As a major construction project begins to unfold, a worksite becomes a chaotic mess. Multiple workers are moving in every direction, and the noise pollution alone can drive you crazy. Tracking the color of hardhats to know who runs what team can get confusing, if there is a system in place. And lost in the fray of it all is the folks who have the blueprints in hand & are trying to make sure everything is being done correctly. Needless to say, everyone’s nerves are a little fried.
Keep in mind, however, that this is only the start of the project. Anyone who works at job sites understands that there are a plethora of other engineering mechanical issues to worry about. Some can prove to be annoying and cause delays in progress. Others, unfortunately, can put lives on the line. With such a wide swing of consequences at play, project planning is a 24-hour gig on which personnel are on call almost all the time.
While every job site is different, many of them share similar engineering & mechanical worries throughout the project planning process, as well as its execution. Some of the biggest areas of concern include:
Physical Stability of a Site
When erecting any size building or even setting up a safe worksite, there has to be an establishment of a safe & stable site. This is the foundation of everything that is to come & if it is compromised in any way, there is no telling what catastrophic problems may occur.
Environmental Remediation
High on the list of the modern work site is how the surrounding area will be returned to ‘normal’ if there has been any contamination of the soil and/or water. Depending on the type & scope of the project, the amount of contamination may be at a scale that will require tremendous efforts in remediation to meet & exceed local, state, and federal standards. However, this will mean greater expense and changes to project timelines.
Design Confusion
Everything may look good on paper, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is on the same page. A major project will have multiple teams working together. However, they all need to understand the design aspects, as well as the real world implications of the designs & how feasible they are versus how ‘cool’ they seem.
Timeline & Budget
No one wants to work on a clock or off of a predetermined bankroll, but such is life in big business. There will be multiple times when engineering & mechanical design elements will be wrangled in & need changing because they are not feasible based on money and/or time. The challenge is finding a solution that does not compromise project integrity.
Getting Info Across Multiple Teams
Having too many cooks in one kitchen never helps. Major construction sites need to be well-oiled machines working seamlessly, with all teams aware of where others are in their processes. A lack of communication will lead to errors & possible disastrous results.
Design Changes
Engineering & mechanical designs are based off precise mathematics put into real-life situations. The end results are such that the final design is a thing of beauty. That is until the client chooses to change the design at the last-minute or even midway through the build for one reason or another. The challenge at this point is seeing how well the change can be incorporated into the once final design or how a compromise can be had between what the client now wants, what they once wanted, and what is most feasible to be had without chucking the whole thing out.
Finally, when it comes to engineering mechanical design solutions for a major project before it starts, the toughest thing to do is to get everyone to think ahead. Any new project will likely be using technology to meet the demands of today’s fast-paced world. However, technology changes just about every single day, which means that companies & the physical spaces they occupy need to be able to adapt & update with the changing times to keep up. Designing a physical space that incorporates today’s technology but is also able to be ready to welcome changes down the road is crucial to staying ahead of the competition.
