Project Management Made Easy - now just $4.8 USD (70% off)

Dear friends,

Project management consists of more than just a large building project and can encompass small projects as well. No matter what the size of your project, you need to have some sort of project management. How you manage your project has everything to do with its outcome. Whether you are a project manager who is in charge of a large company project or you have a small project that you need to complete, you need to know the basics of project management.

Trying to get a project off the ground can be daunting as can the problems that can come with the project. You might run into snags during your project that may cause you some headaches. Project management can be one challenge after another.

I have experienced plenty of meltdowns during my project management days. There were many times when I didn’t think that I could get the project off of the ground and many times when I felt just like giving up. How often has that happened to you? I found that the skills that I learned in project management were those that I used for just about all tasks that, although not as daunting as the projects I handled at work, were projects just the same.

A friend of mine suggested that I write down my experiences of being a successful project manager for others to see. I put this off over and over again until I realized that it was a project, just like others that I had tackled and started to write it down.

As I started writing the book, I discovered some of the mistakes that I made during the past with regard to project management as well as techniques I used in management style. I began to realize that my book might be able to help those who are struggling with projects or are taking on tasks that can seem to be daunting. As I am so familiar with that feeling, I began to feel that maybe this could be a way to help others avoid some of the mistakes that I made and gain control over their projects.

Do not feel overwhelmed again!

If you have been feeling overwhelmed when it comes to work and a bit disorganized, you can benefit from this book. Once you learn the secrets to project management, you can learn not only how to successfully manage your projects at work, but also to manage individual projects.

Project Management Made Easy!

You can learn quite a bit about project management and not feel so overwhelmed simply by reading this book. This book teaches you how to take a project from start to finish and, using your own techniques and management style, complete the project. Whether you work as a project manager or have a bunch of unfinished projects on your plate, Project Management Made Easy! will help you.

1) This book will help you whether you have a project that you are trying to complete that is daunting or are in charge of projects at work. If you look at every task as a chore, you can learn how to manage them much easier with the skills taught in this book.

2) Instead of worrying about how you are going to complete a project, you can do so easily when you use this book. You will learn how to use your own personality to its fullest with the tools in this book.

Here is what you will learn inside this guide….

• Project management styles

• Financing for project management

• Making your management style work for you

• How to break down a project

• How to work with others
  • And much more!

How Much Is Project Management Made Easy! Worth To You?

This book will help you understand your own project management style and give you the tools that you need to successfully manage any type of project on your own. You no longer have to worry about how you are going to get things done or feel out of control all of the time. Whether you have trouble completing projects at home or if you are in charge of large, business projects, this book will end up saving you time, money and make your days a lot less stress filled. How much is that worth to you?

If your time is anything like mine and I think it is, your time is worth more than $4.8 You will save that much money by not having to spend it all on your computer.

This book will give you a freedom you have not felt in a long time.

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed If you’re not totally thrilled with “Project Management Made Easy” for any reason at all, simply send it back to me and I will happily refund your money with just a click of the button.  You’ve got a full 30 days to try out the material. This is a no questions asked, no fuss money-back guarantee I like to adopt.

Is that fair or what?

Look at it this way - $4.8 USD really is a drop in the bucket compared to the time and money you can save yourself by avoiding all the other books and tutorials out there. Why spend a fortune learning how to manage your projects, when you can do so for a much better price.

Here’s How To Order To Right Now!

Click here for an instant download of this material. Once your credit card is approved, you will be taken to a special download link where you will have instant access to the ebook.
Special Offer - $4.8 for next 20 orders only!

INSTANT ACCESS
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Click Here NOW to download your copy! It doesn’t matter if it’s 2:00 a.m. in the morning!

Sincerely,

Hungsika - Founder of Civil Engineer BLOG

P.S. Starting, managing and completing a project is not difficult, once you learn the secrets to successful project management. If you have longed to learn more about how to be an effective project manager, or just want help managing the projects in your daily life, you can learn from this book.

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Steps to Successful Schedules in Project Management

If you search internet with “Steps to Successful Schedules“, you will find millions of results. There are tons of resources that claim the perfect ways of scheduling.

Here is some steps for schedule creation that project managers can follow for their successful management.

1: Define the Schedule Activities

Take your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) work packages and decompose them further into schedule activities.

Take each WBS work package, and decide what activities are required to create that package. For example, if your work package is “configure new computer hardware,” your schedule activities might include “set up network configuration,” “install the video card,” “install applications,” and then “set up mail client.”

