7001ENG Project: Risk Management in Construction with Ultra-Wideband

This project proposal focuses on the application of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology for risk management in construction sites. It addresses the critical need for real-time monitoring and tracking of resources to minimize risks associated with obstructions and hazards. The project outlines the significance of UWB technology in enhancing safety, improving resource allocation, and facilitating data-driven decision-making. It details the methodology, including experimental setups and data processing algorithms, and discusses the potential of UWB systems for accurate measurement applications, including material tracking and workplace safety. The research aims to verify the effectiveness of UWB in construction risk management, exploring its ability to prevent risks related to obstructions and improve overall site safety. The proposal also covers the system requirements, including cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and legality, and the dissemination of findings to benefit the construction industry and related fields. The project also includes a sample risk assessment form and details on the various components of the UWB system, such as sensors, receivers, and tags, along with their specifications.

RISK MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE THROUGH
AUTOMATED ULTRA-WIDEBAND
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

PROJECT SUMMARY
Stakeholders in the construction field are majorly concerned with effective minimization of
perils through close monitoring of the construction activities on the site of any construction
project in the industry for construction which involves the engineers, owners, architects’
suppliers, constructors, and many others. The extent at which the work is done and most
probably the projects status awareness determines the success of any construction project. This
shows clearly that information about the project is very vital in real-time decision making for the
project. After proper assessment of the conditions of the site, the allocation of resources can then
follow in a more efficient way after the activities like allocation of the workforce, materials,
equipment, and procurement. Reliable comprehensive decisions can be made by the assistance of
pure semi-automated or automated technology in the collection of data based on the improved
speed and the delivery means. This work discusses the emerging Ultra-Wide Band technology
which aims at resource tracking in the sites of construction and for sensing real-time location on
the object to reduce risk in the site. The technology involves the use of a tool for collecting data
and series of experiments algorithms for processing of data prior to the results based on the
safety of the area of work and tracking the location of the material. The competition created in
the construction sector by the Ultra-Wide Band technology has effects on the construction
management that benefits the industry in various fields of application.
Key Words: Risk Management, Construction site, Ultra-Wide Band technology

INTRODUCTION
Risk can be defined as an exposure to gain/loss or just the probability of an occurrence
of gain or loss which is later multiplied with its respective magnitude. The descriptive of the
event as certain is only confirmed for the cases where the probability value is 100%. It is 0% if
the level of uncertainty is zero. In between these other activities, there is variation in certainty.
The analysis, as well as management of risk, is a very crucial aspect of the decision making in
the industry of the construction. The clients within the construction industry are the most victims
of the high degree of risks due to the nature of the macro, meso, and microenvironment of their
operation(Ning, Qi and Wu 2018).
There has been however the very poor reputation of the construction industry as far the
risk management is concerned. The contractors, clients, the general public among others have
suffered from the shortage of proper measures in construction risk management(Thabit and
Younus 2018). This implies that the construction sector is associated with very high risks while
the management also keeps being too complex and challenging to manage. The innovation of
technology in industrial construction management is very important based on factors such as;
 Resource tracking in the whole construction chain of supply by the time of the
construction life cycle in the constructed environment. This improves the effectiveness
and efficiency of the construction industry as a whole.
 The stuck-by events result in the extracted contacts, an illustration of heavy equipment.
This shows that the construction industry application of the safety tool design requires
surrounding object position and faster updates.

