Digital Situational Awareness Systems for Infrastructure Project Management: Characteristics, Development, and Perceptions

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School of Engineering | Doctoral thesis (article-based) | Defence date: 2024-12-10
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Authors

Date

2024

Department

Rakennustekniikan laitos
Department of Civil Engineering

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

77 + app. 93

Series

Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL THESES, 268/2024

Abstract

Complex infrastructure projects in urban communities, such as public transportation projects, have been challenging to manage. They often receive negative publicity due to cost and schedule overruns and quality problems. Situational awareness (SA) and situational management (SM) have been developed to support decision-making in complex environment by providing robust methodologies and concepts that are now being examined in the field of infrastructure construction. This study explores how public infrastructure projects have addressed these problems by developing digital systems based on SA and SM to support project management's sense of awareness. SA systems aim to continuously monitor and assess events in the environment and to track progress, resource availability, risks, and many other variables that are used for decision-making.The dissertation consists case studies of 5 infrastructure projects, a workshop with 36 participants, 9 expert interviews, 23 system user interviews, and 21 user interviews. 65 professionals from 28 companies participated in the research. The first contribution presents the characteristics of SA systems developed in large-scale projects, including customizability, reliability, social applicability, technical lifespan, ease of implementation, usability, and data security. However, weaknesses were identified, such as limited adoption of SA frameworks developed in other sectors. Only the first level of SA—data collection and the representation of data in visual key metrics—is partially automated. The adoption of SA systems is particularly challenging in design management, as data collection relies heavily on meetings, reporting, and manual processes, although it is possible to automatically collect data from design softwares.The second contribution highlights how SA system development has focused on project management, while the use of SA in design and site production management seems to remain limited. This narrow focus may reduce contractors' motivation to collect data. Participants questioned the accuracy of SA data, citing industry practices of withholding information and manual collection. As a result, subjective expert judgment is often preferred over the information provided by the system. When information is mistrusted, the responsible person's opinion is sought for decision-making. The third contribution identifies how the construction sector applies SA and SM concepts. Instead of automated SA, the sector relies on validation by responsible individuals. During the first years of operation, SA system use is technology-driven, with less emphasis on human factors. However, the study suggests that the use of SA in the management of complex infrastructure projects can enhance the problem-solving skills of system users, facilitate decision-making, and promote open discussions, especially among project managers. Further development should focus on increasing awareness of SA models from other sectors and better integrating design and site management in SA systems.

Description

Supervising professor

Seppänen, Olli, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Civil Engineering, Finland

Thesis advisor

Tawast, Ismo, Licentiate of Science (Technology), Tampere University of Technology, Finland

Keywords

situational awareness, situational picture, situational management, construction management, infrastructure, individual judgement, building, design management, decision-making

Other note

Parts

  • [Publication 1]: Lappalainen, Eelon; Seppänen, Olli; Peltokorpi, Antti; Singh, Vishal. 2021. Transformation of construction project management toward situational awareness. Emerald Publishing Limited. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, volume 28, issue 8, pages 2199-2221. ISSN: 0969-9988.
    Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-2021110410006
    DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-12-2020-1053 View at publisher
  • [Publication 2]: Lappalainen, Eelon; Uusitalo, Petri; Seppänen, Olli; Peltokorpi, Antti; Ainamo, Antti; Reinbold, Ana. 2024. User experiences of situational awareness systems in infrastructure construction. Taylor & Francis Group. Construction Management and Economics, pages 1-14. ISSN: 0144-6193.
    Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202410306940
    DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2366339 View at publisher
  • [Publication 3]: Lappalainen, Eelon; Uusitalo, Petri; Seppänen, Olli; Peltokorpi, Antti; Reinbold, Ana; Ainamo, Antti; Görsch, Christopher; Nyqvist, Roope. 2024. Situational management and digital situational awareness systems in infrastructure construction: a managerial perspectives on relevance, challenges, and adoption. MDPI. Buildings, volume 14, issue 7, pages 1-15. ISSN: 2075-5309.
    Full text in Acris/Aaltodoc: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202408095358
    DOI: 10.3390/buildings14072035 View at publisher
  • [Publication 4]: Lappalainen, Eelon; Seppänen, Olli; Peltokorpi, Antti; Uusitalo, Petri; Reinbold, Ana. 2024. Evaluation of design managers’ views of decision-making: propositions for situational awareness in building design. Frontiers Media S.A. Frontiers in Built Environment. ISSN: 2297-3362. [In journal/peer review]

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https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-64-2178-0

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