between what materials they have available and the final product agreed specification - what they have to deliver. These activities will still affect the production
of an engineering design, before the actual construction, and will probably be
repetitive, if problems and challenges of the construction process are continually
discussed with the laboratory for potential design refinement.
Thus, although engineering work precedes construction work, the whole process
is far from simple. Although engineering design notifies the construction process,
and it indicates what has to be built and how, the design remains open to modification, either from site conditions, or (hopefully not) design changes emanating from
the client. The technical studies indicate the way to proceed, but they do not, after all,
decide how to proceed. The implementation of the design is a field and site work
arising from the interactions among people - labourers, foremen, engineers (contractors and supervisors) - materials, and machines. Technical specifications owe their
importance to their capacity of establishing the parameters of the material conversions that need to be undertaken. They also help to define the responsibilities of the
engineers who are responsible.
There are also two important dimensions during the construction process:
(1) logistics (2) coping with the unforeseen.
Construction companies put in considerable effort into project logistics to make
sure that the works remain on schedule and within budget. It is essential to coordinate, categorise, and schedule the activities required on the project. During the
constant adjustments that are needed as to who will prepare what, organize when,
and do where, time assumes a monetary value. The logistics organise a value matrix,
where time is money. However, construction companies may also have internal
agendas, with decisions not always leading directly to profit. Good relations with
local people and meeting some of their demands (outside the terms of the contract)
can convey their own advantages. Of course, some requests might be prejudicial to
site progress.
Coping with the unforeseen implies anticipating the unforeseen. Construction
engineers recognise and forestall that the designs, in practice, will not lead them
effortlessly from A to B. Moving from the present to the future is more than just
good planning or efficient logistics. There are several challenges related to volatile
social environments - some projects materialize over decades, to available materials,
which may have to be processed differently. Imagine building a road on a collapsing
hillside or a bridge across a 100-metre gorge with a water flow only 6 metres wide
(during floods, the whole width gets filled with water!). Rainfalls, cold weather and
winds hinder progress. In contrast to the designers in front of their computer screens
in remote offices, the site engineers are in more direct contact with the terrain they
are trying to transform. They become strongly aware that some matters take time.
While accommodating to Nature’s whims and available materials, construction
assumes a craft practice which must consider the different human behaviours
which bring about interruptions and delays.
7.7 Engineering as Opposed to Construction
201
of an engineering design, before the actual construction, and will probably be
repetitive, if problems and challenges of the construction process are continually
discussed with the laboratory for potential design refinement.
Thus, although engineering work precedes construction work, the whole process
is far from simple. Although engineering design notifies the construction process,
and it indicates what has to be built and how, the design remains open to modification, either from site conditions, or (hopefully not) design changes emanating from
the client. The technical studies indicate the way to proceed, but they do not, after all,
decide how to proceed. The implementation of the design is a field and site work
arising from the interactions among people - labourers, foremen, engineers (contractors and supervisors) - materials, and machines. Technical specifications owe their
importance to their capacity of establishing the parameters of the material conversions that need to be undertaken. They also help to define the responsibilities of the
engineers who are responsible.
There are also two important dimensions during the construction process:
(1) logistics (2) coping with the unforeseen.
Construction companies put in considerable effort into project logistics to make
sure that the works remain on schedule and within budget. It is essential to coordinate, categorise, and schedule the activities required on the project. During the
constant adjustments that are needed as to who will prepare what, organize when,
and do where, time assumes a monetary value. The logistics organise a value matrix,
where time is money. However, construction companies may also have internal
agendas, with decisions not always leading directly to profit. Good relations with
local people and meeting some of their demands (outside the terms of the contract)
can convey their own advantages. Of course, some requests might be prejudicial to
site progress.
Coping with the unforeseen implies anticipating the unforeseen. Construction
engineers recognise and forestall that the designs, in practice, will not lead them
effortlessly from A to B. Moving from the present to the future is more than just
good planning or efficient logistics. There are several challenges related to volatile
social environments - some projects materialize over decades, to available materials,
which may have to be processed differently. Imagine building a road on a collapsing
hillside or a bridge across a 100-metre gorge with a water flow only 6 metres wide
(during floods, the whole width gets filled with water!). Rainfalls, cold weather and
winds hinder progress. In contrast to the designers in front of their computer screens
in remote offices, the site engineers are in more direct contact with the terrain they
are trying to transform. They become strongly aware that some matters take time.
While accommodating to Nature’s whims and available materials, construction
assumes a craft practice which must consider the different human behaviours
which bring about interruptions and delays.
7.7 Engineering as Opposed to Construction
201