University of Duhok

College of Engineering
Surveying Engineering Dep.

QS and Construction Methods

Introduction to Construction Methods

Yousif Y. Zaia
(MSc Quantity Surveying)
The Construction Industry The University of
Duhok
Surveying Engineering
The construction industry is essentially a service industry whose responsibility is to
convert plans and specifications into a finished product. It is exceedingly complex and
highly individual in character.

The construction industry (including design, new and renovation construction, the
manufacture and supply of building materials and equipment) is one of the largest
industries. While construction has traditionally been a very conservative industry, the
increasing rate of technological development and growing international competition in
the industry are serving to accelerate the development of new construction methods,
equipment, materials and management techniques.

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Construction industry divisions: Duhok

Surveying Engineering

Constructing any project includes many steps and relations among owners, engineers,
contractors, companies, factories, materials and equipment providers, workers and
others.

Engineer should be aware of various methods of construction and its cost to be able to
perform the work with least cost.
Engineer should take into consideration the different methods that the project can be
done and the equipment which are going to be used.

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Industry Sectors:
Surveying Engineering
There are five basic sectors of the industry:
1- Residential building
2- Commercial building
3- Heavy civil construction
4- Industrial construction
5- Environmental construction
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1- Residential Building Duhok

Surveying Engineering
Residential construction addresses the housing needs of a society. Housing
construction takes many forms: individual homes, apartments (flats), townhouses and
prefabricated units such as modular and manufactured homes.

2- Commercial Building
This sector of the industry primarily addresses the needs of commerce, trade and
government. This is the category that includes banks, schools, office buildings, hotels,
shopping malls, religious facilities, baseball stadiums, theatres, universities,
amusement parks, hospitals, some government buildings, and other facilities where
people gather.

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3- Heavy Civil Construction Duhok

Surveying Engineering

This sector of the industry impacts all of society in a very big way. Often
referred to as horizontal construction, the heavy civil sector includes roadways,
bridges, tunnels, dams, airports, and railways. Or, any work that is associated
with infrastructure and transportation.

Equipment operators play a huge role in the work of a heavy civil project.
Heavy civil contractors make huge investments in equipment. Keeping the
earth movers, excavators, scrappers, and trucks rolling is the name of the game
for this sector of the industry.

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4- Industrial Construction Surveying Engineering

This sector of the industry is highly specialized and requires firms with vast
resources and significant construction and engineering expertise. The number
of contractors qualified to work within the industrial sector is limited.
Manufacturing plants, electrical generating facilities, oil refineries, pipelines,
steel mills, and chemical processing plants are all examples of industrial
construction projects.

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5- Environmental Construction Surveying Engineering

Generally, this sector of the industry is comprised of projects that improve the
environment, maintain public health, and contribute to a community’s quality
of life. Think clean water, sanitary sewers, and waste management.

The construction manager works with both the architect and the engineer on a
regular basis throughout the construction process.

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Design process
Duhok
Surveying Engineering

There are four steps to the design process:

1. Programming and possibility
2. Schematic design
3. Design development
4. Contract documents

These steps are sequential and build on one another. As the designers work
through the process, they move the design from concept to detailed
drawings.

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Project Cost Duhok

Surveying Engineering
The cost of any project is a very important factor and can be divided into:
a) Material cost
b) Labour cost
c) Machine and equipment cost
d) Engineering supervision cost
e) profits
The design engineer has a strong influence over the first four points while it is
hard to control the profit.

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Surveying Engineering
Some ways in which productivity can be increased and costs
minimized during construction include:
1. Good work planning.
2. Carefully selecting and training workers and managers.
3. Efficiently scheduling labour, materials and equipment.
4. Properly organizing work.
5. Using laboursaving techniques such as prefabrication and
preassembly.
6. Minimizing rework through timely quality control.
7. Preventing accidents through good safety procedures.

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Construction Activities Surveying Engineering

Most construction projects are divided into specific activities of work, each with
a specific objective and length of time to accomplish.
Each activity generally has a specific beginning and ending point and may
require a specific trade classification.

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Example: The construction of a reinforced concrete retaining wall can be
divided into following activities:
1. Layout (planning) of site.
2. Excavating of earth mechanically.
3. Excavating of earth manually.
4. Building and erecting of forms.
5. Erection of reinforcing steel.
6. Pouring )Casting) of concrete.
7. Curing of the concrete.
8. Removing of forms.
9. Finishing the concrete surface.
10. Clean up of the site.

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Surveying Engineering

The following steps should be followed before commencing the work

program:
 Preparing a list of the project activities.
 Estimating the time required to complete each activity.
 Specifying the time of performing each activity and the sequence of the
activities.

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Job Layout Surveying Engineering

One of the first duties of the supervisor engineer is to prepare a job layout for
the project.
On this layout a plan should draw to scale the area available for: Offices,
Warehouses, Storage of materials, Equipment, Construction forms and Work
shops for fabricating reinforcing steel.