2: Sequence the Activities

Remember back in grade school where you were given a bunch of pictures and you had to figure out their order. You had to decide which picture represented the 1st activity, the 2nd activity and so on? Well, that is exactly what the second step is all about. In the second step we sequence the schedule activities by simply placing them in the order in which they need to happen. For example, perhaps we need to install the video card first, then set up the network configuration, install applications and then finally set up the mail client. In some cases two or more activities can be done simultaneously. Perhaps we can set up the mail client while other applications are being installed. This step is where we look at the different types of schedule dependencies such as finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish to figure out how each of these activities relate to each other.

3: Estimate the Resources Needed for the Activity

The third step involves estimating what resources will be required to accomplish each activity. This includes estimating needed team resources, financial resources, and equipment. These resource needs should be selected for each activity prior to estimating the duration of each activity which is the next step.

4: Estimating the Duration of Each of the Activities

This step requires you and your team to analyse how long it will take to accomplish each of the activities. These estimates can be quantified through the following tools:

• Expert Judgement: by conferring with someone who is familiar or experienced in what it takes to accomplish a particular activity.
• Analogous Estimating: a top-down estimation approach is taken by looking at similar projects within your organisation for estimates on how long a particular activity should take.
• Parametric Estimating: basically this is scaling an estimate. For example, perhaps you know it takes on average 10 minutes to install a software application. If the “install applications” activity includes the installation of 6 applications, you can use parametric estimation to estimate that it will take approximately 6 times 10 minutes, or 60 minutes to install all the applications.
• Three point estimation: sometimes referred to as PERT analysis, is a great tool for estimating activity durations. You basically take a weighted average of a pessimistic, expected, and optimistic estimate for the activity duration. This estimate is in the form of (Pessimistic + 4x(Expected) + Optimistic) / 6

5: Schedule Development

This step is the process where the sequence of activities, resources needed for the activities, and the duration of each activity is used to optimise the overall project schedule. Tools used in this process include critical path method, schedule compression, what-if scenario analysis, resource leveling, and critical chain methods. Each of these topics could have one or more articles dedicated to it, so we will not go into the detail of each.

Once the schedule is developed, it should be baselined to provide a snapshot of the original schedule plan of the plan.

6: Monitoring and Controlling the Schedule

The final step is monitoring and controlling the schedule. This step is performed throughout the life of the project and ensures that the work results lines up with the schedule plan. Schedule control requires the use of progress reporting, schedule change control systems, such as the use of project change requests, performance management, and variance analysis to determine if additional action is required to get the schedule back in line with the plan.

So, those are the 6 steps you need to know to create a successful project schedule.

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What is Civil Engineering?

This definition of Civil Engineering is found at Answer.com. The tasks of civil engineering now come larger and larger.

Civil Engineering is a branch of engineering that encompasses the conception, design, construction, and management of residential and commercial buildings and structures, water supply facilities, and transportation systems for goods and people, as well as control of the environment for the maintenance and improvement of the quality of life. Civil engineering includes planning and design professionals in both the public and private sectors, contractors, builders, educators, and researchers.

The civil engineer holds the safety, health, and welfare of the public paramount. Civil engineering projects and systems should conform to governmental regulations and statutes; should be built economically to function properly with a minimum of maintenance and repair while withstanding anticipated usage and weather; and should conserve energy and allow hazard-free construction while providing healthful, safe, and environmentally sound utilization by society.

Civil engineers play a major role in developing workable solutions to construct, renovate, repair, maintain, and upgrade infrastructure. The infrastructure includes roads, mass transit, railroads, bridges, airports, storage buildings, terminals, communication and control towers, water supply and treatment systems, storm water control systems, wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems, as well as living and working areas, recreational buildings, and ancillary structures for civil and civic needs. Without a well-maintained and functioning infrastructure, the urban area cannot stay healthy, grow, and prosper.

Because the desired objectives are so broad and encompass an orderly progression of interrelated components and information to arrive at the visually pleasing, environmentally satisfactory, and energy-frugal end point, civil engineering projects are actually systems requiring the skills and inputs of many diverse technical specialties, all of which are subsets of the overall civil engineering profession.

Some of the subsets that civil engineers can specialize in include photogrammetry, surveying, mapping, community and urban planning, and waste management and risk assessment. Various engineering areas that civil engineers can specialize in include geotechnical, construction, structural, environmental, water resources, and transportation engineering.

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Construction Planning

The development of a construction plan is very much analogous to the development of a good facility design. The planner must weigh the costs and reliability of different options while at the same time insuring technical feasibility. Construction planning is more difficult in some ways since the building process is dynamic as the site and the physical facility change over time as construction proceeds. On the other hand, construction operations tend to be fairly standard from one project to another, whereas structural or foundation details might differ considerably from one facility to another.

