GFS-1201 LDA-1201 WPI Recreation Center: Track Alternative Design and Construction Management Software A Major Qualifying Project Submitted to the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Submitted By: John Flynn Kathryne Kulzer Sean Minor Suzanne Najem Sponsoring Agency: Gilbane Building Company Submitted To: Guillermo Salazar Leonardo Albano Date: March 2, 2012 WPI Recreation Center Abstract This project created an alternative support system for the suspended track in WPI’s new Recreation Center. The development of the alternative design primarily addressed structural integrity. A comparative analysis between the existing and alternative design was completed for the design, cost, and schedule. Two Building Information Modeling software applications: Autodesk Robot and Revit were used in supporting the study. Robot was explored as a new program in structural analysis and Revit was used to create 4-D models of both designs. i WPI Recreation Center Capstone Design Statement The capstone design requirements were met in this Major Qualifying Project through studying the new Recreation Center at WPI. This project focused on creating an alternative design for the suspended track system that is on the top floor of the new building and creating a cost estimate and a schedule that would allow the group to complete a comparative analysis of the existing and alternative designs. Finally, the schedule was integrated into BIM to create a 4- D model. The alternative design used cantilever and simple beams to replace the suspension. In order to meet the specified requirements for a capstone design experience, this project addressed certain constraints set forth by the American Society of Civil Engineers. These constraints include economic, health and safety, ethical, manufacturability, and social. The economic constraint was addressed by looking at the effects of the alternative design through a cost perspective. A cost estimate was created to compare the two designs. Also, the project looked into construction contracts and studied the different types as well as the economic benefits and differences of each type. This project looked at the Health and Safety constraint through the alternative design. The alternative design used the Massachusetts State Building Code: 7th Edition as the building code and the AISC Steel Construction Manual for design considerations and specifications. These both are accepted standards that take health and safety into account. Ethically, the alternative design was designed under the same ethical considerations taken by Cannon Design. Cannon stated many of their assumptions on the cover sheet of the structural package. All of these constraints were followed throughout the design process. The next constraint studied was manufacturability. This project looked at how feasible it would be to have an alternate design for the track system. Similar sized beams and columns were ii WPI Recreation Center used to ensure that the design was of comparable constructability to the original design. Construction of the alternative design does not require any extra major equipment, material, or labor. This approach allowed for guaranteed manufacturability and constructability. The constructability was also looked at through the schedule comparison and the creation of the 4-D model. All aspects of this MQP addressed the social constraint. The Recreation Center is a social place that will be open for public use. The indoor track that is being installed is an important aspect of the Recreation Center and will most likely be a widely used portion of the building. In creating the alternative design, it had to be designed to meet all of the needs of the WPI community in their wants for an indoor track. The project meetings gave insight into how necessary the Recreation Center is and the social impact it will have on the campus. This project also provided educational opportunities for the WPI community by allowing students of many projects to be involved in the construction and development of the Recreation Center. iii WPI Recreation Center Authorship Page All aspects of this project were equally worked on by the four members of the team. The following list outlines the areas of focus in the report for each member of the team. John Flynn - Cost and Schedule Analyses of the Existing and Alterative design, 4-D Revit model Kathryne Kulzer - Cost and Schedule Analyses of the Existing and Alterative design, 4-D Revit model Sean Minor - Cantilever Beam Approach, Corner Design of the Simple Beam Approach. Suzanne Najem - Simple Beam Approach, Column Design, Robot. The signatures below indicate acceptance of above. iv WPI Recreation Center Acknowledgements Our Major Qualifying Project team would like to thank all of the individuals who contributed to the creation of our Project. Out team would like to especially thank our advisors, Professor Leonard Albano and Professor Guillermo Salazar for their help and guidance in completing the project. Our team would also like to thank the Gilbane Building Company and Cannon Design teams that were working on the WPI new Sports and Recreation Center project, Mr. Neil Benner and Miss. Melissa Hinton from Gilbane Building Company, and Mr. Alfredo DiMauro from WPI for providing us with valuable information; including access to their structural drawings, and allowing our team members to attend the Owner’s meetings. Finally, we would like to thank Ms. Dana Harmon from WPI for allowing us to conduct an interview which gave us vital information that helped us towards in the completion of this project. v WPI Recreation Center Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Capstone Design Statement ................................................................................................ ii Authorship Page ................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1 - Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 - Background ...................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Recreation Center................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Structural Evaluation .......................................................................................... 5 2.2.1 Suspended Track System ................................................................................ 