Digital technologies as enablers for more sustainable improvements of construction site processes containinteresting opportunities. Little is known how to, in a structured way, assess and implement digital technologies to support development and improvement of construction site operations. Maturity frameworksassess the status quo and guide decision makers to potential improvements. The purpose of this researchis to develop a framework for assessing digital maturity of construction site operations. Literature andempirical data were utilized to develop and validate the framework. The framework contains assessmentareas that specify the areas of potential improvements, maturity levels that indicate the progressiontowards maturity, assessment criteria that define organizational aspects of the assessment, and anassessment procedure to guide assessors. The maturity assessment framework contributes potentially tosystematization of evaluative processes creating opportunities for a change within processes and organizations enabled by digital initiatives and to long-term improvements on project portfolio level.

While being a significant part of the urban development, construction projects disturb different stakeholders in various ways. There are three problems associated with construction disturbances: (i) most of these disturbances are not recognised by the people causing them, (ii) they are not monitored and (iii) if they are to be monitored, data is spread among stakeholders. This paper defines what a disturbance is, presents a list of disturbances, linking disturbances to stakeholders and, categorising them based on their distance from construction sites (responding to (i)). Next, a IoT domain model is developed, demonstrating how IoT in construction needs to be combined with the sensors of smart cities to capture the primitives of these disturbances (responding to (iii)). This is a first step towards enabling large-scale data-gathering of construction transport disturbances (responding to (ii)), which is a necessity to predict them and allow better construction transport planning to decrease disturbances.

The purpose is to investigate the use of digital tools to mitigate risks and increase worker safety at construction sites. Construction is one of the most dangerous industries to work in with relatively high numbers of injuries and fatalities. At the same time there is an ongoing trend of digitalization of construction, and digital technologies, including, i.e., electronic tools, systems, devices, embedded sensors, that generate, store, or process data, are introduced to the construction sites, also for safety applications. Based on five case studies, this study investigates the use of digital technologies for improving site safety. All cases are a part of a larger project where digital technologies, including sensors, edge cameras and computers, object recognition, AI, cloud computing, etc., are tested in a “real environment”, on-going construction projects. The analysis focuses on three areas: the technical feasibility, user acceptance, and the possibility to scale-up and commercialise the digital technologies. The results show that the construction context puts extra demand on development when it comes to technical feasibility, whereas the user acceptance is generally good. The main challenge is, however, to show commercial benefits and scale-up the technology for broader implementation in the industry.

Previous research indicates that the success of logistics solutions in building projects depends on how they are organized in accordance with the logistics context, which is determined by building contractors’ competitive priorities, product characteristics, and production process choices. Taking a configurations approach, the purpose of this paper is to describe the fit between the logistics context and the organizing of logistics at a strategic level. A conceptual research framework is derived from literature postulating an influence of the logistics context on the organizing of logistics. The framework is applied to four cases by the means of strategic profiling, which provides a snapshot of the fit in the cases’ logistics configurations. The findings indicate that the type of production process influences the degree to which logistics decisions should be made centrally and that the degree of standardization and pre-engineering influence the degree to which logistics processes should be formalized. The main contributions are the identification of logistics configuration variables and the description of the fit between building contractors’ logistics context and the organizing of logistics. For managerial practice, a logistics configuration profiling template was developed that can be used as a tool in the logistic strategy process.

Störningsfri stad har kombinerat kunskaper inom Trafikplanering, Visualisering, Bygglogistik, Sensorer och Offentlig planering och styrning. Projektet har letts av Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för Teknik och Naturvetenskap och finansierats av Vinnova, IHS. Projektet har löpt mellan slutet av 2018 och 2021 ut. Projektdeltagare har varit VTI, RISE, Norrköpings kommun, Linköpings kommun, Stockholm stad, Uppsala kommun, Trafikverket Projekt Ostlänken, LE Lundbergs Fastigheter, Wiklunds Åkeri, Wellsec, SanktKors, Byggföretagen, Telenor och Logistikia.Projektet har utvecklat en verktygsprototyp som stöttar kollaborativ planering av byggtrafik och stadsplanering genom att visualisera pågående byggprojekts sammanlagda mängd transporter och var i staden (i form av en kartvy) det uppstår störningar i form av förseningar pga dessa. Verktyget bygger på en MATSim trafikmodell (i nuläget Norrköping) inkluderande både persontransporter (modellerat baserat på mobilnätsdata) och byggtrafik (modellerat baserat på data från bygglogistiklösningar). Med hjälp av verktyget kan olika scenarier för att minska störningarna av byggtransporter testas. För att stötta användandet av verktyget har en kollaborativ planeringsprocess som visar på hur de olika aktörerna involverade i planeringen av byggtransporter och stadsutveckling behöver interagera med varandra utvecklats. Projektet också deltagit i utvecklingen av en sensorbox (partiklar, luftfuktighet, temperatur och ljud) samt slangmätningsmetodik för att öka kunskapen om byggtransporter. Baserat på de resultat som projektet har behovsägarna har påbörjat arbeten med att bättre hantera de störningar som uppstår pga byggprojekt i staden.