Forming a good construction plan is an exceptionally challenging problem. There are numerous possible plans available for any given project. While past experience is a good guide to construction planning, each project is likely to have special problems or opportunities that may require considerable ingenuity and creativity to overcome or exploit. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to provide direct guidance concerning general procedures or strategies to form good plans in all circumstances. There are some recommendations or issues that can be addressed to describe the characteristics of good plans, but this does not necessarily tell a planner how to discover a good plan. However, as in the design process, strategies of decomposition in which planning is divided into subproblems and hierarchical planning in which general activities are repeatably subdivided into more specific tasks can be readily adopted in many cases.

From the standpoint of construction contractors or the construction divisions of large firms, the planning process for construction projects consists of three stages that take place between the moment in which a planner starts the plan for the construction of a facility to the moment in which the evaluation of the final output of the construction process is finished.

The estimate stage involves the development of a cost and duration estimate for the construction of a facility as part of the proposal of a contractor to an owner. It is the stage in which assumptions of resource commitment to the necessary activities to build the facility are made by a planner. A careful and thorough analysis of different conditions imposed by the construction project design and by site characteristics are taken into consideration to determine the best estimate. The success of a contractor depends upon this estimate, not only to obtain a job but also to construct the facility with the highest profit. The planner has to look for the time-cost combination that will allow the contractor to be successful in his commitment. The result of a high estimate would be to lose the job, and the result of a low estimate could be to win the job, but to lose money in the construction process. When changes are done, they should improve the estimate, taking into account not only present effects, but also future outcomes of succeeding activities. It is very seldom the case in which the output of the construction process exactly echoes the estimate offered to the owner.

In the monitoring and control stage of the construction process, the construction manager has to keep constant track of both activities’ durations and ongoing costs. It is misleading to think that if the construction of the facility is on schedule or ahead of schedule, the cost will also be on the estimate or below the estimate, especially if several changes are made. Constant evaluation is necessary until the construction of the facility is complete. When work is finished in the construction process, and information about it is provided to the planner, the third stage of the planning process can begin.

The evaluation stage is the one in which results of the construction process are matched against the estimate. A planner deals with this uncertainty during the estimate stage. Only when the outcome of the construction process is known is he/she able to evaluate the validity of the estimate. It is in this last stage of the planning process that he or she determines if the assumptions were correct. If they were not or if new constraints emerge, he/she should introduce corresponding adjustments in future planning.

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Engineering Consultants

Engineering consultants usually work as part of a consulting company, and come into the field after receiving an engineering degree and obtaining several years of experience in the field. They are experts at whatever field of engineering consulting they are involved in. Engineering is a very broad field, and consultants are required to have a very clear understanding of everything that a potential client may need.

One area that engineering consultants may work in is mechanical engineering. A consultant would be able to design and help implement plans for a more efficient heating and cooling system in a large building. Consultants may also be hired to assist in improving indoor air quality, processing exhaust and ventilation fumes, and designing commercial kitchens.

Engineering consultants can also work with businesses to create solutions for electrical problems. This may mean designing better lighting for a portion of the building or the parking area. They will also work on regulating energy distribution, and planning for an emergency power generator. An engineering consultant may also design a fire detection system or a security system complete with video surveillance equipment.

The plumbing system of a building is another section that an engineering consultant might be hired to work on. Waste removal, ventilation, hot and cold water distribution, and water heaters are all a part of what an engineer may work on. The sprinkler system, used to control fires, may also be designed by an engineering consultant.

An engineering consultant may also be responsible for designing an airport. He or she may also do land assessments, help with landscaping designs, and plan walkways through parks. Consultants design flood plans, making sure that there are sufficient drainage ducts to prevent costly flooding repairs. They assist with zoning decisions and planning development sites for residential, commercial, and government use.

Traffic studies are often performed by an engineering consulting firm. They plan roadways, plot traffic patterns, and create designs for new subway systems. They help to design better pavement for roadways that will last longer and require less maintenance. They also design and inspect bridges.

The work of an engineering consultant is varied. Because engineering is such a wide field, there is almost no limit to the work a consultant can perform. They perform several different types of work, for many different types of businesses. Engineering consultants find solutions that meet or exceed the needs of their clients.

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Civil Engineering Degree Online

Become a civil engineer without going to university is a great way to develope your civil engineering career.  Civil Engineering Degree Online  now is not to difficult to obtain. This articles with show you Pros And Cons of taking civil engineerin degree on internet.

With the ongoing development and fast changes in technology nowadays, civil engineering jobs will never be boring; there will always take place new advancements in technology, which force the engineers to keep their knowledge up to date. Actually, a civil engineer will have to stay in a continually learning process, which may seem hard, but never boring. A good example nowadays is knowledge of the environment in order to understanding the effects will have on the buildings and its systems that they are responsible for. Therefore, if you wanna be an engineer you must be prepared to keep a constant education program going. A simple way to get the job of your dream is taking your civil engineering degree online.

