Contractor-Related Factors and Performance of Bridge Construction Projects Implemented by Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Kenya

The performance of bridge projects in Kenya is poor in terms of completion by schedule, cost, and quality (scope). Yet, there is less evidence of empirical research on what factors contribute to this outcome. This study aimed to bridge this gap by examining the effects of contractor-related factors on the performance of bridge construction projects in Kenya through a case study of the Bridge projects Implemented by the Kenya National Highway Agency (KeNHA). The theory of constraints (TOC) was adopted as its theoretical framework. Descriptive research was used, and the target population was 18 bridge construction projects, which were the units of analysis from 2012 to 2022. In each of these projects, 18 respondents, namely clients, consultants, contractors, engineers, environment and social guards, project managers, stakeholders, subcontractors, technical advisors, and inspectors, were included in a target population of 144 respondents. A census was conducted and a structured questionnaire was administered from which a response rate of 68% was achieved. The information was analyzed using descriptive, correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis. The contractor-related factors considered in the study were staff and management factors. The findings indicated that staff and management factors had a positive and significant outcome on performance of bridge construction projects. The study recommends continuous training and a safe learning environment for staff to improve their skills and performance in future projects. The study also recommends that a special category for bridge contractors be created in Kenya’s National Construction Authority rankings to ensure that only qualified contractors implement the Bridge projects.

Multi-Criteria Wildfire Risk Hazard Assessment in GIS Environment: Projection for the Future and Impact on RES Projects Installation Planning

It is alarming for the fact that Wildfires number, severity and consequently impact have significantly increased during the last years, an aftermath of the Climate Change. One of the most affected areas worldwide is Mediterranean, due to the unique combination of its type of vegetation and demanding climatic conditions. This research is focused on the Region of Epirus in Greece, an area with significant natural vegetation and a range of geomorphological aspects. In order to estimate the Wildfire Risk Hazard, several factors have been used: geomorphological (slope, aspect, elevation, TWI, Hydrographic network), social (Settlements and landfils, roads, overhead lines and substations), environmental (land cover) and climatic (Fire Weather Index). Through a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in a GIS environment, the Wildfire Risk Hazard has been estimated not only for current conditions but also for future projections for the near future (2031-2060) and the far future (2071-2100). The selected case study includes the potential impact of the Wildfires to the installed (or targeted to be installed) RES projects in the studied region.

A Review on Determinants Affecting Commercialization of Academic Institution Final Year Projects

Final year project is an important training and assessment component incorporated in many courses of academic institution.The ability to translate ideas,research,and creativity into actual products,services,or businesses shows how successful and impactful people or institutions can be in the wider economy.However,in most of the cases,the outcomes of the final year project usually remain as academic discussion without maximizing their potential to be converted into a commercialized product or services.In this review,theory and applications are discussed to understand how entrepreneurial skills and networking abilities,components of individuals’human capital can impact the commercialisation of final year projects.Furthermore,determinants affecting commercialization of final year projects will also be explored namely:entrepreneurial skills,networking ability,access to resources,institutional support as well as creativity and innovation.

Financial Calculation Problems and Countermeasure Analysis of Large-Scale Engineering Construction Projects

The financial aspects of large-scale engineering construction projects profoundly influence their success.Strengthening cost control and establishing a scientific financial evaluation system can enhance the project’s economic benefits,minimize unnecessary costs,and provide decision-makers with a robust financial foundation.Additionally,implementing an effective cash flow control mechanism and conducting a comprehensive assessment of potential project risks can ensure financial stability and mitigate the risk of fund shortages.Developing a practical and feasible fundraising plan,along with stringent fund management practices,can prevent fund wastage and optimize fund utilization efficiency.These measures not only facilitate smooth project progression and improve project management efficiency but also enhance the project’s economic and social outcomes.

