Construction Engineering - Assignment Example

When the constructed facility is offered proper management and maintenance, the facility may last 100 years or more; the facility is also capable of serving different functions within the specified time. The actual lifetime of a property is dependent on a number of factors, including the quality of design, the durability of the materials used for the construction, the quality of the facility and the technology used (Edwards, Bartlett and Dickie 2-7). Other factors determining the lifetime of the facility include the local climate and the location, extent of use and the damage caused by human errors and natural disasters.

The components of a project’s life cycle include the initiation phase, which entails the determination of the timing and the scope of the given project. The second component is the planning phase, where the detailed planning of the project takes place, and the actions aimed at the completion of the plan are started. The third is the execution phase, where the action items are implemented, and physical deliverables are delivered. The fourth component is the close-out phase, which covers the wrap-up of the project.

It entails summarizing the lessons and the successes of the project to the different stakeholders (Edwards, Bartlett & Dickie 2-7). Qn. 2. The problems facing the Canadian construction industry include global climate change. With the increasing focus on the energy consumed, and the carbon dioxide released by different building models. For this reason, industry players are obligated to work hard, towards the renovation or the replacement of the buildings that don’t offer a minimal environmental effect.

For instance, achieving carbon neutrality, while at the same time ending up with a considerable return on investment has forced industry experts to promote the reduction of fossil-fuel consumption (Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure). For these different reasons, industry leaders are forced to renovate existing facilities and to develop new building models. The second challenge is the aging infrastructure, where buildings and other infrastructure like roads need to be changed, redeveloped or renovated, depending on their economic and environmental impact.

For example, in some economies, statistics show that traffic congestion costs the economy, more than $67.5 billion a year, through fuel wastage and lost productivity. Further, construction industry leaders faced the challenge of replacing substandard bridges and roads, which are mentioned as factors contributing to highway accidents (Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure). There is the challenge of a shrinking workforce, noting that Canadian statistics show that, as of 2016, there will not be enough people to replace the retiring workforce.

This is a challenge, because the reduction in the workforce will reduce the capacity of the industry to deliver the developments, and the changes desired. There is the challenge of a declining productivity of construction firms. This is mainly caused by the competitiveness required from industry players, which is forcing some to exit the industry. As compared with the productivity of the non-farm productive areas over the years, which has grown by about 200 percent, the