (values of WQI varied from 24 to 80 per month) while it was poor in Al-Amarah city (values of WQI varied from 74 to 160 per month). In conclusion, the Horton’s WQI method was found more relastic when used to assess the water quality of Tigris River compared with CCME WQI method.

Stabilization of Expansive Soil using Silica Fume and Lime

Muhammad Syamsul Imran Zaini — 2024-04-29

Structures built on soft clays frequently encounter stability and settlement issues owing to the high compressibility, low shear strength, and poor permeability of such clay types. These characteristics often result in bearing capacity failure and excessive settlement, posing significant challenges to construction projects. Therefore, the study investigates the strength enhancement of expansive clay soil with the inclusion of various percentages and combinations of silica fume (SF) and lime (L). Hence, the mechanical characteristics of various mix ratios of SF and L are examined via the standard Proctor, and unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The samples were treated for 1, 7, 14 and 30 days and examined under the UCS tests. The experimental results show that the strength of the expansive clay significantly rises with the inclusion of SF and L at dissimilar mix ratios and curing days. The mixture of SF and L resulted in a significant strength increment of the kaolinite clay soil up to 80.22%.

Soft Computing Modeling Including Artificial Neural Network, Non-linear, and Linear Regression Models to Predict the Compressive Strength of Sustainable Mortar Modified with Palm Oil Fuel Ash

Ferhad Rahim Karim — 2024-04-29

Producing sustainable concrete and mortar is the idea that have been investigated by many researchers in the world through using waste materials in the mortar or concrete compositions to reduce the thread on the environment. In order to predict the compressive strength of mortar, this article proposes statistical models utilising linear regression (LR), nonlinear regression (NLR), and artificial neural network (ANN) based on experimental data collected from prior research in the field. The pozzolanic material used in mortar is agricultural waste, specifically Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA). In order to choose the most efficient model, the proposed models were evaluated using several statistical parameters. When compared to alternative models (Linear regression, nonlinear regression, and ANN), the one developed using ANN proved to be the most efficient in terms of approach, giving lower values for root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) which were 5.11, and 4.175 respectively. The suggested ANN model performed well according to the scatter index (SI), and the coefficient of determination value (R²) value was 34% more than the R² in the LR model and 23% greater in the NLR model.

Performance of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Different Cooling Methods at High Temperature

Zhang Li — 2024-04-30

To explore the tensile properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete under different cooling methods after high temperatures, this paper considers steel fiber reinforced concrete after five different temperatures, under natural cooling and rapid water cooling, conducting split-tension mechanical property studies. The failure form and splitting peak stress of steel fiber reinforced concrete under different working conditions are obtained by experiments, comparative analysis of cooling methods, influence of high temperature and steel fiber content on tensile properties of concrete splitting, the main conclusions are as follows: as the temperature rises, the failure pattern of steel fiber reinforced concrete developed from one main penetrating crack to several cracks on the specimen surface; the addition of steel fiber can effectively improve the plastic characteristics of concrete, the apparent cracks in the concrete also increase. As the temperature rises, the peak tensile stress of steel fiber reinforced concrete decreases gradually, the increase in temperature leads to some extent to a greater influence of steel fiber on the mechanical properties of concrete splitting; as the steel fiber dosage increases, significant increase in concrete splitting mechanical properties, concrete splitting peak stress after high temperature is relatively high. The peak stress of concrete splitting under natural cooling is lower than that under rapid water cooling. At the same time, mathematical modeling of the effect of steel fiber admixture and high temperature on the peak splitting tensile stress of concrete under two cooling methods is derived, and the force mechanism is discussed and analyzed. The results of the study provide a theoretical basis for the analysis and calculation of steel fiber concrete structures after fire.

Strength of Kaolinitic Clay Soil Stabilized with Lime and Palm Oil Fuel Ash

Muhammad Syamsul Imran Zaini — 2024-04-30

The use of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) mixed with lime as a catalyst in soil stabilization can significantly improve the stability of problematic soils and improve their engineering properties. Problematic soils can obstruct the construction process due to its low strength and low bearing capacity. In this study, various laboratory tests were carried out to determine the engineering properties of the soil’s mixture which includes Atterberg limit, particle size distribution, compaction, and unconfined compression test. 4%, 8% and 12% POFA were mixed with 6% hydrated lime to stabilized the kaolinitic clay soil at different curing days (1, 7, 14, and 30 days). Compared to untreated kaolin, the addition of POFA plus lime resulted in higher undrained shear strength. The maximum undrained shear strength (USS) is 32.68kN/m², which was obtained on the 30^th day of curing with the optimal mixture of stabilized kaolin which is kaolin mixed 6% of lime and 12% of POFA. The unconfined compressive strength increased by 185.04% compared to the unconfined compressive strength of untreated kaolinitic clay with a value of 65.36 kN/m². This proves that kaolin stabilized with lime and POFA can increase the strength parameters of clay, thus reducing construction costs for soil stabilization and reducing environmental issues.

Shear Strength of Soft Soil Reinforced with Singular Bottom Ash Column

Muhammad Syamsul Imran Zaini — 2024-05-06

Structures construct on soft clays are often affected by stability and settlement problems due to high compressibility, low shear strength and low permeability of soft clay which will lead to bearing capacity failure and excessive settlement. The soft clay samples had the dimensions of 50 mm diameter and 100 mm in height. The bottom ash column had two (2) different area replacement ratios which were 4% and 9% (10 mm and 15 mm diameters respectively) with the bottom ash column penetration ratio of 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0. The results of the unconfined compression test show that there is an improvement in shear strength of soft kaolin clay when reinforced with bottom ash column. For samples with area replacement ratio 4%, the results show the increment of 25%, 37.5% and 50% at height penetrating ratio of 0.3, 0.7 and 1.0, respectively in shear strength. Meanwhile, for samples of 9% area replacement ratio, the shear strength of the soft kaolin clay increased about 14.29, 28.57 and 57.14%, respectively. It can be concluded that by reinforcing the soft clay using singular bottom ash column, the shear strength of the soils increases and become more significant as the area replacement ratios and the column penetration ratios increase.