Applications of virtual construction environments in improving construction site safety

Abstract

The complex nature of construction site safety during construction is a major issue to be considered. Among the top reasons affecting the safety of the construction site is the available workplace and the surrounding environment. This paper shall add a new dimension to the applications of virtual environments (VEs) in construction engineering by presenting a visual interactive simulation technique for improving construction site safety. Early research effort in this area resulted in the development of a virtual construction environment (VCE), named SIMCON, for visual simulation of machine-based construction operation. The SIMCON application was further modified over the last seven years to incorporate many additional user-simulation interactive features, and recently towards the SIMCON+ WindowsXP-based graphical user interface. In this research a methodology for an analytical approach to conduct what-if analysis related to the safety of construction sites is introduced based on SIMCON+. Finally, a case study for validating the presented methodology is also highlighted. © 2005 Civil-Comp Press.