Hypothetical Construction Project

Opportunity

MSOE encourages hands-on assignments and teamwork whenever possible. For CAECM (Civil and Architectural Engineering & Construction Management), our team was tasked with calculating the construction costs to redesign MSOE’s continuing education building. The project was hypothetical but the math and planning process was real.

My Role

Each of us chose a piece of the project that corresponded to our major. I chose the role of Construction Manager because I already had some experience in that area. The other roles were Structural Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, and Electrical Engineer. First, I did an initial estimate for a six-story building and a basement with parking. Then I broke it down and calculated the costs per room per floor including stairs, hallways, and other miscellaneous spaces (e.g. closets). I was the detail specialist of our team who put together each of the deliverables and worked closely with Stephen, our team’s Mechanical Design Specialist, and my quality control partner.

The Process

First things first, name the team. Since our professor initially named each team after a fruit. My team was Banana so I renamed our team to incorporate each of my teammates names and we became BBananaSS Construction Firm (for Bryce, Barbara, Stephen, and Scott).

We began with a proposal, calculated the costs, double-checked the calculations, and presented our findings to the rest of the class using a PowerPoint presentation.

Challenges

Each of use partnered with another person in our group to ensure we had the calculations correct. We treated this project as if it were truly going to be built and we did not want to make an error that could cost someone’s life.

Finding the time to get together outside of class to practice our presentation speeches was a challenge. We practiced with our partners a few times before we were able to come together as a group.

The Result

We created a sound plan that could realistically be built.

  • Construction cost estimate for the MSOE Continuing Education Building: $5,320,000.
  • Time Estimate for construction process: 10 Months
  • Construction beginning date: March 1, 2014
  • Construction end date: January 1, 2015

Architectural revisions made to building

  • Basement: No changes necessary
  • First Floor: Move the lounge furniture slightly to make room for the columns in the lobby area
  • Second Floor: Both computer labs rotated 90 degrees to hide structural columns in back of the room
  • Third Floor: Rotate the two classrooms 180 degrees, moving the columns to the back of the room instead of the front
  • Fourth Floor: Move lounge furniture slightly (similarly to first floor) and moving the door to the board room slightly closer to the wall to avoid the column
  • Fifth Floor: No changes necessary
  • Mezzanine: Make the Seminar Room identical to Conference Center on fifth floor. Rearrange lounge furniture