Trust beyond Technology Algorithms: A Theoretical Exploration of Consumer Trust and Behavior in Technological Consumption and AI Projects

In an era dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), establishing customer confidence is crucial for the integration and acceptance of AI technologies. This interdisciplinary study examines factors influencing customer trust in AI systems through a mixed-methods approach, blending quantitative analysis with qualitative insights to create a comprehensive conceptual framework. Quantitatively, the study analyzes responses from 1248 participants using structural equation modeling (SEM), exploring interactions between technological factors like perceived usefulness and transparency, psychological factors including perceived risk and domain expertise, and organizational factors such as leadership support and ethical accountability. The results confirm the model, showing significant impacts of these factors on consumer trust and AI adoption attitudes. Qualitatively, the study includes 35 semi-structured interviews and five case studies, providing deeper insight into the dynamics shaping trust. Key themes identified include the necessity of explainability, domain competence, corporate culture, and stakeholder engagement in fostering trust. The qualitative findings complement the quantitative data, highlighting the complex interplay between technology capabilities, human perceptions, and organizational practices in establishing trust in AI. By integrating these findings, the study proposes a novel conceptual model that elucidates how various elements collectively influence consumer trust in AI. This model not only advances theoretical understanding but also offers practical implications for businesses and policymakers. The research contributes to the discourse on trust creation and decision-making in technology, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary efforts to address societal challenges associated with technological advancements. It lays the groundwork for future research, including longitudinal, cross-cultural, and industry-specific studies, to further explore consumer trust in AI.

Research on Intelligent Cost Estimation of Engineering Foundation Projects Based on CSIs Theory

Against the backdrop of rapid development in China’s construction and infrastructure sectors,discrepancies between project budgets and actual costs have become pronounced,manifesting in project overruns and suspensions,posing significant challenges.To address inaccuracies in investment targets and operational complexities,this study focuses on a beam-bridge construction project in a district of Shijiazhuang city as a case study.Drawing upon historical analogs,the project employs a Work Breakdown Structure(WBS)to decompose the engineering works.Building on theories of Cost Significant(CS)and Whole Life Costing(WLC),the study constructs Cost Significant Items(CSIs)and develops a CNN-BiLSTM-Attention neural network for nonlinear prediction.By identifying significant cost drivers in engineering projects,this paper presents a streamlined cost estimation method that significantly reduces computational burdens,simplifies data collection processes,and optimizes data analysis and forecasting,thereby enhancing prediction accuracy.Finally,validation with real-world cost fluctuation data demonstrates minor errors,meeting predictive requirements across project execution phases.

Construction Safety Management of Mechanical and Electrical Installation Projects

Various industries today rely on the support of electromechanical equipment,expanding its scope of application and leading to an increase in electromechanical installation projects.However,due to the high level of expertise required and the potential risks involved,it is crucial to emphasize safety management during construction.This paper delves into the significance of construction safety management for electromechanical installation projects,identifies common problems encountered during construction,and proposes solutions.This analysis aims to provide relevant personnel with essential guidance and references for managing electromechanical installation projects safely.

Impact of estuarine reclamation projects on saltwater intrusion and freshwater resource

Estuarine projects can change local topography and influence water transport and saltwater intrusion.The Changjiang(Yangtze)River estuary is a multichannel estuary,and four major reclamation projects have been implemented in the Changjiang River estuary in recent years:the Xincun Shoal reclamation project(RP-XCS),the Qingcao Shoal reclamation project(RP-QCS),the Eastern Hengsha Shoal reclamation project(RP-EHS),and the Nanhui Shoal reclamation project(RP-NHS).The effects of the four reclamation projects and each project on the saltwater intrusion and water resources in the Changjiang River estuary were simulated in a 3D numerical model.Results show that for a multichannel estuary,local reclamation projects change the local topography and water diversion ratio(WDR)between channels and influence water and salt transport and freshwater utilization in the estuary.During spring tide,under the cumulative effect of the four reclamation projects,the salinity decreases by approximately 0.5in the upper reaches of the North Branch and increases by 0.5-1.0 in the middle and lower reaches of the North Branch.In the North Channel,the salinity decreases by approximately 0.5.In the North Passage,the salinity increases by 0.5-1.0.In the South Passage,the salinity increases by approximately 0.5 in the upper reaches and decreases by 0.2-0.5 on the north side of the middle and lower reaches.During neap tide,the cumulative effects of the four reclamation projects and the individual projects are similar to those during spring tide,but there are some differences.The effects of an individual reclamation project on WDR and saltwater intrusion during spring and neap tides are simulated and analyzed in detail.The cumulative effect of the four reclamation projects favors freshwater usage in the Changjiang River estuary.

