construction – Page 3 – KC Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C.

The Building Blocks of Little Engineers

Today’s toy market is making it easier than ever for kids to find a passion for engineering. With big companies such as K’NEX and LEGO® coming out with more educational and stimulating toys, kids are able to develop problem solving and innovative skills at an early age. Both K’NEX and LEGO® now have education lines marketed towards schools and kids eager to learn hands on.

K’NEX is the younger of the two companies, but their focus on kids’ creativity in the classroom has made them a notable toy and learning tool. K’NEX Education features sets that teach kids how to build bridges, amusement park rides, and even renewable energy machines. Their focus on STEM toys allows teachers to have a creative and understandable approach towards complicated theories and equations that some kids have trouble understanding. By allowing for hands-on application of what is taught in the classroom, students are able to have a deeper comprehension of the subject as well as real world application.

LEGO® Education is another tool that gives teachers a more relatable medium in which to reach their students. These sets have allowed kids to take more effective control over STEM subjects. While original LEGO® bricks have always taught kids to think creatively and innovatively, LEGO® Education puts the focus more directly on the negotiation of complicated fields such as robotics and computer science. With the LEGO® Education SPIKE Prime, kids are invited to take their creations to the next level. Surpassing the physical bricks, LEGO® has created an easy-to-learn system that incorporates computer coding and programming to create functioning robots.

Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for engineers and other STEM professions. As technology advances and the world begins to change, younger generations will have to find a way to navigate within it. These toys are great tools to get them started.

Disclaimer: LEGO^®is a trademark of the LEGO® Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

May 6, 2019 By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG 2019 • climate change • construction • construction industry • green construction • pollution prevention 0 Comments

The Importance of Green Construction

The construction industry, responsible for about 4% of the world’s particulate emissions, is one of the major sources of pollution. Despite our best construction practices, air, water, and noise pollution continue to threaten our way of life.

Green building, a method of construction used to design sustainable, energy-efficient residential and commercial buildings, is now a growing trend and no longer a construction novelty. With pollution jeopardizing air quality, drinking water, and even putting our wildlife at risk, green building has come to the forefront of the construction industry as a largely marketable, thoughtful, and productive method of building.

A combination of sustainable processes and use of high-quality, low-impact materials contribute to the practice of green building. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promotes several components of green building, including renewable energy use, waste reduction, and use of environmentally preferable building materials.

The popular concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle” is an example of an environmentally-friendly practice used during green construction, especially when it comes to waste reduction. As far as environmentally preferable materials, where concrete and steel are often impractical and expensive materials, timber is a relatively inexpensive, naturally renewable alternative with long-term sustainability capabilities.

Ultimately, green construction processes present a pollution-profuse industry with the opportunity to build smarter and sustainably, better control costs, and maintain the condition of the earth.

August 20, 2018 By Aliyah Thomas KC'S BLOG 2018 • ai • artificial intelligence • building • buildings • construction • construction industry 0 Comments

How AI is Changing the Construction Industry

With routine development of advanced technology, the construction industry remains well-poised to reap the benefits from the likes of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

Compared to other markets, AI remains a marginally small factor in the under-digitized construction industry. However, the presence of fast-growing technology sets AI on track to have a much greater impact in the future.

According to a 2017 McKinsey report, AI has a place in nearly every construction phase, from design through post-construction and every minuscule task in between.

AI is suited to overtake four major components of construction: planning or design via simulation of maps, construction plans, and blueprints; administration, where AI is adept to manage and control tasks in a streamlined fashion; construction methodology, done by providing a basis and guide for construction; and post-construction, where AI can be implemented into completed structures.

However, the primary concern for AI is industry takeover, a theory that construction workers will be replaced by computers created to perform the same tasks with arguably more accuracy and less human error.

While there’s no denying the benefits of AI and robotics in construction, there are certainly a number of associated risks.

Other industries, such as fast-food, finance, and grocery stores have already seen a reduction in workforce numbers because of advances in computer technology. What’s more, talk of AI taking on industries such as health care and transportation have become less-farfetched as these ideas inch ever-closer to becoming reality.

And, while the thought of perfecting processes and systems sounds appealing, the idea of the world we live in being inundated by AI that is unable to deliver the human touch or incapable of accommodating anomalous circumstances, due to a lack of breadth in data, is not.

By defaulting all responsibilities to an artificial system, we ultimately run the risk of putting complete—and excessive—trust into a system only as good as the inputted data, losing human compassion and judgment, and displacing workers.

No matter the consensus on AI in construction, there’s no doubt that it’s here to stay.

July 16, 2018 By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG 2018 • construction • infrastructure • road work • work zone • wztc 0 Comments

Understanding Work Zone Traffic Control (WZTC)

When construction takes place near or on roadways, it can result in traffic delays and compromised safety of construction workers, motorists, and pedestrians. As a result of roadway construction, certain measures are enacted to facilitate a safe work area for workers, maintain and protect the flow of traffic, and complete necessary work on schedule.

Work zone traffic control (WZTC) was created with these factors in mind, providing construction workers with the knowledge they need to maintain a safe work environment while ensuring an organized flow of traffic. WZTC protocols seek to mitigate the effects of construction on those directly affected by factors such as lane closures or detours.

Motorists should be alert to changing traffic patterns and possible work zones that may crop up along the road.

The typical WZTC area consists of four components:

The advance warning area is the point where motorists are alerted to upcoming road work, usually through the use of road signs, electronic signboards, and flags.
The transition area is the area motorists are guided to transition out of their normal traffic pattern to the new, temporary traffic detour. This can be done with the use of flaggers, traffic cones, and signs.
The activity area is where the actual road work is being conducted.
The termination area is the point where traffic is allowed to return to its normal pattern.

While every municipality has the ability to mandate or adopt their own WZTC policies, they must remain consistent with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), set in place as a result of the New York State Vehicle & Traffic Law.

At KC Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C. (KC), our field staff are well-versed in WZTC operations and regularly apply said knowledge when providing a variety of services to our clients.

July 9, 2018 By Decire Gonzalez KC'S BLOG 2018 • building • climate change • construction • construction industry • heat • infrastructure • weather 0 Comments

Climate Change and Construction

With global temperatures, sea levels, and extreme weather events on the rise, climate change remains a topical and, more recently, contentious subject.

What does climate change have to do with the construction industry? When there is already an incredibly small margin for error on a construction site, climate change could mean everything.

Safety is the leading concern of the construction industry when it comes to climate change. Adverse weather conditions like excessive rain, snow, wind, heat, or cold can significantly reduce safe working conditions. The result? Severe injuries from slips, falls, electrocution, heat exhaustion, and more.

While worksite safety can be entirely compromised by changes in climate, so too can building materials. As temperatures rise, the integrity of materials like wood and concrete are put at risk. Not only that, but climate change increases the need for new, innovative, and potentially costly building techniques to protect existing infrastructure from severe weather conditions.

Along with the physical constraints of climate change on the construction industry, there is also the possibility for monetary setbacks. According to Construction Business Owner, economists estimate that weather-related incidents cost the construction industry “$3.8 trillion a year in the United States.” With U.S. infrastructure spending already at a tremendous deficit, $3.8 trillion lost in profits only serves as an additional obstruction.

Rather than ascribe weather-related construction risks—such as worksite safety, deterioration of building materials, and profit loss—to an inevitable force majeure, experts suggest proactive implementation of risk management strategies.

Construction insurance, increased employee awareness, and acceptance of unpredictability may be the only ways to work through construction setbacks resulting from climate change.

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