Investigating the Feasibility of Using QR (Quick Response) Codes for Construction Document Control in Highway Construction
PI: Hyun Woo Lee (OSU), hw.chris.lee@oregonstate.edu
Dates: 07/01/2013 – 7/31/2015
Final Project Report: PacTrans-37-OSU-Lee
The success of construction operations depends on the effective management of a variety of construction documents such as drawings and specifications. Despite this importance, the construction industry still lags behind other industries in its use of information technology (IT) and mobile devices in document controls. Thus, hard copy documentation still prevails as the primary method of document management within the industry. In particular, the unique nature of highway construction adds more challenges to the document control of departments of Transportation (DOTs) due to geographically dispersed operations and prolonged nighttime operations. The challenges make it difficult to carry around hard copies of specifications and drawings, and make it even more difficult to verify whether or not the construction documents in hand are up-to-date. Experience tells that any failure to timely access correct documents during a project can result in delays and incorrect decisions (Finch et al. 1996).
Provided that the method of document transfer dictates the ease and effectiveness of sharing information among project members, Bowden et al. (2006) suggested that the use of mobile IT in document management can reduce time and cost of construction, defects, and accidents. In particular, embedding QR codes in drawings can offer an enhanced level of control over information flow and transfer by effectively linking paper documents to electronic documents, and accordingly provide the beneficial characteristics, including: fast and remote access; quick links to related materials; dynamic updating; and easy version verification. Therefore, embedding QR codes in highway construction documents can support DOTs and the industry by maximizing the efficiency of their document control practices, and, as a result, can improve the overall performance of public infrastructure projects.