Is the Culture or Unstable Procurement System Causing Nonperforming Projects？

A research group at the University of Botswana has been investigating how culture and construction delivery system stability affect the Botswana construction industry performance. The government of Botswana is attempting to increase the construction performance and sustainability of the Botswana construction industry in an environment of local contractors who do not seem to have the expertise and experience. Currently, the Botswana industry is heavily dependent on foreign contractors. The researchers are trying to identify if the problem is the underdeveloped industry and Botswana culture, or potentially the combination of culture and unstable delivery system, and can a stable delivery system raise the performance of Botswana contractors. The two potential areas of interest are the country culture, and the project delivery/management model. The authors are using deductive logic, logical and simplistic models, and dominant or extreme information to minimizing the need to get into a long drawn out study of details which may be difficult to obtain and not necessarily solve the issue. The objective of the paper is to identify the best method to increase the performance of the construction industry, addressing both the cultural and delivery system problems. The preliminary measurement of the success of the solution is the acceptance of the concepts by major users in Botswana. This paper will propose the potential solution, which will be tested starting January 2011. If this solution is valid, it has a tremendous potential in underdeveloped countries.

Investment Projects in Dangshan——The National Ecological Agriculture County

Dangshan County is situated in the mostnortherly part of Anhui Province, acontiguous area of fourprovinces(Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan andAnhui) and six counties(Fengxian, Shanxian,Yucheng, Xiayi, Yongcheng and Xiaoxian).The County is named after Mount Mangdangand Mount Dangshan in the territory. TheLonghai Railway and National Highway 310pass through in parallel the central part of thecounty area, and the ancient Yellow Rivercourse lies in the northern part of the country,extending a hundred li(50 km). The totalland area of the county is 1192.94 sq km, ofwhich the cultivated land area is 904 thousandmu. 650 thousand mu of orchards cover thefields linking to the villages. It is major

HSPM:A Better Model to Effectively Preventing Open-Source Projects from Dying

With the rapid development of Open-Source(OS),more and more software projects are maintained and developed in the form of OS.These Open-Source projects depend on and influence each other,gradually forming a huge OS project network,namely an Open-Source Software ECOsystem(OSSECO).Unfortunately,not all OS projects in the open-source ecosystem can be healthy and stable in the long term,and more projects will go from active to inactive and gradually die.In a tightly connected ecosystem,the death of one project can potentially cause the collapse of the entire ecosystem network.How can we effectively prevent such situations from happening?In this paper,we first identify the basic project characteristics that affect the survival of OS projects at both project and ecosystem levels through the proportional hazards model.Then,we utilize graph convolutional networks based on the ecosystem network to extract the ecosystem environment characteristics of OS projects.Finally,we fuse basic project characteristics and environmental project characteristics and construct a Hybrid Structured Prediction Model(HSPM)to predict the OS project survival state.The experimental results show that HSPM significantly improved compared to the traditional prediction model.Our work can substantially assist OS project managers in maintaining their projects’health.It can also provide an essential reference for developers when choosing the right open-source project for their production activities.

Developing Projects with Low-code Combined with ChatGPT

This paper aims to explore a simpler and more user-friendly way of generating software based on model-driven development.Previous studies have attempted to generate code from domain models,hoping to reduce coding time by increasing modeling time.However,as code tools become more advanced,it is challenging to improve efficiency because models are abstract while implementations are concrete.This paper proposes a novel approach that integrates ChatGPT as a plug-in into the whole R&D process and combines it with our code generation tool to enhance R&D efficiency.We have developed some demos to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.According to our evaluation,our approach can save more than 90%of the work in implementing the code generation tool,leaving only about 10%of the work for code review,code improvement,and unit testing.

Correlations between the Global Earth Healing and Global Consciousness Projects—Brain-Mind-Matter-Interactions through Physical Noise Generators

Inspired by Roger Nelson’s Global Consciousness Project (GCP), the Global Earth Healing Project (GEHP) uses a network of several hundred physical noise generators to amplify the combined intentions of their users in order to infuse positive affirmations into the global consciousness. As mentioned in the original study design, it was intended to use the GCP as a reference for the effectiveness of its activities. The data of the GEHP consisting of 21 events from 2013 to 2020 is analyzed and statistically compared to the data of the GCP. An astonishing synchronicity was observed, which suggests an interaction between the brain states of the observers and the physical noise generators of the GCP.