Various industries are striving for the collection of data for technology advancement on
the basis of priority and also processing to facilitate easy flow of resources that minimizes the
logistic efforts. For example, resource tracking and monitoring the progress of materials in
warehousing and construction. The analysis of benefit-risk and the frequent investment needed in
the construction makes the adaptation of the and its development long lasting. This paper
majorly discusses the possible solution to the everyday problems faced by the personnel in the
field of construction rather than illustrating the reasons for a few implementations in the
technologies of construction. The various emerging technologies are capable of forming the base
for the solutions to the problems. Therefore, for efficient resource tracking and sense of the real-
time location, there is a need for construction processing tools and acquisition of data at faster
rates.
This work, therefore, tries to stipulate the summary on the innovative technologies in the
construction tracking of resources and monitoring of the progress. It also deliberates technology
of Ultra-Wide Band requirements for particular applications in the construction sector. The paper
does not also leave out the conducted experiments in the field of construction using the Ultra-
Wide Band technology.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
The positioning of resources located in the past few decades was facilitated by developed interest
resulting from various reasons. There were high demands on the quantity increase on the
production and accuracy in work performance resulting from shrinking budgets, competition
across the world and the natural tight schedules. The high demands have forced different
industries under the construction sector to strive to adapt and get used to the various technologies
which include the Global Positioning System (GPS), laser tracking and current development

support of the combined Global Positioning System and the Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID). These kinds of innovations are on the need to enhance the communication system, for
planning in case of emergencies, for reduction of associated risks in the site. Automated risk
management by the use of Ultra-Wide Band technology will be very reliable.
OBJECTIVES
The major reasons for conducting the research proposal include;
 To help the construction industry in the verification of the courses of resources and their
location for the purposes of preventing risks associated with obstruction from objects.
 To expound the applications of Ultra-Wide Band system in the sector of construction as a
tool of risk management.
 And lastly accurate measurement applications in the field including materials, safety at
the workplace and track of the task productivity.
METHODOLOGY
The technology targets mainly the reduction of risks associated with the construction sector
which may include the obstructions in the construction site. The experiments which will be
carried out both at the construction sites and in the laboratory will be based on the Ultra-Wide
Band system of configuration such as;
- Shielded CAT-5e cables of various lengths
- A computer interface and a central hub processor
- Receivers or the antenna
- Maximum of 30 tags within which there is a single tag for reference

Principle of the operation of the Ultra-Wide Band system
The connections made tries to join the hub and the antennae or the receivers by the use
of CAT-5e shielded cables. Each of the shielded cable used in the connection will be responsible
for transmitting time readings to the hub and tag identification as well as powering the receivers
in such connection(Zou, Kiviniemi and Jones 2016). It is particularly the center space identified
where the reference tag of subgroups of receiver or the one in the antennae's line-of-sight is
placed. Position of every tag is determined on the regard of a synchronized signal on arrival in
pursuit of the principal time of flight. Use of more than two antennae generates real-time data
positioning of two dimensions for the signals between the antennae and the tag will use of more
than four antennae produces a three-dimensional real-time location with substantial elevation
difference(Zheng et al 2016).
The Ultra-Wide Band consisting of sensors and receivers will obviously permit the location
of the object and this, in particular, will reduce by a greater value the cases of obstruction in the
sector of construction. It is important to note that the majority of the risk includes material falling
from a height being damaged as a result of the poor location. Also lack of proper arrangement of
the objects in the construction site on recognition of the various possible perils capable of
initiating damages, there is a need for the generation of a safety plan(Gurcanli, Bilir, and Sevim,
2015).
Safety plan
The safety plan involves what is entailed in the table below and this would help in tackling the
possible risks.
Job type Credentials N/A Employee’s Name

site safety Supervision Must be highly skilled
Crane safety Must be of high
qualifications
Falsework design Must be of high
qualifications
Ladders inspection Must be experienced
Operational heavy
equipment
Must be of high
qualifications
Plan of fall protection Must be highly skilled
First Aid personnel Highly trained
The Ultra-Wide Band tags are of various forms such as the small badge form of
measurement 6.5 cm × 0.6 cm × 3.4 cm, a micro rectangular form of dimension 2.5 cm × 1.3 cm
×2.5 cm or the form of asset cube of the size 2.9 cm × 2.5 cm × 2.9 cm. It is a necessary
requirement that the tags should weigh 12g and less. The rates of Radio Frequency (RF) for the
updates in fixing of the tags will approximately move to 60 Hz in frequency or in the range of 1
Hz, 5 Hz, 15 Hz,30 Hz or even values of frequencies below 1Hz(Guo, Yu and Skitmore 2017).
The tags can have ranges even up to 200 meters assumed to be the high gain directional receiver
reliable on the used antennae. The Total Station will be responsible for recording every three-
dimensional receiver before captivating the field or the laboratory measurements. The processing
unit of the hub will be for implementing the positioning of data. The future potential of the
technology has been predicted from the results of the two experiments which were conducted
included the following:

