Day 11: Commercial management of the construction process

This day started with an hour long exam on everything we have learned so far. We all studied very hard for the test and received good grades.

After exam time finished, we took a break then headed to the classroom where we got a lecture about commercial management of the construction process with Mr. Chris Battle, DCC commercial manager. Part 1 of this lecture was done before lunch time. This part has ended with a small discussion of the game of cricket.


After our lunch break, part 2 of the lecture was given in the presence of Mr. Yabroudi and Professor Clemence. We learned about procurement and contract types.It was interesting to see the disputes that can occur in a project.

At 7:30pm, it was time to meet at Karam restaurant in Mall of the Emirates. Mr. Yabroudi treated us all to a delicious dinner of traditional Lebanese cuisine.

Day 10: Cost Estimation and Pricing

Today we learned about a vital part of the construction industry: cost estimation and pricing. Mr. Mohammed Naim presented this lecture detailing the process of proper cost estimation. The importance of correct pricing can not be overstated. A contractor depends heavily on this to be profitable.

We first discussed the process of tendering (bidding). When a job goes to tender, it means that a client has sent out drawings and other contract documents for contractors to review. If DCC believes that a job is of high value, they may choose to start the process of pricing it. The final price will include all of DCC’s costs (materials, labor, overhead) as well as uplift, or profit.

The process of pricing a job is difficult. Starting with all of the tender drawings and documents, DCC must check or prepare a detailed Bill of Quantities (BOQ). The BOQ lists the amount of materials that will be needed on the project from volume of concrete to the number of sinks. Careful and thorough analysis of the drawings is necessary to perform proper quantity take-offs. This makes it one of the lengthiest and most challenging parts of the cost estimation. After a detailed BOQ has been completed, DCC must contact suppliers and subcontractors to obtain quotes for different items and parts of the project. Using these prices, the unit rate must be computed for each item. The unit price takes into account all costs associated with an item, including materials and labor. The unit rate can then be used to price the BOQ and add uplift, which will comprise the selling BOQ. All of this information will then be part of the tender submission to the client.

Cost estimation and pricing is a tricky process that requires patience and attention to detail. Mr. Naim said preparing a tender for some of the larger projects may take up to two months! Clearly, this makes tendering any project a major time and resource investment for any company. It was enlightening to see how important cost estimation really is to DCC.

Day 9: Concrete batch plant visit / Financials and accounting lecture

We began our day today with a visit to the Ready Mix Beton concrete batching plant. Our visit began with a lecture from their technical manager Mr. Adel William. He discussed the different types of cement and aggregates that they use in their mixes. Next, we learned about the process used to create the concrete and ship it out to the client. Since the establishment of Ready Mix Beton in 1975, the ingredients in the concrete mix have changed, effecting the strength of the concrete. Concrete with strengths of 25 to 30 MPa were being used when they first started, but they are now able to create batches with strengths of up to 180 MPa.

One of the more interesting parts of the visit was when Mr. Adel explained the unique challenge of constructing tall buildings with concrete, like the ones that we have seen in Dubai. To get the concrete up to these high heights, concrete pump trucks are utilized. A model of one of these trucks is shown in the picture above. The truck uses a hydraulic system along with pistons to pump the concrete up to where it needs to be placed using the reach of its boom.

Following his lecture on the concrete mixing materials and process, he brought us for a tour of the plant. We saw the truck repair workshop, testing laboratory, aggregate storage area, mixing water storage tanks, production department, material receiving area, and the storage area for 86 tons of ice chips used in cooling water. Concrete itself was a familiar topic for our group, but learning about the mixing process and tools used to form the concrete was a enlightening experience.

In the afternoon, Mr. Kareem Abughazaleh talked with us about finance and accounting in construction.He began with reviewing the basic accounting tools such as income statements and balance sheets. Then he showed us how it applied to the construction industry. He discussed bonds and guarantees which are financial products that help both the client and the contractor ensure the deal with go smoothly. It was interesting to see how the finances are different in the construction industry from other types of industries. For example, a contractor will have to pay for the material up front but may not receive money from the client until the end of the month that material is used in. This was a very helpful lecture because we will all need to handle finance and accounting in both our personal and professional lives.

