Computer-Aided Decision Support System for Safety Monitoring of Geotechnical Construction

This study endeavor focuses on developing a decision support system for safety monitoring of foundation constructions. According to statistical investigations, foundation excavation is the most construction activity apt to causing construction accidents. In all geotechnical engineering work, it is clear that there will be discrepancy between prediction and performance. Consequently designs tend to be conservative, although on occasions they may well be unsafe. Very conservative design means extra cost whereas failure means both loss of resource and even life. Safety is an essential consideration in all construction projects. Instrumentation programs can not only fill the gap of the insufficient of the design, but also provide the needed safeguards, by indicating behavior with respect to threshold limits and by providing a forewarning of any adverse effects of construction. This paper develops a GIS based decision support system to assist construction engineers to monitor and control the excavation conditions. In the system, the layout of the construction site and various instruments are represented in several data layers (coverages). Each instrument layer is integrated with a relational database receiving the data collected from the site. Applying fuzzy sets theory, the system analyzes the collected data and identifies the possible causes of the adverse conditions. Through database queries and spatial displays, the positions of the extraordinary instruments exceeding the threshold limits are identified. The primary features of the system are as follows: (1) develop a knowledge base for planning layout of instruments according to the design requirement, site characteristics, or instrument capabilities, (2) provide a checking list of quality control for instrument installations., (3) collect and transmit the measured data to the job site office using the automated transmission technology, and (4) analyze the collected data and diagnose the possible causes of the crisis situations. This system improves the instrumentation program by providing a logic and systematic manner to analyze the measured data in a real time base. Predictions of any adverse conditions and appropriate actions can be taken to prevent the occurrences of construction accidents. Furthermore, compared with manual methods, the system significantly improves the computational effort and increases the data accuracy and consistency.