A civil engineering degree online is an in deepness educational program covering a broad range of engineering subjects. At one time, engineering was just fragmented into two fields – military and civil. Civil engineering still is an immense field comprised with many associated specialties, making the civil engineering degree online intricate. It may not appear like a very attractive profession, but it has been a main part of the most amazing mega construction projects ever done.

What You Can Do With Your Degree

As soon as you get a civil engineering degree online, you can develop a numerous careers in a lot of fields. The growth in civil engineering jobs is not estimated to be a major one, but definitely a constant supply of civil engineers will be required to provide construction and houses for the ever so growing world population.

A Civil engineering degree on the internet is considered very demanding and is just as interactive as most traditional schools. Just like most online programs, it will give you time flexibility, but keep in mind that there will be times when you have to be present on live online forums. A Civil engineering degree online is the choice for many up and coming engineers who look to keep themselves up-to-date and at the forefront of their careers.

Why don’t you visit some of the online schools or academies, get some information and with this as a basis, you can find the civil engineering degree online program that is right for you. When you have found some schools or programs you find attractive. you should request as much information as possible. I would say that it’s a must to require all the info needed to make a proper decision. Keep in mind that this information is offered risk free, and you do not have to register for any course to receive it.

The nice thing with taking degrees is that you can constantly improve yourself. The most convenient way of doing this, is by taking an online degree. It will help you advance and take your career to a higher level as well. You will also be in a position that enable you to demand a higher salary, especially with a civil engineering degree.

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Civil Engineers Degree and Education

Civil engineers typically possess an academic degree with a major in civil engineering. The length of study for such a degree is usually four or five years and the completed degree is usually designated as a Bachelor of Engineering, though some universities designate the degree as a Bachelor of Science. The degree generally includes units covering physics, mathematics, project management, design and specific topics in civil engineering. Initially such topics cover most, if not all, of the sub-disciplines of civil engineering. Students then choose to specialize in one or more sub-disciplines towards the end of the degree.

In most countries, a Bachelor’s degree in engineering represents the first step towards professional certification and the degree program itself is certified by a professional body. After completing a certified degree program the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements (including work experience and exam requirements) before being certified. Once certified, the engineer is designated the title of Professional Engineer (in the United States, Canada and South Africa), Chartered Engineer (in most Commonwealth countries), Chartered Professional Engineer (in Australia and New Zealand), or European Engineer (in much of the European Union). There are international engineering agreements between relevant professional bodies which are designed to allow engineers to practice across international borders.

The advantages of certification vary depending upon location. For example, in the United States and Canada “only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans and drawings to a public authority for approval, or seal engineering work for public and private clients.” This requirement is enforced by state and provincial legislation such as Quebec’s Engineers Act.In other countries, no such legislation exists. In Australia, state licensing of engineers is limited to the state of Queensland. Practically all certifying bodies maintain a code of ethics that they expect all members to abide by or risk expulsion. In this way, these organizations play an important role in maintaining ethical standards for the profession. Even in jurisdictions where certification has little or no legal bearing on work, engineers are subject to contract law. In cases where an engineer’s work fails he or she may be subject to the tort of negligence and, in extreme cases, the charge of criminal negligence. An engineer’s work must also comply with numerous other rules and regulations such as building codes and legislation pertaining to environmental law.

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Understanding the Construction Contract

If you are planning on building your next home, you are most likely dreading the contract you are going to be presented with. Deciphering the contract can be one of the most difficult aspects of any construction project. Even though there may be parts of a construction contract, thankfully, there are ways to ensure you know exactly what you are getting. After all, no one wants to get taken for a ride.

The number one thing to remember about the contract is that it’s written so that you, the buyer, can understand it. Of course, this does not mean you will necessarily understand everything, but at the same time, you will not need to be a genius to figure it out.

When you are reading over your contract, make sure that you do so very carefully. The best thing to do is to take a few hours and read through it with a fine toothed comb. By doing so, you will be able to catch any details that may turn into problems down the road. While you are going through the contract, make sure you write down all of the questions and/or concerns you have. This way you will be able to ask your contractor about the parts you do not understand. Most of the time, your contractor will be able to clarify any confusion in no time at all. Remember, the only questions that are stupid are the ones you do not ask.

Once you have sorted through the paperwork, if you still feel as though you are lost, you may want to look into hiring a lawyer. Most people do not take things this far, but, if you find that you are dealing with a complex contract, you may want to exercise this option. Find a lawyer that is familiar with property law, and then have him/her review the contract. The attorney will be able to point out any short comings, and may also advise you on whether or not you should sign the contract. Again, this is not necessary, but it can definitely be helpful in putting your mind to rest.