Perception-Based Assessment of the Factors Causing Delays in Construction Projects

Construction delay is a widespread issue in the construction industry of developing countries, and Nepal is no exception. These delays extend project durations and lead to cost overruns and disputes among stakeholders. To address this problem, this study aimed to identify and analyze the significant factors that contribute to construction project delays in Nepal. To gather data, a well-structured questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 100 participants, including contractors, consultants, and civil engineers. Various statistical tests were conducted to ensure the data’s integrity and consistency, such as reliability assessments and factor analyses. The findings of the study highlighted multiple factors contributing to delays in construction projects such as inadequate design, poor communication, and coordination among stakeholders, insufficient experience and planning by contractors, delays in material delivery and testing, labor-related problems including shortages and low qualifications, and external factors like regulatory changes and unforeseen circumstances. By identifying these major causes of construction project delays, this study presented insightful information that can contribute to the analysis and evaluation of project performance.

Application of Anti-seepage Technology in the Construction of Hydraulic Engineering Projects

With the development of China's economy,the implementation scale and scope of hydraulic engineering projects are increasing,and the application of anti-seepage technology has an important influence on the construction quality of hydraulic engineering.In this paper,the significance and problems of the application of anti-seepage technology in the construction of hydraulic engineering projects were mainly analyzed,and specific application strategies were proposed.

New Projects[2022.1—2023.7]

On January 2^(nd),2022,the PM2 paper machine of Guanyun Limin Renewable Resource Technology Development Co.,Ltd.was successfully put into operation,with a width of 5,200 mm and a design speed of 700 m/min.The annual production capacity of PM2 exceeds 200,000 tons,which uses waste paper to produce low-weight cardboard boxes.

Evaluating the Impact of Workshop Management on the Progress of Road Construction Projects(Case Study:Road Construction Projects of Tehran Province)

Construction projects,including road construction,are very important.Therefore,a lot of money is spent on these projects every year.So,the lack of proper planning will increase the cost and cause irreparable damage to the country.The role of workshop management is one of the most important factors in increasing the cost of these types of projects.Generally,workshop management plays a very important role in improving the quality and quantity of projects and has an important place in the project implementation process.Therefore,this study evaluated the impact of workshop management on the progress of road construction projects on a case-by-case basis in road construction projects in Tehran province.According to the purpose of the research,this study was a descriptive-survey type.In addition,the tool used in this research was a questionnaire.The statistical population of this research included all experts and specialists in road construction projects,among whom 65 people were selected by snowball method.Then the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software.The results of this study showed that the management of the workshop and its role in the control and implementation of projects is a complex process,which can be implemented at high levels and effectively by combining scientific and experimental training.And a very important point in the discussion of workshop management is applying scientific management to the use of valuable experiences from others.Because management knowledge not only does not negate the use of these experiences,but also emphasizes the necessity of using them.In other words,improving the knowledge of workshop management is one of the requirements for the implementation of value engineering in construction projects,especially road construction,and it is very important.

Discussion on the Application of Pipe Jacking Construction Technology in Municipal Road Drainage Projects

In the construction of municipal road drainage projects,pipe jacking construction is a relatively common construction method.This construction technology can avoid a large amount of excavation work,improve drainage construction efficiency,avoid large-scale damage to the road surface,and exert small traffic impact.Therefore,it is currently widely used in drainage construction,but judging from the current actual application situation,there are still many problems that require further improvement.This article mainly analyzes the advantages of and current technical problems in pipe jacking construction technology in detail,explores corresponding solutions,and lays a foundation for the optimization of municipal road drainage engineering construction.

面向学生创造力培养的语文项目化学习准实验研究

项目化学习是提升学生创造力的一条重要实施路径。学科领域的项目化学习是否可以提升学生的学科创造力以及在真实问题解决中的创造力?以上海市某公办小学四年级学生为研究对象,实施基于项目设计标准的语文写作类项目化学习,采用对照班和实验班、前测和后测对比验证的准实验方法进行考察,结果表明:项目化学习实验班中学生的学科创造力、真实问题解决创造力显著优于对照班;学科项目对于学生学科创造力的提升可以迁移到真实问题解决创造力中。

公立医院志愿服务项目化管理的实践与探索

志愿服务是社会文明进步的重要标志,公立医院开展志愿服务项目化运作,可以精准丰富服务内容,改善患者就医体验,充分发挥品牌社会效应,是医疗机构志愿服务制度化、规范化发展中一个重要的实施过程。文章分别从项目开发、实施、监控及评估四个方面着手,就如何构建公立医院志愿服务项目化管理模式进行系统阐述,并结合实际分析项目化建设的困境及应对,为公立医院志愿服务项目化管理与品牌建设提供借鉴和参考,助力公立医院高质量发展。