Search results

1 – 4 of 4
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 March 2019

Mounir Bensalah, Abdelmajid Elouadi and Hassan Mharzi

The authors will give an overview of the railway market, with a focus on Morocco, before seeing the challenges to face, before listing some benefits of rail links in terms of…

10042

Abstract

Purpose

The authors will give an overview of the railway market, with a focus on Morocco, before seeing the challenges to face, before listing some benefits of rail links in terms of development, ecology, security, space management, etc. The authors will then give an overview of the development of BIM, its benefits, risks and issues. The purpose of this paper is to verify that the BIM can provide the railway with the tools to face some of its challenges and improve its productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is part of our research project on the integration of BIM in railway, which is the result of a partnership between Colas Rail Maroc and the ENSAK of the Ibn Tofail University of Kenitra. The objective of this paper is mainly to confirm that the integration of BIM with the railway, through a theoretical and practical study, can have positive impacts. To do this, our methodology consists in studying briefly the development of the railway, the need to improve the budgets and schedules of the projects, to increase the productivity, before showing the advantages of the BIM in the sector of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). The study of feedback from railway projects (chosen for their date of completion – beyond 2014, their size, their geographical situation in several countries and for the availability of literature in a new field) will confirm the initial hypotheses. Among the projects studied will be a project that has been the subject of an article written by the authors of this paper. In the discussion of the results, the authors will focus on the benefits, risks and limitations of integrating BIM into the railway. In conclusion, the authors are laying the groundwork for future research in the field.

Findings

The cases study discussed in this paper and previous research confirms the hypotheses of the literature. The integration of BIM into railway projects can have several advantages: collaboration, time saving, cost optimization, prevention of conflicts between networks, construction before construction, optimization of facility management, improvement of the quality of works, prefabrication. They also allowed us to illustrate the risks (status and appropriation of the BIM model, lack of standardization of versions or software and lack of understanding of the basics of schedules and specifications) and limitations (lack of feedback, lack of adaptability and convergence of tools). These experiences have also shown that the use of BIM is not just a technological transition, but a revolution in the project management process, which requires several key success factors (participation of all, commitment, change management and adoption of the collaborative approach). Visualization, collaboration and conflict elimination are the three main chapters where the benefits of BIM can be organized. In fact, there is a lot of intersection between these chapters, but they have been chosen as the main ideas around which all the benefits can be better understood. Visualization primarily addresses the benefits to an individual and improving one’s personal understanding as a result of using BIM. The collaboration refers to the cooperative action of several team members, which is encouraged and facilitated by BIM. Conflict elimination mainly concerns project-related benefits, such as conflict reduction, waste, risks, costs and time. For railway infrastructure projects, the main purpose of using BIM is to improve the design integration process, internal project team communication and collision detection to eliminate risk of rehabilitation.

Research limitations/implications

The application of the BIM process in railway infrastructure requires constant improvement. This concerns the development of libraries and the models available to all users in order to encourage the development of this methodology and, consequently, its use of information throughout the life cycle of an infrastructure work.

Practical implications

The case study of real projects incorporating BIM confirms the results of the literature review. The benefits of integrating BIM into rail projects are multiple and proven: cost control, decision support, avoids extra work due to design errors, improves detection of interface problems, improves planning of vision, help with prefabrication and facility management, etc. Finally, the BIM process is able to overcome delays in procedures slowing the development of the construction industry in many countries, especially in Morocco, because of the slowness of design (or downright bad design).

Social implications

The integration of BIM into rail is becoming a global trend. This integration requires government decisions and a maturation of technology and tools. The authorities of some developed countries studied (Sweden, UK, France, Germany) in the railways, at different stages of implementation, are adopting BIM in the process of setting up new railway projects. This political impulse is still behind in southern countries, such as Morocco. The trend and the data collected indicate an adoption between 2020 and 2030 of BIM in all/some AEC projects in developed countries. This will have an impact on other countries that will soon be doing the same, especially in the railway sector to adopt the BIM.

Originality/value

As part of the realization of this paper, we proceeded to the implementation of an electrical substation as part of the project to build 40 electric traction substations built by Colas Rail on behalf of ONCF.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 12 November 2024

Bilal En-Nouaary, Rania Beniaich and Aziz Hmioui

The purpose of the study is to examine the electricity generation potential of different renewable energy sources in Morocco, as well as to propose a novel decision support model…

23

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to examine the electricity generation potential of different renewable energy sources in Morocco, as well as to propose a novel decision support model to prioritize renewable energy alternatives. The aim is to provide recommendations that support Morocco’s energy transition strategy and assist policymakers in devising future sustainable energy policies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper integrates the analytic hierarchy process with expert feedback to prioritize five renewable energy alternatives – solar photovoltaics (PV), concentrated solar panels (CSP), wind, hydro and biomass – specific to the Moroccan context. The model uses 14 sub-criteria clustered into four main categories: economic, technological, socio-political and environmental. The criteria were weighted based on inputs from local energy sector experts to capture the distinct priorities and contextual specificities of Morocco’s renewable energy landscape.