Day 8: Construction Planning and Scheduling

We began today with a lecture from Mr. Bassam on Construction Planning and Scheduling.  In this lecture, we learned how construction planning is a fundamental and challenging activity necessary in all projects.  Planning and scheduling coordinates the work, establishes benchmarks, and most importantly makes sure the project finishes on time and within budget.  We discussed two different types of schedules; bar charts and network diagrams.  Mr. Bassam walked us through a few simple examples of network diagram scheduling which ultimately helped us understand key terms and how to identify the critical path of a project.  To efficiently plan each project, DCC creates a Project General Document (PGD).  This document is a guideline that covers almost every aspect of the project.  For example, in the PGD you could find the: program of works, labor requirements, schedule of materials and drawings, etc.  DCC was one of the first contractors to create these documents and it shows how they go above and beyond the basic requirements.  DCC uses theses documents to be more organized and to make sure everyone is on the same page throughout the entire process.  They also create a Site Booklet for internal uses only.  The Site Booklet is a condensed version of the PGD that is onsite at all times and is updated throughout the project.  Many of us found this lecture extremely beneficial because this material has never been covered in our curriculum.  Mr. Bassam did a wonderful job giving us an overview of an unfamiliar topic.

Day 7: ADNEC Site Visit, Abu Dhabi

Our second site visit was to ADNEC Tower located in Abu Dhabi. Departure from hotel was at 8am. It took us one hour and a half to get to Abu Dhabi. Before heading to the site, we passed by Emirates palace. We had the opportunity to have a tour inside the palace for about an hour.

After that, we headed to ADNEC project also in Abu Dhabi. The project manager Mr. T.R.Subrahmanyam or “Superman” as the CEO calls him welcomed us in the site office and gave us the project plots. A general description of the tower was given. After the general overview, we went on a tour in the tower. First, we explored the ground floor. A swimming pool is built outside. Here, the weather was too hot and we couldn’t stay more than five minutes outside. After, we went in a tour to the different levels of the tower and explored different sample rooms with one, two, or three bedrooms.

 

After the tour was finished, we went and ate lunch together at Holiday Inn hotel. We had the opportunity to reassemble our energy. After lunch, we visited the Sheikh Zayed Ben Sulten mosque and then headed to our apartments.

Day 6: Desert Adventure

In the UAE, the weekend starts on Friday. We all enjoyed a relaxing morning before heading out for another great excursion: the Desert Adventure!

In the late afternoon, three desert safari guides came to the hotel to pick us up. We boarded the three Land Cruisers and started the 45 minute drive to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR). Along the way we were fascinated by what we passed; most notably the modern Bedouin villages, camel farms and racing tracks.

When we arrived at the DDCR, the three vehicles met up to deflate the tires for better traction in the desert. After, we drove to a small amphitheater where we met a few camels and saw a falcon show while learning about the Bedouin culture. Both falcons and camels were vital for survival. Every winter, peregrine falcons would migrate from Europe and Africa to the warmer Arabian Peninsula. The Bedouin people would capture falcons, and then use them to hunt. A small group would follow the falcons on camels to gather the food. Today, falconry is still a major hobby in the UAE. We thoroughly enjoyed the show.

After the show, all of the Land Cruisers took off for a 30 minute dune drive through the desert. In total, there were 55 vehicles. We drove over dunes, and around banks, sliding and slipping through the sand. It was a crazy drive, and a lot of fun. We stopped to watch the sunset over the dunes, and then proceeded onto the camp.

At the camp, everyone was able to take a camel ride before entering the dinner area. We then enjoyed some traditional Arabic food and barbecue under the stars. We sat on pillows at a low table to enjoy our food and a performance by a belly dancer. This was an incredible night!   

Day 5 : ERGA Progress Visit & IT Lecture

            Since we have, in the past days, experienced construction from the point of view of contractors, it was scheduled for us today to go and have a look to project design from the perspective of designer / consultant. Our targeted company is ERGA engineering consultants which is DCC’s main design consultants.