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Steps should be considered when preparing the layout Surveying Engineering

1. Arrange all areas to reduce the time consumed in carrying materials from storage areas to the
project.
2. Materials that are similar in use should be stored close together.
3. The general office should be located near the main entrance in order that persons visiting the
project for business purposes will not have to travel around the construction areas to reach
the office.
4. The general warehouse should be near the entrance in order to facilitate the delivery of
materials to be stored in the warehouse.
5. If a warehouse is needed to store heavy materials, such as machines that will be incorporated
into the project, it may be desirable to consider using additional warehouses, located near the
project.

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The figure shown below illustrates a job layout for a multistorey reinforced
concrete frame building.

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Project Control Duhok
Surveying Engineering

Once the process of construction started, controlling the progress of construction

is important.
The project must be monitored from beginning to end to ensure that all of the
following targets are met.
Time

Cost Quality

Project control requires continuous monitoring and evaluation of actual

performance relative to the estimated performance for all aspects of the job that
have an impact on cost, time and quality.

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1- Quality Control Duhok
Surveying Engineering
The plans and specifications are the primary tools used to verify project
quality. The best way to track quality performance on a project is to prepare
and implement a complete quality plan.

Quality Control Inspection

• Organization and Staffing Responsibilities

• Inspection Plan and Field Practices
• Documentation
• Material Testing

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Surveying Engineering
2- Controlling cost:
The original estimate used for bidding purposes is converted to a project
budget and establishes the benchmark from which project costs are
monitored. During this conversion process, which usually takes place right
after the contract award, quoted prices are confirmed with purchase orders
and subcontracts. Sometimes there are minor adjustments made in the
budget because of price fluctuations between the time when the job was bid
and when the work begins, but generally the budget contains the same work
packages developed in the estimate.

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Surveying Engineering

3- Time Control:
Time controlling is done through scheduling which is a time phased plan.
Schedules are used as guides during the performance of an operation in
order to control the pace of activities and to permit completion of the
operation at the desired or required time.
There are a number of different forms of schedules that may be used,
including written schedules, bar graph schedules (Gantt charts), network
schedules and others.

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A simple bar graph The University of
Duhok
Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering
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Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering

Soil Compaction and Stabilization

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Soil compaction and stabilization Duhok

Surveying Engineering

Compaction is the process of increasing the density of a soil by mechanically

forcing the soil particles closer together, thereby expelling air from the void
spaces in the soil.

Compaction has been employed for centuries to improve the engineering

properties of soil. Improvements include increased bearing strength, reduced
compressibility, improved volume-change characteristics, and reduced
permeability.

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Surveying Engineering

Compaction can be done by the following basic

methods:

1- Kneading Action
2- Impact
3- Vibration
4- Static Weight

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Surveying Engineering
Types of Compacting Equipment:
Equipment manufacturers have developed a variety of compactors that
incorporate at least one of the compaction methods, and in some cases
more than one, into their performance capabilities.

There are many types of compaction equipment such as:

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1 – Tamping Rollers Surveying Engineering

A- Sheep’s foot rollers

1- These rollers are either self-propelled or towed drums.
2- These rollers have steel wheels equipped with cylindrical pads or feet.
3- It utilizes static weight and kneading to achieve compaction.
4- Suitable for compacting all fined-grained materials, but is generally not
suitable for use on cohesion less granular materials.

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Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering
B- Modified Tamping rollers:

1- Self propelled no vibratory rollers

2- The pads are tapered with an oval or rectangular face

3- The pad face is smaller than the base of the pad at the drum
4- Effective on all soils except pure sand.

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Surveying Engineering

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2 – Smooth wheel Rollers:

Duhok
Surveying Engineering
These rollers can be classified according to its type or weight.

a- By type:

• Three wheel & two axle rollers

• Two wheel tandem rollers
• Three wheel tandem rollers.
• The three wheel & two axle rollers are used for granular & granular
plastic material.
• The two & three wheel tandem used for sandy soil granular material
with clay binder.

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Surveying Engineering

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b- By weight: Surveying Engineering

For example 10 ton, 20 ton ……etc.

The compacting drums are empty and can be filled with sand or
water. When it says that a smooth wheel roller with (14 – 20) ton,
that means the weight of the smooth wheel roller is 14 tons and can
be increased to 20 tons.

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3 – Pneumatic-tired rollers : Surveying Engineering

These are rubber tire rollers filled with air.

Types: -
i)- Small types used for sandy silt , sandy clay , gravely sand. Asphalt
(4-9) tires on one axle.
ii) - Large type used for all types of soil & all depths.
With (15-200) ton.

There are other types called

Pneumatic rubber roller with variable air pressing which
enables the operator to change the pressure of the tires without
stopping.