Findings

The study’s findings emphasize the dominance of economic criteria among Moroccan experts. Solar PV emerged as the most suitable option due to its cost-effectiveness and alignment with Morocco’s policies to support solar energy, followed by hydropower and wind. CSP and biomass ranked lowest due to high costs and limited viability.

Research limitations/implications

This study highlighted the need for quality data to support informed decision-making, as well as for a centralized database to facilitate access to consistent information on renewable energy projects.

Practical implications

It is recommended that policymakers prioritize mature and cost-effective technologies by establishing supportive regulatory frameworks and expanding investments in hybrid renewable energy infrastructures.

Originality/value

In addition to introducing the Analytic Hierarchy Process model for the first time within the Moroccan context, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research draws recommendations to assist Moroccan policymakers in devising future sustainable policies for the energy sector.

Details

International Journal of Energy Sector Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6220

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 6 May 2020

Saeed Akbari, Farzad Pour Rahimian, Moslem Sheikhkhoshkar, Saeed Banihashemi and Mostafa Khanzadi

Successful implementation of infrastructure projects has been a controversial issue in recent years, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to propose a decision…

281

Abstract

Purpose

Successful implementation of infrastructure projects has been a controversial issue in recent years, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to propose a decision support system (DSS) for the evaluation and prediction of project success while considering sustainability criteria.

Design/methodology/approach

To predict sustainable success factor, the study first developed its sustainable success factors and sustainable success criteria. These then formed a decision table. A rough set theory (RST) was then implemented for rules generation. The decision table was used as the input for the rough set, which returned a set of rules as the output. The generated rulesets were then filtered in fuzzy inference system (FIS), before serving as the basis for the DSS. The developed prediction tool was tested and validated by applying data from a real infrastructure project.

Findings

The results show that the developed rough set fuzzy method has strong ability in evaluation and prediction of the project success. Hence, the efficacy of the DSS is greatly related to the rule-based system, which applies RST to generate the rules and the result of the FIS was found to be valid via running a case study.

Originality/value

Use of DSS for predicting the sustainable success of the construction projects is gaining progressive interest. Integration of RST and FIS has also been advocated by the seminal literature in terms of developing robust rulesets for impeccable prediction. However, there is no preceding study adopting this integration for predicting project success from the sustainability perspective. The developed system in this study can serve as a tool to assist the decision-makers to dynamically evaluate and predict the success of their own projects based on different sustainability criteria throughout the project life cycle.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 June 2021

Okechukwu Bruno-Kizito Nwadigo, Nicola Naismith, Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini and John Tookey

Dynamic planning and scheduling forms a widely adopted smart strategy for solving real-world problems in diverse business systems. This paper uses deductive content analysis to…

932

Abstract

Purpose

Dynamic planning and scheduling forms a widely adopted smart strategy for solving real-world problems in diverse business systems. This paper uses deductive content analysis to explore secondary data from previous studies in dynamic planning and scheduling to draw conclusions on its current status, forward action and research needs in construction management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors searched academic databases using planning and scheduling keywords without a periodic setting. This research collected secondary data from the database to draw an objective comparison of categories and conclusions about how the data relates to planning and scheduling to avoid the subjective responses from questionnaires and interviews. Then, applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected one hundred and four articles. Finally, the study used a seven-step deductive content analysis to develop the categorisation matrix and sub-themes for describing the dynamic planning and scheduling categories. The authors used deductive analysis because of the secondary data and categories comparison. Using the event types represented in a quadrant mapping, authors delve into where, when, application and benefits of the classes.

Findings

The content analysis showed that all the accounts and descriptions of dynamic planning and scheduling are identifiable in an extensive research database. The content analysis reveals the need for multi-hybrid (4D BIM-Agent based-discrete event-discrete rate-system dynamics) simulation modelling and optimisation method for proffering solutions to scheduling and planning problems, its current status, tools and obstacles.

Originality/value

This research reveals the deductive content analysis talent in construction research. It also draws direction, focuses and raises a question on dynamic planning and scheduling research concerning the five-integrated model, an opportunity for their integration, models combined attributes and insight into its solution viability in construction.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

1 – 4 of 4
Per page
102050