ERGA is a Lebanese consultancy and design firm established in 1982 by Mr. Elie Gebrayel and his wife Mrs. Randa. It has 12 offices around the world mainly in the Arab world (Morocco, Algeria, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Fujayra, Erbil, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) and France.

Around 9 o’clock we arrived to ERGA offices and met with Mr. Joseph Sawaya who presented an overview of the company. Afterwards, Mr. Elio the company contract manager informed us about the procurement strategy followed at ERGA. Main points of discussion were the procurement selection, procurement types and pros/cons, contract selection, forms and benefits.

ERGA's Offices

The rest of the gathering covered specific designs of several DCC/ ERGA projects. Since on Tuesday we have visited the Kindergarten school site, it was useful to have a glimpse of the architectural, structural and MEP drawings. We tackled the different architectural aspects from conception to substantial completion of the project, and we compared what we viewed on site to what is existent on drawings. Furthermore, we went through constraints and difficulties encountered due to legislative, practical and safety requirements.

           

            One of the projects we discussed is Burj El Salam located near the world trade center on sheikh Zayed road. The tower is a combination of a residential building, hotel and offices. The design aspects of the project, to be visited in the coming weeks, concluded our visit to ERGA. This project is special in a way that it was handed over to DCC/ERGA for correction and completion of previous design. Moreover, drawings were reproduced and construction was pursued accordingly.



Presentation about ERGA and its projects



            After our lunch break, Mr. Amir A. Kolahzadeh, the business development manager at IT Works LLC, a company founded in 2006 that wanted to add value to green buildings, gave us a lecture about IT infrastructure and building information modeling. After a brief introduction of IT Works and its relation with DCC, he defined IT infrastructure and its usage to provide smart solutions in commercial/residential developments, healthcare, education, data centers and smart cities. Our cities are tending to become intelligent where sensors like RFID (Radio-frequency identification) can be used to detect people and assets in hospital instead of paging or calling doctors and searching for medical equipments. Moreover, in the future, parents can track their kids and assure that they are attending classes by automatically receiving an SMS if the integrated sensor did not detect the student. One example he gave was a way for your hotel room to know you were coming through your use of the Key Card in the elevator. This would allow your air conditioning or lights to turn on when you get home. This way you wouldn't have to leave them on the entire time you are gone; ultimately, saving money and energy. Mr. Amir made it clear that IT infrastructure is a very important aspect of engineering, even thought many people are resistant towards it. This resistance mostly stems from lack of knowledge about the products. It will be interesting to see the things Mr. Amir talked about implemented in buildings in the future.

Day 4: Construction Management Overview

Today started out with a pleasant surprise. On our way to the office, Dr. Clemence announced that our drivers had a small surprise for us. We took a detour on our way to the office to drive by Sheikh Mohammad's Palace. His driveway was lined with over 20 beautiful peacocks. An amazing start to another day at DCC.

When we arrived at the office, we had time to get settled and review our notes from yesterday's site visit. At 9:00 AM, we had a Construction Management lecture with Mr. Ian Harper. We were excited to have a lecture on Construction Management because while we are familiar with Construction Management, we have never gone into detail on the subject.

Mr. Harper taught us the key aspects of construction management: cost, time, quality, safety, and environmental management. He emphasized that safety and environmental management have become important only in the past 50 years, but will continue to grow into our future.  We also learned the different aspects of the construction stage and the handing over stage.  Mr. Harper showed us a typical organization chart of a construction management team and explained each person's duties.  The lecture gave a great overview of Construction Management and helped us understand all of the different aspects that go into completing a project. 

After a great day at the office, we ended the night with a trip to Souk Madinat to get dinner and enjoy the beautiful view of the Burj Al Arab.

Day 3: Construction Drawings and First Site Visit

Our third day in Dubai began as usual with a beautiful ride to the DCC office past the Dubai skyline. Upon arriving, we began our lecture topic for the day which was reading and understanding construction drawings. This was led by Mr. Mazen Hallak. During this lecture, we each became part of a three person team and spent 2 hours analyzing a set of plans.


 Mr. Mazen was very helpful during this session. Everyone learned so much about the different types of drawings and how they could be read. This experience was very valuable to us and provided us with information that will be used on each site visit we experience during this trip and in our future careers as engineers.