All in all, reviewing a construction contract can undoubtedly be a difficult task. There are a lot of details you will need to watch out for, and some of them can be a bit tricky. But, if you take your time while reviewing the contract, and ask questions when you are done, you should not have any issues in the end. And remember, if all else fails you can hire a lawyer to carefully read over it

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Shotcrete

Introduction to shotcrete or sprayed concrete

Shotcrete or gunite was invented by Mr. Carl Ethan Akeley (1864-1926) in 1910. For attractions of a park, this American Architect was mandated to realize in concrete the reproduction of a dinosaur. Considering the sizes of the structure, he had the idea to develop a “cement gun” machine allowing the spraying of a cementitious mortar. Shotcrete was created!

Probably a symbolic coincidence, but the same year, Mr. Kaspar Winkler founded Sika. Since that time Sika has greatly contributed to the development of the shotcrete technology. By shotcrete technology development, we mean the continuous development of chemical additives and admixtures for shotcrete and as well the development of spraying equipments.

Fields of shotcrete application

Shotcrete is mainly used in Underground construction projects as preliminary or permanent structural support. By Underground constructions, we mean the construction of structures like road-rail tunnel, hydropower plant, mines, parking, subway, metro, storage area etc.
However shotcrete is as well as an economical tool to realize stabilization work (slope), swimming pools, waterways, concrete repairs, inner lining and architectural structures. About 90% of the shotcrete applied goes into Underground construction projects. Total volume of shotcrete worldwide applied yearly is more than 12 millions cubic meters

What is shotcrete?

As per the American Concrete Institute (ACI), shotcrete can be defined as a mortar or concrete, pneumatically projected at high velocity through a pressure resistant conveying line onto a surface, where it is compacted on impact.

Cement, sand, aggregate, water, additives and admixtures are the components entering in the production of the shotcrete mix.

Compared to normal concrete, shotcrete differs mainly from three points:

• The maximal size of the aggregate used.

• The way to place it.

• The mixture of shotcrete can be dry or wet.

Regarding terminology we can describe Gunite as sprayed mortar while Shotcrete as a sprayed concrete.
By gunite we means a cementitious mixture of which the particles size is limited to 8 mm.
For shotcrete we consider the use of aggregates of which the maximal size is 16 mm. However, in the last 10 years there is a tendency to limit the maximal aggregate size to 12 mm.

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ISSMGE President 425 Day Progress Report

Distinguished Colleagues, Dear Friends,

This is my fourteenth progress report after 425 days as your President. Note that previous reports are on the ISSMGE web site (http://www.issmge.org/) under “From the President” if you need them. In this report, I would like to talk to you about a present for you, the Corporate Associates Presidential Group, the new Kerisel Lecture, and the ISSMGE Board meeting in New Delhi on 8 Nov2010.

Present: this is the end of the year for most of us, a period of celebration, a period of holidays, a period where we gather with our families and exchange presents. You are my professional family and I want to offer to you a geotechnical present. After some thought I would like to propose to you the following. Over the last 18 years, I have videotapes on DVD the lectures given by some of the most prominent geotechnical engineers in the world. These lectures were presented at my university and are called the Buchanan Lectures starting with Ralph Peck in 1993. The list is on my web site at https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/briaud/buchanan%20web/lecture_series.htm . From that page you can download the written text but not the video. If you would like the videotape for some of those lectures please select which ones you wish to have, give me an address where to send the DVD, and I will send them to you free of charge. This is my present to you.

CAPG: this new group, approved by the Board, is the Corporate Associates Presidential Group. It will be formed of all the representatives of the companies (one per company) which are corporate associates of ISSMGE. The CAPG will assist ISSMGE in developing actions and activities that will enhance the commercial sector of the geotechnical profession. The CAPG members will have direct access to the President of ISSMGE and will be able to have a direct impact on the future of the Society. The reason for forming this group is to try to increase the participation of practitioners in the Society as well as increase the number of Corporate Associates. Along with Harry Poulos, I am working on establishing this important new group. More on this later.

Kerisel Lecture: I am very happy to report to you that the TC on Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites lead by Carlo Viggiani as Chair and Yoshinori Iwasaki as Vice Chair has started the Kerisel Lecture. This new ISSMGE lecture was proposed by the TC to the ISSMGE Board and approved unanimously. The Kerisel lecture adds to our list of TC named lectures including the Ishihara Lecture in Earthquake Engineering, the Mitchell Lecture in Site Characterization, and the Bishop Lecture in Laboratory Testing. I hope that more TCs will follow suit and develop their own lectures as appropriate. These lectures are typically presented at conferences organized by the TCs.

