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Construction engineering focuses on planning, design and management for the construction of infrastructure projects such as highways, bridges, pipelines, airports, railroads, industrial plants, buildings, dams and reservoirs.
none of these can take place if the elements of climate and weather are not in agreement!
WEATHER AND CLIMATE
Weather refers to the atmospheric condition of a place at any given time, while climate refers to the average atmospheric condition of a place over a period of time,at least 35 years. They both have the same agents or parameters by which they can be measured. These include rainfall, sunshine, wind, humidity, air pressure, temperature, etc. Effects on building and engineering construction Extreme weather and climatic conditions lead to loads on buildings and civil engineering works. Changes in weather and climate will affect the three stages of planning in building and engineering construction projects.
PROJECT CONCEPTION PLANNING
Climate and weather affect project conception planning in the following ways:
Delay of site preparation activities:
Occurrence of high rainfall can delay site preparation activities as workers can’t work under heavy rain.This delay in site preparation results in delay of commencement of the main work and a lag in the planned delivery/completion time.
High and frequent rainfall and extreme temperature will result to high insurance cost of flood prone areas.:
this is as a result of increased chances of flood and other risk factors.this leads to an increase in the cost of establishing road and engineering construction works.
PROJECT DESIGN PLANNING
Project design planning of engineering and building construction is affected by climate and weather in the following ways:
Influence selection and specification 0f construction materials:
The temperature,pressure and humidity conditions of a place go a very long way to influence the choice of materials that can be use4d for the construction work.this is because the use of poorly suited materials can reduce durability aqnd increase cost of maintenance.
Damage structural design and stability of built facility:
High temperature and rainfall can lead to quality loss and structural design of the work as most surfaces start to wear out.
Influence asset management strategies:
The weather and climate conditions of a place go along way to influence the asset management practices .if the weather and climate conditions are not ascertained,assets can not be properly protected and managed,resulting in loss to the construction company.
Weather and climate also affect the site Layout plan:
This effect is seen in most places where the topography affects water drainage,thunderstorms,wind and other climatic conditions.The construction engineer tries to change the site layout plan in order to be compatible with the climate and weather conditions of the place.
CONSTRUCTION PLANNING
The construction planning is affected by climate and weather in the following ways:
Too much rainfall will interfere with construction schedule and mixing of concrete will be adversely affected.Engineering and construction works involving the use of scaffolds would be interrupted as workers cannot safely climb during or immediately after rainfall.
High wind poses threat to lives and limbs of people at the construction site, especially on buildings requiring the use of scaffold as it can break the scaffold or shake it very hard to break the hold of workers on the scaffold
High temperature and humidity will adversely affect the physiological comfort of the workers and their general performance.This will reduce their ability and willingness to work.
Extreme weather events may delay transport and delivery of construction materials.Transport and delivery of construction materials can not take place under harsh weather conditions like high wind,rainfall,fog,thunderstorm etc.This results in delay of the work scheduled delivery time.
Heavy rainfall and Flooding of low lying areas would affect transport thereby increasing cost and affecting programming and asset management.
