As-built schedule comparison between urban and rural bridge construction projects

Abstract

<p>This thesis describes the difference in duration between urban and rural bridge construction projects. It provides useful information for both contractors and organizations, such as Iowa DOT. This information allows the setting up of reasonable and reliable as-planned schedules for urban area bridge construction projects and facilities accurate budget estimates for those projects. This case study uses a comparison of urban and rural bridge construction projects in Urban and Rural areas. The urban bridge projects were part of the Interstate 235 reconstruction project and were completed between 2002 and 2003. The rural bridge construction projects were finished in 2001-2002, in three different Iowa counties: Jasper, Marshall, and Polk County. This thesis addresses several important findings, including the usefulness of the Iowa DOT Suggested Job Productivity for Bridgework, certain issues specific to urban bridge construction scheduling, possible causes of duration difference between urban and rural bridge construction projects, and others. Other material included in this thesis is as follows; fourteen as-built schedules of bridge construction projects, narrative for bridge beam setting and the cost for project delay/expedition, a custom designed manual for Gantt chart scheduling template based on MS-Excel developed for Iowa DOT, and an example of bridge construction scheduling titled: Scheduling of Pretentioned Prestressed Concrete Beam (PPCB) for the bridge construction project on 35th street over I-235 in West Des Moines, Iowa. Finally, the review of the duration difference between urban and rural bridge projects helps in understanding the characteristics of durations of urban and rural bridge projects and it is a direct comparison that is not available in textbooks or in other types of construction literature.</p>