After lunch, we went to our first site visit. This site was located at Al Hebiah 1st in Dubai. Upon completion, the site will be the first built nursery/Kindergarten School in the UAE with 29 classrooms, a meeting hall, administrative offices, and a lounge/kitchen.

Our tour was led by the project manager, Mr. Jihad Choueiri. Mr. Jihad led us through the entire structure, even showing us where the rooftop playground would be built. He explained the different types of flooring that were to be used in the Kindergarten to ensure the safety of the children. This included vinyl flooring in the hallways and rubber flooring on the rooftop playground.

This site visit was the first time many of us had ever been on a construction site. It was an amazing experience and we all learned so much. One downside was the heat. Luckily Mr. Jihad gave each student a water bottle to drink on site. There was not a single person who was not sweating under their hard hats.
To celebrate a wonderful day, most of our group visited the Dubai Mall to eat dinner and watch the fountain show. With a large majority of our trip yet to come, we are all looking forward to the other surprises that Dubai has in store.

Day 2: Safety and Welcome Dinner

Today was our first full day in the office. We began by meeting Mr. Abdullah Yabroudi, the man who made this whole internship possible. Then we received our team and desk assignments. The teams are as follows:

Team 1                             Team 2   

Scott Anthes                       Elias Smith     

Andrea Butchko                 Jenna Testa    

Paul Jackman                     Shea Tomlinson

Mirla Abi Aad                    Johnny Kosseifi  

Maya Kortbawi                  Anthony Hachem

Patrick Chehwan                Patricia Dergham

Afterward, Mr. Ian Harper came in to give us a brief overview of the company and to discuss some of the projects the DCC has been involved with.Then, we had our first pop quiz (or as Mr. Yabroudi calls it, drop quiz). Unfortunately, it stumped many of the students by asking questions about our peers' home countries and the DCC employees. Next, we ate a delicious lunch of Sfeeha and Dashwood Basha (meat pie to start and meatballs and rice for the main meal).

At 2:30pm we had our first lecture in the classroom. Mr. Pat Doyle, DCC Project Manager, came in to discuss safety on job sites. It was very interesting to see the differences between U.A.E safety regulations and those in Lebanon and The United States. It is clear the DCC is very careful about health and safety hazards. Below you can see the students engaged in the lecture.

Next, we went back to our hotel to change and get ready for our big welcome dinner. Mr. Yabroudi took us to a restaurant called Sloanes. It was amazing! The food was buffet style and they had pretty much everything you could possibly want. The food included sushi, fish and meat grilled to order, pizza, curry, and an amazing dessert selection. We were all stuffed when we left. Below is a picture of the whole group dressed to impress at the restaurant.

The girls were most impressed with the bathroom, which was bigger than most of our bedrooms: (it also had a side powder room not shown in the picture)

Overall, it was an amazing day filled with great food, fun, and lots of learning. Can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow!

Day 1: Sunday, May 20 2012

مرحبا
(Hello!)

Today was the first day of our five week journey in Dubai with the Dubai Contracting Company (DCC). There are 12 participating students; 6 students from Syracuse University and 6 students from the Lebanese American University. Each school is represented by 3 guys and 3 girls.

After landing in Dubai we settled into our apartments before our first visit to the DCC headquarters. Upon arrival, we were issued our safety equipment required for each site visit. Following the issuance of our safety gear, Mr. Bassam Haddad (Senior Planner & IT Manager) guided us through a tour of the DCC office building. We were introduced to all of the department heads and essential DCC staff members.

The afternoon gave us a chance to immerse ourselves in the culture of Dubai. We took a drive around the city and stopped in Old Dubai, a small historic part of the city. Here we stopped at the Dubai Museum where we learned the history of Dubai.

The next stop on our drive was at the Gold Souk (marketplace), a very interesting experience. After this, we drove by the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (2,723 ft.!), where we will be visiting in a few weeks. We also made a stop at the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai's second largest shopping center at 2,400,000 square feet of shopping space. The mall also contains Ski Dubai, where we are planning on visiting during our time here.