Innovative solutions for safety and risk management on construction sites are required to reduce the amount of accidents that occur globally, as too many occupational accidents still happen in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. A particular problem is the fall from height (FFH) accidents on construction sites, due to failing barriers with the underlying cause of insufficient planning. In previous research it has been suggested to develop dedicated BIM plug-ins to automate and visualise risk identification and evaluation of construction sites as a means to assist the safety management process. To explore the impact of BIM on FFH accident reduction through automation and visualisation, a digital tool prototype is developed. This prototype focusses on fall from height (FFH) identification on construction sites during early project phases of civil engineering projects. It is programmed in Autodesk Dynamo for Revit, based on technical and functional requirements derived from literature and industry professionals. A simulation of the FFH tool prototype has been conducted through a pilot project. The result of this product development is a working fall from height detection prototype that is to be used as a supporting tool during the safety analysis of construction site design in Dutch civil engineering projects. The developed tool is added to the body of products that can be used for digitalisation and innovation within the construction process, where it digitalises part of the safety management process that is otherwise performed manually. The added value of the tool prototype is the addition of automated risk detection, creating support in the design and planning process and providing added information to group discussion on safety matters in risk identification and evaluation meetings. Recommendation for future use of the tool is to implement the FFH tool prototype during the design phase to provide the designer with insights in the safety of the constructability. Additionally, the FFH tool prototype can be implemented by safety managers to use the results during safety meetings for better discussion and evaluation of the construction site. For the implementation, improvement of the level of detail in the 3D models for the projects and including temporary construction site works is essential. For further development it is recommended to focus on improving the import of linked models into the script and developing alternative operations to determine the height differences. More developments and improvements can be made to the script to increase the applicability on more complex projects. Concluding, the FFH tool prototype is considered to bring added value in digitalising an otherwise manual process regarding safety management. It is suggested to incorporate use of the FFH tool prototype in the design and planning process to proactively engage in digitalising and innovating engineering processes. ... Read more

All around the world floods are a growing problem. Dealing with high water levels in residential areas is of great importance. The delta area of Macabebe, in the Manila Bay, has to cope with daily flooding, caused by the river and the sea. Groundwater is pumped and used for local industry, causing land subsidence and worsening the problems. Where once rice fields were the main source of income, these fields are now fishponds where fish escape during a large flood. Additionally, typhoons strike the region regularly. Due to climate change and the ongoing ground subsidence the problems won’t lessen, so a solution needs to be found. In the Netherlands, multiple organizations are working daily on finding solutions. One of these is Finch Floating Homes, who designed a typhoon resilient, floating home for in the Philippines. This design had to be elaborated on before construction of a pilot project. This report contains the needed changes and advice for the design of the floating home. Through research, local interviews and analysis, the design of the house has been improved on the roof, sanitary system and mooring system and a construction plan has been created for the pilot project.

Based on a revision of the roof shape, the hip roof turned out to be the best shape in a typhoon prone area. During the design, the geometry of the housing unit was slightly changed into a double symmetrical geometry, increasing constructability and simplicity of the house. The design of the roof structure and its connections, consisting of four identical prefabricated frames, is presented. After prefabrication, the frames will be connected on-site, after which the newly designed foldable balconies will be placed in the frames. The material used in the design is corrugated steel roof sheeting.
The final roof shape is used to calculate the rainwater collection. The floating house requires a self-sustaining system that fulfils the needs of drinking water and wastewater treatment. This
system consists of three separate systems: (1) rainwater harvesting, consisting of a drainage system, first flush barrel system and sand filter. (2) Storage of water, capable of storing sufficient water for one-third of the total usage over 80% of the year. (3) Wastewater, based on natural treatment before discharge into the surface water, containing a septic tank and wetland filter.
The water management system within the foundation, the wind load on the house, waves and currents influence the motions of the floating structure and the forces on the mooring system. An analysis of the options for mooring systems leads to the decision of using mooring piles. The total stiffness of the piles influences the horizontal motion and rotation of the platform. The vertical motion is a free behaviour; it is not influenced by the mooring piles. It is needed to choose a specific combination of pile length and bending stiffness, after which the strength of the pile is checked.
The design is used for the project construction plan, focussing on the time, risk and change management of the pilot project. The resources and construction activities and their duration were identified to develop a schedule for controlling the construction phase. Preparations and construction of the pilot will take 13 weeks, but includes several risks. Response strategies for these risks are proposed, to use for a risk mitigation plan. Finally, advice is given on how to manage possible design changes regarding new research, development of design and up-scaling changes after a successful pilot project.

With the use of this report and more detailed research and design, the pilot project will be an optimal test of the floating house in the Philippines.
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