CIEN E4130: Design of Construction Systems

Course Overview

The course provides an overview of the heavy construction industry. You will focus on the contractor’s means and methods for heavy underground construction from the viewpoint of risk and constructability. 

The design of means and methods is normally the responsibility of the contractor. However, to successfully procure and design underground projects, it is vital that owners and consulting engineers not only know the contractor’s means and method options, but risk and constructability issues associated with each option. This understanding is critical in today’s elevated risk world of design-build (DB) and design-build-operate-and-maintain (DBOM) in both public and private procurement. Billion dollar projects only succeed with risk mitigation.

The goal of this course is to give you a 360-degree understanding of the heavy construction industry, including the contractor risk and its impact on construction cost. Examining real-world projects and cast studies, you will learn how to manage schedule and labor risks without minimizing the cost of materials. 

Course Instructor

Professor Tirolo

Adjunct Professor

Professor Tirolo was the Chief Engineer for a major heavy construction contractor for 20 years. In his career, he has also been a Division Engineer and Project Manager/ Project Engineer for several major civil engineering consulting firms.  His expertise in the design and construction of underground structures including tunnels and heavy civil infrastructure projects. Specifically, his expertise includes all aspects of contractor’s means and methods, also known as temporary works,  including the design and construction support of excavation (SOE) systems, construction staging, Tunnel Boring Machine selection and utilization, formwork, design of initial and final tunnel supports, underpinning of structures and constructability/risk analysis of complex projects. Within the New York Area he has worked on the Second Avenue Subway, the Central Artery Project in Boston and the Los Angeles Metro.

Currently, in addition to teaching, Prof Tirolo works as an expert witness and consultant in the areas of constructability of underground structures, underpinning and geotechnical engineering.