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Surveying Engineering

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Vibrating Compactors Duhok
Surveying Engineering

Vibration creates impact forces, and these forces result in greater compacting
energy than an equivalent static load. This fact is the economics behind a
vibratory compactor.
The impact forces are higher than the static forces because the vibrating drum
converts potential energy into kinetic energy.
Certain types of soils such as sand, gravel, and relatively large shot rock
respond quite well to compaction produced by a combination of pressure and
vibration. When these materials are vibrated, the particles shift their positions
and nestle more closely with adjacent particles to increase the density of the
mass.
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Surveying Engineering
Types of vibratory compacters

1 – Sheep's foot vibratory compactors

2 – Steel drum vibratory compactors.
3 – Pad type vibratory compactors.
4 – Manually operated vibrating compactors
- Used in confined areas where large compactors
- could not operate
- Can be operated either manually as a walk behind unit or by
remote control.

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Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering

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Estimating Compactor Production Duhok

Surveying Engineering
The following equation may be used to calculate compactor production based
on compactor speed, lift thickness and effective width of compaction. The
accuracy of the result obtained will depend on the accuracy in estimating
speed and lift thickness.

𝟏𝟔. 𝟑 ∗ 𝑾 ∗ 𝑺 ∗ 𝑳 ∗ 𝑬
𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝑪𝒀/𝒉 =
𝑷
𝟏𝟎 ∗ 𝑾 ∗ 𝑺 ∗ 𝑳 ∗ 𝑬
𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑪𝑪𝑴/𝒉 =
𝑷
Where P: Number of passes required
W: Width compacted per pass (ft. or m)
S: Compactor speed (mile/h or km/h)
L: Compacted lift thickness (in or cm)
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E: Job efficiency
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Example : Duhok
Surveying Engineering

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Soil Stabilization
The University of
Duhok
Surveying Engineering

While soil stabilization technically includes all the techniques described

above, in common construction usage the term soil stabilization refers to
the improvement of the engineering properties of a soil by use of physical
or chemical admixture.

The principle physiochemical admixtures used for soil stabilization

include granular materials, Portland cement, lime and asphalt. Table 5-5
lists these materials along with the applicable soil, typical percentage
employed, and their curing time.
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Surveying Engineering

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The reason of compaction is for improving soil Duhok

Surveying Engineering
properties like:

1 – Reduce or prevent settlement.

2 – Increase strength.
3 – Improve bearing capacity.
4 – Control volume changes.
5 – Lowering permeability.

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Example:- Duhok
Surveying Engineering
For the compaction of a road of 8 km length & 10 m width use clay soil with the
thickness of the layer is 0.2m, use a smooth wheel roller.
Determine:
1 – The time required to compacting the road.
2 – Number of trucks for providing the required soil for filling of the roads.
If:
1 – Width of roller = 2.1m.
2 – Number of compactions = 9 times.
3 – Precent of stopping = 20%.
4 – Capacity of trucks = 15m3 (loose material)
5 – Over lap of layers = 10 cm.
6 – Velocity of roller = 4 km/hr.
7 – Hour of working = 50 min.
8 – Day of working = 8 hr.
9 – Density of soil = 1450 kg/m3 (loose material)
Density of soil = 1800 kg/m3 (compacted material

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Solution: Duhok
Surveying Engineering
No. of road parts = 10/(2.1- 0.1) = 5 times the roller will move on the road.
Total compacted length (D) = 5 * 8 * 9 = 360 km
Work time (hr) = D/V =360/(4*50/60) = 108 hr. of work.

Work time (day) =108/8 = 13.5 ≈ 14 days

Duration (with stopping) = 14/(1-0.2) ≈17.5= 18 days .

Volume of compacted material (c.m.) = (8*103 )*10*0.2
= 8000*10*0.2 = 16000 m3

Volume of loose material (l.m.) = 16000*1800/1450 = 19862 m3

No. of trucks = 19862/15 = 1325 Trucks

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Example
Surveying Engineering

It is required to compact a road of 10 km length and 15 m width

clay soil with the thickness of the layer is 0.25m, use a smooth
wheel roller. Determine:
The Velocity of roller (V).
If
• Duration of the compacting road is 30 Days with stoping.
• Width of roller = 2.1m.
• Number of compactions = 11 times.
• Percent of stopping = 20%.
• Over lap of layers = 10 cm.
• Hour of working = 50 min.
• Day of working = 8 hr.

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Solution: Duhok
Surveying Engineering

No. of road parts (strips) = 15/(2.1- 0.1) = 8 part or roller will

move eight times on the road.

Speed =) Distance /Time(

Total compacted length (D) = 8*10*11 = 880 km
Duration (without stopping, day) = 30*(1-0.2) ≈ 24 days
Work time (hours ) = 24*8 = 192 hours.

Work time =) D/S.E(

S = (880/(192*50/60) = 5.5 km/hr.

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Surveying Engineering

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Surveying Engineering

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