6 2.2.2 Long-Span Roofing System .......................................................................... 10 2.2.3 Massachusetts Building Code ....................................................................... 11 2.3 Project Management ......................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 Schedule ........................................................................................................ 13 2.3.2 Cost ............................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Computer-Aided Engineering ........................................................................... 21 2.4.1 Robot Structural Analysis ............................................................................. 21 2.4.2 Building Information Modeling (BIM) ......................................................... 22 Chapter 3 - Benchmarking the Current Design................................................................. 29 vi WPI Recreation Center 3.1 Revit Model Creation of Existing Design ......................................................... 29 3.2 Creation of Baseline Cost Estimate Based on Given Information .................... 29 3.3 Creation of Baseline Estimate Based on RS Means .......................................... 33 3.3.1 Estimate Process Based on Cost Data ........................................................... 34 3.4 Schedule Investigation of Current Design ........................................................ 37 3.5 Creation of 4-D BIM ......................................................................................... 41 Chapter 4 - Alternate Designs ........................................................................................... 46 4.1 Structural Evaluation ........................................................................................ 46 4.1.1 Existing Design Criteria & Adjustments ...................................................... 47 4.1.2 Alternative Design – Cantilever Approach ................................................... 50 4.1.3 Alternative Design – Simple Beam Approach .............................................. 52 4.1.4 Robot, Structural Analysis Program ............................................................. 55 4.1.5 Column Design ............................................................................................. 58 4.1.6 Revit Model ................................................................................................... 61 4.2 Cost Development for Alternative Design ........................................................ 62 4.3 Schedule Development for Alternative Design ................................................ 64 4.4 Creation of 4-D BIM for Alternate Design ....................................................... 68 Chapter 5 - Evaluation/Analysis of Designs ..................................................................... 72 5.1 Design Comparison ........................................................................................... 72 5.2 Cost Comparison ............................................................................................... 76 5.3 Schedule Comparison ....................................................................................... 77 5.3.1 Phase Comparison through Revit .................................................................. 81 vii WPI Recreation Center Chapter 6 – Conclusions & Recommendations ................................................................ 83 6.1 Recommendations Based on Comparisons ....................................................... 83 6.2 Utilization of Technology ................................................................................. 84 Chapter 7 - References ...................................................................................................... 86 viii WPI Recreation Center List of Figures Figure 1: Construction Sections of the Recreation Center.................................................. 2 Figure 2: Current Suspended Track .................................................................................... 6 Figure 3: Cannon’s Structural Truss ................................................................................. 11 Figure 4: Primavera Schedule for Recreation Center (Gilbane, 2011) ............................. 16 Figure 5: November 2010 Schedule (Gilbane, 2011) ....................................................... 17 Figure 6: August 2011 Schedule (Gilbane, 2011) ............................................................ 18 Figure 7: Critical Path for the Pool (Gilbane, 2011) ......................................................... 19 Figure 8: BIM Contribution Breakdown (Partridge, 2011) .............................................. 23 Figure 9: BIM Site Plan (Knutson, 2011) ......................................................................... 25 Figure 10: Interface Detections (Hope, 2010) .................................................................. 26 Figure 11: Flowchart for Exporting Schedules ................................................................. 30 Figure 12: Flowchart for the Use of RS Means................................................................. 35 Figure 13: Time-lapse Photos Spreadsheet ....................................................................... 38 Figure 14: Existing Design Primavera Screenshot ........................................................... 40 Figure 15: Progress Photos ............................................................................................... 41 Figure 16: Phase 1 - 25% of Track Complete ................................................................... 43 Figure 17: Phase 2 - 50% of Track Complete ................................................................... 44 Figure 18: Phase 3 - 75% of Track Complete ................................................................... 44 Figure 19: Final Construction Phase of Existing Track .................................................... 45 Figure 20: Girder loading scheme across tributary width (Football Side)........................ 48 Figure 21: Girder Loading on Football Side of Track ...................................................... 49 Figure 22: Cantilever Approach (Trusses Omitted).......................................................... 50 ix