- Laboratory tracking of humans. The estimations will be made on the system of Ultra-
Wide Band for the purpose of determining the preciseness and accuracy within proximate
optimal conditions.
- The erection of steel and the job site workforce tracking. This involves the estimates that
will be made on the system of Ultra-Wide Band within ambient impact credible
conditions such as meddling of the metals, sunlight at the preferably large approximated
scale of about 60 m by 60 m.
Risk assessment for a site construction
Risk Assessment Exercise form sample
Name of the person performing assessment:
Date:
Procedure/Evaluated activity
Possible perils associated with the activity
The possible consequences: What might be the possible consequences? To what degree of harm
does it have?
Who is specifically affected or likely to be affected by the risk?

What are the necessary actions to be put in place to eliminate the dangers or reduce the risk
level?
Can there be a failure in any devised method for controlling risk? In such a case what can be the
possible outcomes?
Training requirements:
The persistence level of risk:
In case of an emergency what should be the action:
Possible references that may exist:
Signature of the person carrying out the assessment:
Necessities for Ultra-Wide Band system
The Ultra-Wide Band system requirements on the view of implementation include the outlined
features below;

Low costs and ease of use: the cost of operation and the installation set up and maintenance
should be less for both receivers and the hardware.
Accuracy: the results from the system should even be much better by allowing only negligible
errors in the dimensions and at the rates of update in the application construction.
Legality: each and every country has its own regulations and standards which it should develop
and strictly follow.
The cost and size: the UWB system should be cheap enough and of small size, if possible
operated under full wireless control to make it more applicable.
Range: the signals between the antennae in motion and the static ones should be about 150m and
be able to operate on the cluttered environment materials like steel.
DISSEMINATION OF THE FINDINGS
It will be important to communicate the findings after the evaluation of the effectiveness of the
Ultra-Wide Band system in the management of risks within the construction site. The positioning
in the system is capable of providing solutions not only to the problems that are currently facing
the construction sector but also in other fields by majoring on research measures and possible
areas of applications such as;
- User interface processing and development in the collection of data for real-time
accuracy and precision in data positioning.
- Verification of Ultra-Wide Band effects on the construction industry such as the
feasibility, accuracy and the looming requirements of UWB. Solution developments to
the areas of applications capable of increasing its purpose.

- Increasing the awareness creation of response emergencies traversing the buildings.
- Improvement on the wireless hardware and a system that consumes less energy.
- Tracking and location of resources which would promote productivity workflow and the
supply chain in existence(Chatterjee et al 2018).
- Increase the awareness creation on workforce and motorists on the areas of constructions
and transportation, for example, the period of maintenance of the roads especially at
nights by the use of a real-time safety which should be more active.
- Construction simulation development through the real-time provision and time data and
right positioning.
In order to communicate the above benefits of Ultra-Wide Band system, the research proposes
the regular publication of the Engineering journal, creation of website platforms and other
relatively cheaper publications.
ESTIMATED PROJECT TIMELINE
In order to have all the specifics of the project addressed and also to ensure that the
project meets its objects, it will be broken down into phases. Cumulatively all the phases will
take at least 4 months to effectively test the relevance of the Ultra-Wide Band system in the risk
management within the industry of the construction.

May
2019
May
2019
May
2019
June
2019
July
2019
August
2019
September
2019
Research and Preliminary Studies
Literature review
Proposal Writing
Class Presentation
School Presentation
Material Acquisition
Fabrication
Set up and Testing
Additional modification
Final Report Write Up
Final Presentation