Browsing by Subject "Cost Estimating"
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Item Cost Estimating Database and Prototype Tool to Support Design and Construction of Rural and Small Urban Transit Facilities(2014-10-13) Zheng, YueEstimating design and construction costs in a consistent, reliable, and accurate way is critical for an organization since the information generated is the basis for: projecting program funds, prioritizing projects by financial analysis, determining required funds, and providing a baseline for project control. This thesis focused on cost estimating methods, database, and prototype tool development for design and construction of rural and small urban transit facilities that are usually small, numerous, and geographically dispersed. To address these issues, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) funded a research team to provide guidance to state transit agencies in assisting their sub-recipients with preparing accurate design and construction cost estimates. This thesis was written according to the scope of the funded research project. The main objectives of this study were to determine the distinct characteristics of rural and small urban transit facilities and to develop a cost database and a prototype tool to assist agencies with preparing conceptual estimates. Conducting a literature review and telephone interviews with experts in the transit facility industry improved the understanding of the estimating practices used in the rural and small urban transit facility industry. Unique characteristics and risk factors of those facilities were identified. A cost estimating database was constructed based on the historical cost data collected through online surveys. A cost estimating prototype tool was developed based on the findings obtained from the literature review, telephone interviews, and analysis of the cost estimating database. Review of the prototype tool was then performed to ensure the tool?s self-explanation, functionality, and user-friendliness. This thesis contributes to the transit facility industry by developing the first national database and prototype tool to support conceptual estimating for rural and small urban transit facilities. A research limitation of this research and recommendations for future research were explicitly described at the end of this thesis.Item Identification of potential strategies, methods, and tools for improving cost estimating practices for highway projects(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Donnell, Kelly ElaineProject cost escalation is a major problem for State Highway Agencies (SHA). This problem is evident in cost estimating procedures that may not promote consistency and accuracy of costs over the project development process. The research proposes that a relationship exists between applying good estimating practices and minimizing cost escalation from the initial planning estimate to the engineer??s estimate at final design. The objective of this research is to develop a preliminary list of strategies, methods, and tools for project cost estimation practices aimed at achieving greater consistency and accuracy between the project development phases. A literature review was conducted that assisted in identifying factors that lead to the cost escalation of projects. The information from the literature was used to discover the core estimating assumptions that are the root causes behind cost escalation and lack of project estimate consistency and accuracy. After the cost escalation factors were determined, interviews with SHAs were conducted that lead to identifying unique and/or innovative approaches that will aid the SHAs in overcoming the cost escalation factors. The main methodology used to develop a potential list of strategies, methods, and tools was first focused on linking strategies to causes of cost escalation. Global strategies were identified by means of this approach. Methods and tools that would likely be effective in implementing the strategies are therefore directed at mitigating root causes of estimate problems in a focused approach. The strategies, methods, and tools are aligned with the project development phase where they would be implemented. Thus, a preliminary list of strategies, methods, and tools is provided in this study.Item Study of Possible Applications of Currently Available Building Information Modeling Tools for the Analysis of Initial Costs and Energy Costs for Performing Life Cycle Cost Analysis(2011-02-22) Mukherji, Payal TapandevThe cost of design, construction and maintenance of facilities is on continual rise. The demand is to construct facilities which have been designed by apply life cycle costing principles. These principles have already given strong decision making power to the manufacturing industry. The need to satisfy the environmental sustainability requirements, improve operational effectiveness of buildings and apply value engineering principles has increased the dependency on life cycle costing analysis. The objective is to obtain economically viable solutions by analyzing the alternatives during the design of a building. Though the LCCA process is able to give the desired results, it does have some problems which have stood as hindrances to the more widespread use of the LCCA concept and method. The literature study has highlighted that the problem areas are the lack of frameworks or mechanisms for collecting and storing data and the complexity of LCCA exercise, which involves the analysis of a thousand of building elements and a number of construction-type options and maintenance activities for each building element at detailed design stages. Building Information Modeling has been able to repeatedly answer the questions raised by the AEC industry. The aim of this study is to identify the areas where BIM can be effectively applied to the LCCA process and become a part of the workflow. In this study, initially four LCCA case studies are read and evaluated from the point of view of understanding the method in which the life cycle costing principles have been applied. The purpose, the type alternatives examined, the process of analysis, the type of software used and the results are understood. An attempt has been carried out to understand the workflow of the LCCA process. There is a confidence that Building Information Modeling is capable of handling changes during the design, construction and maintenance phases of the project. Since applying changes to any kind of information of the building during LCC analysis forms the core, it has become necessary to use computer building models for examining these changes. The building modeling softwares are enumerated. The case studies have highlighted that the evaluation of the alternatives are primarily to achieve energy efficient solutions for the buildings. Applying these solutions involves high initial costs. The return on investment is the means by which these solutions become viable to the owners of the facilities. This is where the LCCA has been applied. Two of the important cost elements of the LCC analysis are initial costs and the operating costs of the building. The collaboration of these modeling tools with other estimating software where the initial costs of the building can be generated is studied. The functions of the quantity take-off tools and estimating tools along with the interoperability between these tools are analyzed. The operating costs are generated from the software that focuses on sustainability. And the currently used tools for performing the calculations of the life cycle costing analysis are also observed. The objective is to identify if the currently available BIM tools and software can help in obtaining LCCA results and are able to offset the hindrances of the process. Therefore, the software are studied from the point of view of ease of handling data and the type of data that can be generated. Possible BIM workflows are suggested depending on the functions of the software and the relationship between them. The study has aimed at taking a snapshot the current tools available which can aid the LCCA process. The research is of significance to the construction industry as it forms a precursor to the application of Building Information Modeling to the LCCA process as it shows that it has the capacity of overcoming the obstacles for life cycle costing. This opens a window to the possibility of applying BIM to LCCA and furthering this study.