Structural steel project development integrating structural design and construction engineering: quantitative methods and AI-based tools

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Design and execution of construction projects in the Canadian steel industry involve several interconnected tasks, including structural design and analysis, connection detailing, fabrication, and erection. Currently, steel industry practitioners rely heavily on experience and rules-of-thumb in decision-making for various phases of the project, which does not necessarily take into account the significant impact of structural design on various construction phases and tasks, resulting in constructability issues, erection problems, low productivity, uneconomical structures, and sometimes structural safety issues. With current advancements in data-driven technologies and their wide use in other disciplines and considering the interaction between structural design and construction engineering, there is ample opportunity for the construction industry in Canada, including consultants, fabricators, erectors, and connection designers in conjunction with the provincial and federal governments, to improve safety and quality, cost efficiency, contributing to a more sustainable steel construction industry. This project will produce well-formulated methods based on data collected from the steel construction industry and the application of artificial intelligence techniques to render effective decision support and complement conventional experience-based decision-making methods. It is expected that the proposed research will improve construction productivity in the Canadian steel construction industry and ensure public safety. Moreover, this project will train next-generation of engineers with expertise in structural engineering and construction management who can contribute to the advancement of steel construction industry in Canada. Finally, the proposed research will place Canada as a global leader in the field of the application of artificial intelligence in steel construction.