ISSMGE Board meeting in New Delhi: The Board met in New Delhi on Sunday 7Nov2010. In the Open Session, reports were presented by Mahavir Bidasaria, President of the Indian Geotechnical Society, by Manoj Datta, Chair of the Int Conf on Environmental Geotechnics, by Kenichi Soga on behalf of Suzanne Lacasse on the progress of the Technical Oversight Committee, by Askar Zhussupbekov on behalf of Harry Poulos on the progress of the Membership, Practitioners, Academicians, Committee, by Charles Ng on behalf of Dimitris Zekkos on the progress of the Innovation and Development Committee, by Imen Said on behalf of Jennifer Nicks on the progress of the Student and Young Members Presidential Group. The Board then moved to Executive Session and heard reports from all Board Members on their achievements and future plans. Also discussed were the 2013 Int Conf in Paris, the ISSMGE budget, a request from IDC, four requests from SYMPG, an update on FedIGS, a possible change for future Presidents terms, the name of the Society, the ISSMGE Foundation, the ISSMGE Bulletin, enforcement of ISSMGE conference fees, and the image of our profession.

Happy holiday season, best wishes, and don’t forget your present,

Jean-Louis BRIAUD

President of ISSMGE

International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

Professor and Holder of the Buchanan Chair

Zachry Department of Civil Engineering

Texas A&M University

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PVC Waterproofing Membrane Application

Here after is the Method Statement for the Application of Sarnafil F 610-12 Felt PVC Waterproofing Membrane.

Existing Roof Built-up

1. Cast in-situ concrete panels

2. Vapour control layer

3. Thermal insulation board

4. Existing waterproofing system (liquid/ bitumen or PVC membrane)

5. Leveling/ Concrete screed

6. Reinforced concrete slab

Sarnafil F 610-12 Felt mechanically fastened using Sarnafast System

7. Unroll Sarnafil F 610-12 Felt, homogenous PVC waterproofing membrane, loosely lay over the cast in-situ concrete panels and mechanically fastened the overlap with Sarnafil fastening components (membrane washers and fasteners).

8. Install IF/IG-C washers (for hard surface) and fasteners BD, centered along the 30mm line traced on the membrane. Fastener spacing is to be in accordance to the project specific calculations made by Sarnafil.

9. The fastener length must penetrate the concrete deck by a minimum embedment of 32mm. The fixation pattern must always be symmetrical (i.e. every 200mm, or every 400mm, etc.)

10. Install adjacent sheets along the lap lines marked on the membrane (120mm from the sheet edge).

Hot-air Welding Procedures

11. When hot air welding of Sarnafil membrane, the overlap area must be clean and dry. For straight seam welding (overlap is 120mm), Sarnamatic automated welding machine must always be use.

12. For hand welding, use the Leister Triac hand welder, 40mm wide nozzle for straight weld and 20mm wide nozzle for corners and detail work. The three stages are:

• Spot weld the overlap.
• Pre-weld: Weld the rear overlap area so that a 35mm opening remains for the finishing weld.
• Final weld: Sarnafil PVC hand roller should be guided at a distance of 30mm parallel to the air outlet of the welding nozzle. Always roll the hand roller fully across the seam.

13. Testing of welded seams:

• Visual seam check: Shiny surface and even quality of welding beads.
• Mechanical seam check: Use a screwdriver to slide along the welded seams to check for voids and any welding defect.
• Peeling test: At the overlapped cut the membrane into 50mm width strip and firmly peel it. Tearing point should be located beyond the effective welding seam.

14. For perimeter fixation around the roof edge or near the parapet wall, Sarnafil F 610-12 Felt membrane must be secured with Sarnafil U bars and PVC welding cord against tearing and peeling off by wind uplift.

Upstands, Flashings & Roof Details

15. Followed by the upturn membrane, Sarnafil F 610-12, hot-air welded overlap 40mm with Sarnafil F 610-12 Felt, covering Sarnafil U bars and fully adhered to the parapet wall with Sarnafil approved adhesive.

16. It can be terminated with metal strip fastened through the membrane and sealed with an approved sealant at a height at least 150mm. Or alternatively, make a groove line by saw cutting on the required height and tucked in with Sarnametal sheet (PVC coated) where the upturn membrane Sarnafil F 610-12 can be welded on it.

17. For corners, vent pipes, drains and other roof details, please refer to Sarnafil installation handbook procedures.

Water Ponding Test

18. Carry out flood test 48 hours minimum after completion of the waterproofing works. Restrict water run-off from membrane area by plugging drains and creating dams or dikes. Flood restricted area to depth of about 100 mm and maintain at this depth for 48 hours. Any punctured or defective areas shall be made good by an approved method and retested.

19. The membrane shall be cleaned and inspected before proceeding with the remaining built-up protection measure.

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Construction Risk Management

Risk Management

Construction professionals need to know how to balance the contingencies of risk with their specific contractual, financial, operational and organizational requirements. In order to achieve this balance, proper risk identification and risk analysis is required. The risk management process entails identifying construction risks and exposures, and formulating an effective risk management strategy to mitigate the potential for loss.