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries when it comes to safety andsituations involving collisions between vehicles and workers are often fatal. Site activities are carriedout simultaneously by skilled workers and machine operators, which makes communication betweenthese groups crucial. Based on a single case study, the aims of this paper are to investigate: (i)problems related to communication on construction sites and (ii) the usefulness of Bluetooth headsettechnology to improve communication. In the first research phase, three semi-structured interviewsrevealed problems related to communication. Respondents identified improvement areas such assound isolation in vehicles, making it difficult to hear, and problems with using sign language whenit is dark or too sunny. Working together with the same person on a regular basis improvescommunication as well as safety and productivity, and interviewees suggested that inexperiencedpersonnel should be mixed in groups with more experienced personnel, which can help them to avoidinjuries and learn safer practices. In the second research phase, Bluetooth headsets were introducedto improve communication between different groups. Data was collected through five rounds of miniquestionnaires with construction site personnel. Feedback from each survey was used to improve theusefulness of the Bluetooth headsets. Analysing patterns from respondents’ suggestions, showed thatthey first complained about the fit and comfort of the headsets, followed by noise isolation,frequency and other additional functions of the headsets. The possibility to add warning signalsenhance the usefulness of Bluetooth headsets, e.g. by increasing the situational awareness andreducing cognitive load of construction workers, making workers more productive while also helpingto avoid injuries.

The construction industry is one of the least digitally advanced industries. Although the industry is project-based, a project-level assessment of digitalization is lacking. The aim of this paper is to develop a digitalization index to assess the degree of digitalization of construction projects. Relying on the outcomes of a workshop with 11 participants and questionnaire responses from 113 site managers in Sweden, four activities; visualized drawings and three-dimensional (3D) models on sites; updated drawings, models, and system documents; created and updated work disposition plans; and updated time resource plans were selected, and a digitalization index enabling a simple assessment of the degree of digitalization of construction projects was constructed based on the degree of digitalization of the data management processes involved in these four activities. The approach to determine the digitalization index was demonstrated in a case study of a new construction project. For future studies, an accurate and simple assessment of the degree of digitalization of projects should increase the opportunities to study the association between the degree of digitalization and project performance. With longitudinal assessments, digitalization trends in the construction industry can be reported.

The construction industry is associated with low productivity growth rates and environmental harm and, has a crucial role to play to reach the SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015. Construction logistics offer useful solutions to improve both the productivity and sustainability of the industry. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, in detail, the environmental impact of construction transport and whether the building certification scheme for a construction project has any influence on its transport arrangements. The analysis in this paper is based on a multiple case study of 40 Swedish projects. The results show that construction projects with better environmental ratings generated less emissions from construction transport. However, among the ten projects with highest transport/m2, five were certified. Construction logistics solutions (CLSs) such as terminals and checkpoints are useful in reducing the number of transports, and thereby reducing emissions. But the usefulness of a CLS is influenced by gross floor area and type of project, as well as the phase which the solution is implemented in. This study contributes to a better understanding of construction transport patterns and reducing environmental harm of these transports. The results of this paper are beneficial for construction site managers, logistics consultants and transport companies, helping them to implement CLSs in a more useful way, depending on the phase and type of project.

Multiple deliveries and long turnaround times on construction sites harm the environmentand disturb on-site productivity and safety. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transportpatterns of construction material deliveries, including turnaround times. In order to investigatethe number of transports and turnaround times, transport data for 13 Swedish construction sites,which were collected with the help of booking systems, were used. By comparing data from the cases,several patterns were observed: (i) very few projects receive deliveries at weekends, (ii) almost allprojects receive 50% of their daily deliveries before 09:00, (iii) long goods, standard euro pallets andlightweight goods (less than 500 kg) are the most common deliveries, (iv) trucks and delivery vansare the most common vehicles used and (v) goods to be handled by crane and lightweight goodsgenerate the longest turnaround time/delivery. This is one of the rare studies revealing currentpractice and issues associated with material deliveries, which is a necessary first step to increaseefficiency of construction logistics. This study shows that it is possible to influence these issues,as some projects performed better than others regarding turnaround times and transport.