Automated Management of Construction Projects : Real-Time Data Collection within the Construction Projects Utilising RFID Combined with GPS and GPRS Technologies

Construction projects are extremely complex and often take place in an uncontrolled and dynamic environment where each project goes through several phases leading to completion. In addition, projects in this industry suffer from quality problems, cost over-runs, and delays, which can be traced back to the lack of accurate and real-time information amongst the players. Because of this, modern construction management requires real-time and accurate information for sharing amongst all the parties involved, to undertake efficient and effective planning as well as execution of the projects. This book provides a new approach for automating the task of resources management in construction, integrating the latest innovations in ADC technologies (i.e. RFID, GPS, and GPRS). The proposed integrated system can facilitate extremely low-cost and infrastructure-free solutions to uniquely identify materials, components, and equipment and to track them in three phases, namely; production sites (off-site), shipping (en-route), and construction job sites (on-site) almost instantaneously. This book should assist contractors in automating the management of construction activities.