Many construction professionals look at risks individually with a myopic lens and do not realize the potential impact that other associated risks may have on their business operations. Using a holistic risk management approach will enable a firm to identify all of the organization’s business risks. This will increase the probability of risk mitigation, with the ultimate goal of total risk elimination.

Risk Transfer & Indemnification

The two most problematic areas for construction professionals to effectively manage are contractual risks and the insurability of projects. Contract reviews and insurance facilitation are critical components on an effective risk mitigation and management program. Insurance facilitation assumes the probability that accidents will occur and seeks an efficient way of distributing and/or transferring the risk.

In many instances the ultimate loss is transferred to the insurer, using conventional insurance as the risk transfer method. In other instances, the use of contractual risk transfer methods, utilizing indemnification provisions, are used. However, in most cases, the combination of insurance, risk financing, and contract indemnification provisions are used.

Indemnification can be viewed from the perspective of worker safety and avoidance of accidents, with an emphasis on the exculpatory aspects of indemnification. However, sometimes escaping liability and the associated consequences can create problems with the misuse of indemnification provisions. Particularly, with the broad form or intermediate form, which can exculpate the indemnitee from his/her own wrongdoing or negligence.

Problems with indemnification provisions can occur, for example, if a prime contractor removes the indemnification provision from all of its subcontract agreements. This minimizes the prime contractor’s responsibility, and could minimize the incentive for the prime contractor to properly control project operations. This could also increase the potential for injuries to workers at the project jobsite.

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2011 Construction Outlook Survey Results

The Construction Marketing Association (CMA) announces the results of a September survey of construction marketers that identifies marketing budge outlook, top marketing priorities, and tactical marketing plans for the upcoming fiscal year. The anonymous survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey, a web-based tool, and posed four questions:

For the coming fiscal year, do you intend to increase or decrease marketing activities and budgets?

What is your most important marketing priority for 2011?

Which marketing tactics will increase or decrease in 2011?

What type of (construction) company are you?

The answers to the first question regarding plans to increase or decrease marketing activities and budgets identified a resounding 65% majority of respondents planning to increase, with a minority 22.5% planning to decrease marketing activities or budgets, and 12.5% maintaining marketing activities and budgets. Regarding top marketing priorities for 2011, Measuring Results topped all at 21% of respondents, followed by Internet Marketing at 17%, which included websites, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media. Implementing Marketing ranked third at 14%, followed by Sales Lead Generation at 11%. Marketing Budgets and Talent Recruitment round out top priorities at 8% and 6%. While Product Development, Advertising and Publicity/PR ranked relatively low at 3% each.
Regarding marketing tactic increases/decreases, not surprisingly almost all respondents plan to increase Internet, Social Media and PR activities, with planned increases/decreases split for Promotions and Advertising. Reinforcing personal experience, a majority (59%) of respondents plan to decrease Trade Show activities/budgets. The company classification question somewhat mirrors the overall industry make-up with 28% of respondents from architectural, engineering or construction firms (AEC), followed by 25% building materials, and 17% home builders or remodelers, which likely has some overlap with AEC. Equipment/Tools represented 14%, followed by services at 9%.

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Construction Outlook 2011 - Just Released

Description

The highlight of the McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook 2011 Conference was the presentation of the McGraw-Hill Construction 2011 Construction Outlook, a detailed forecast of the industry's economic environment and market trends. If you were not able to attend the conference, the 2011 Construction Outlook report includes everything Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, discussed including over 65 charts, tables and graphs. New construction starts for 2011 are estimated to be $446 billion, an 8% gain. The 2011 Construction Outlook includes main points for the 2011 construction market.

About the Author

Robert Murray
Vice President, Economic Affairs McGraw-Hill Construction
Robert Murray is vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, the leading source of project news, product information, industry analysis and editorial coverage for design and construction professionals.

Murray joined McGraw-Hill Construction in 1980 as an economist, with a primary focus on analyzing construction industry trends. In the mid-1980s he directed a team of economists that developed the Construction Market Forecasting Service, providing five-year projections for 22 building types by nine regions of the U.S. This product has subsequently become the pre-eminent forecast of the nation's construction industry, and it serves as the foundation for other construction and real estate forecast products offered by McGraw-Hill Construction Research and Analytics.

Murray is the author of the McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook, and also coordinates the five-year industry forecast and the Construction Market Forecasting Service, which analyzes national and regional trends for building products. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University, and holds both an M.B.A. and a Master 's degree in economics from Columbia University.

Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary
3 Economic Environment
8 Forecast Tables
10 Residential Buildings
15 Commercial Buildings
20 Institutional Buildings
25 Manufacturing Buildings
26 Public Works and Electric Utilities
32 Turning the Corner, Slowly

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Construction forecast to pick up in 2011

July 29, 2010|By JEFF COLLINS

What recovery?
Turns out that building permits for new homes in Orange County during the first half of the year have risen by a paltry 50 units from the first half of 2009 – which was homebuilding's slowest year since World War II.
The net result of this paltry increase – coupled with a decrease in non-residential building – has been a loss of nearly 10,000 construction jobs in the year ended in June.
But that's in the past. A new forecast projects that Orange County builders will start a home construction surge next year, growing the number of building permits by 51 percent.
In a post filed last week, Register blogger Jonathan Lansner reported that the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. forecasts that building permits will jump to 3,920 units in Orange County next year, the highest number since 2007.
This year, according to the LAEDC's latest forecast, O.C. builders are expected to receive permits for a 2010 total of 2,600 housing units. That's a 19 percent improvement above last year's highly depressed level.

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Local building permits have fallen 5 out of the past 7 years. Even after next year's increase, 2011 still would be the fourth slowest year in the past 22 years.

"New homebuilding in Orange County appears to have bottomed out in 2009 and will improve this year," the forecast said.

LADEC writes:

"Since peaking in 2000 at 12,367 units, residential permits were down by 82 percent. Land availability is relatively low in Orange County and since 2004, multi-family units have accounted for the majority of residential construction permits issued in the County. Up to that point, Orange County had been considered a stronghold of single-family development.

"However, the trend toward more multi-family residences reversed last year. Multifamily permits plunged by 55 percent to 842 units (39 percent of total housing units) while single-family permits rose by 3 percent to 1,335 units."

Little growth seen

So far, this year homebuilding has been only slightly better than last year's pace.

During the first six months of 2010, residential building permits were up just 4.1 percent from the same period in 2009, according to the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board.

Permits were issued for 1,258 units this year so far, compared to 1,208 in the first half of 2009. 

That's due mainly to a drop in construction of apartments and multi-story condo buildings. Single-family permits increased nearly 16 percent this year so far, while multi-family permits fell by more than 11 percent.

The first half of 2010 has been the second-slowest since 1988. Orange County builders averaged 5,400 building permits during the first half of the past 23 years, or at least 4,000 more than this year so far.

Just 267 residential permits were issued in June, 29 percent fewer than in June 2009.

Building permits were issued for 161 single-family homes in June, the second-lowest for any June since 1988.

Permits were issued for 106 multi-family units, the third-lowest for any June since 1988.

Statewide, Permits were pulled for 4,238 total housing units in June, up 19 percent from the same month a year ago.

Still, statewide numbers remain low, said Liz Snow, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association.

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"The fact remains that we're still hovering around the record-low production levels of the past two years," Snow said. "The industry is still facing an uphill battle in the wake of a stabilizing housing market and high unemployment."

9,900 O.C. construction jobs lost

Orange County lost 9,900 construction jobs in the year ended in June, according to the state Employment Development Dept.

In another post published last week by Lansner, he quoted an EDD report showing that construction firms employed 65,200 people in Orange County -- up 1,100 from May.

But note that this is real estate's prime construction season. O.C. saw 1,390 construction jobs added from May on average since 1990.

While the gain may be good news for the industry, overall its payrolls have 45,200 fewer workers than at the cyclical peak.

In June:

•13,200 worked constructing buildings, down 3,500 in year and off 11,900 since the peak.

•6,700 were employed in heavy construction, down 1,100 in year and off 2,400 since the peak.

•45,300 plied specialty trades, down 5,300 in year and off 30,900 since the peak.

As for all property-related jobs -- from lenders to brokers to janitors to architects -- Orange County had 200,700 in June, down 500 from May, down 14,300 in a year and off 83,600 from the peak.

Is this new home worth $470,000?

Register blogger Erika Chavez writes:

An email from William Lyon, touting a "reduced price" on a brand spanking-new townhome at Ivy, a new neighborhood in the village of Woodbury East.

The two-story townhome includes three bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a garage, with 1,500 square feet of living space.

The unit has a fireplace and upgrades including granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The price? $469,990.

That doesn't include Mello Roos taxes, which will run about $3,971 per year. Homeowners' dues will be $134 monthly for the Master Association and $175 for the sub-association. Buyers are looking at about $640 per month on top of principal, interest and property taxes.

Despite these extra costs, the fledgling communities of Woodbury and Woodbury East have proved popular with home buyers.

More than 400 new homes there went under contract in the first 99 days of sales. By June 24th, four of those developments had sold out.

So, is $470,000 for a new home a good deal?

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