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In order to analysing the oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import and consumption changing trends, the Occurrence Period (OP), Growth Period (GP) and Maturation Period (MP) of oil and LNG import and consumption in China, and studying how the oil and LNG import and consumption changing trends influence the development of China-Pakistan oil and LNG transportation corridor (CPOLTC), in this paper we apply a Growth Curve Model (GCM) based approach to solve the problems mentioned above. First, the Chinese oil and LNG import and consumption changing trends are analysed by applying the GCM. The results show that oil and LNG consumption and import belong to the GP because of the fast industrialization and urbanization development, so the oil and LNG import and consumption demand will increase fast; Then, the External Dependence (ED) is applied to describe the oil and LNG consumption dependence degree in China, the results show that import will remain high ED value, especially for the oil import (over 70%), which means the security of the energy supply chain still remains the central idea of Chin's energy policies. Finally, the challenges and key issues of CPOLTC is analysed. Challenges are: domestic political struggles and institutional defects in Pakistan make the CPOLTC projects lacking of implementation, security along the corridor, influence and competition from external forces, impacts of western project culture, the comprehensive projects establishment ability in Pakistan, etc. The key issues are: Value Engineering (VE) researches for projects, Chinese element such as project construction, management, standards and specifications, assessment of the projects' life cycle and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practice, bridge foundations and pier columns are usually constructed with cast-in-place concrete. Precast columns are currently widely used in highway bridges in China, which can save construction time and improve concrete quality. The connection between precast bridge columns and the foundation can affect how forces transfer from one to the other. This paper investigates using external sockets to form a connection between the bridge column and foundation. This method can accelerate the bridge construction time with the additional advantages of improving the orientation and creating a large erection tolerance. Two types of connections are presented and tested to investigate the behavior of the column-foundation connections and find a more suitable way to use external socket connections. The experimental results show that the column-foundation connection design satisfies the design requirements. The results also show that roughening the column surface within the external socket is more effective at connecting the column to the foundation when using an external socket compared to attaching a steel plate on the column. The experimental results are validated with a finite element analysis, resulting in a proposal regarding the column-foundation connection behavior as well as design recommendations for the external socket connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite its great potential to streamline design and construction processes, the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) in many projects has failed to achieve expected benefits due to user resistance. Grounded in the technology acceptance model and equity theory, this study proposes a model of factors predicting resistance behaviours to BIM implementation during the post-adoption stage in construction projects. The model is tested with partial least squares modelling on survey data collected from design engineers in BIM-based construction projects in China. The empirical results provide evidence that after controlling for related individual, organizational and project characteristics, efficiency and equity perceptions play prominent but independent roles in determining behavioural resistance to BIM implementation, and that these perceptions are differently associated with contextual factors at individual, team and project levels. Apart from the independent contextual factors conceptualized in the model, control factors such as individual age and organization nature are also found to be significantly associated with resistance behaviours. As an exploratory effort to examine resistance behaviours to BIM implementation in construction projects, this study contributes to deepened understandings of the complexity of innovation resistance behaviours in the context of construction projects and offer suggestions for how to manage such behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is regarded as a critical feature and a central mechanism in business transactions, especially in the Chinese guanxi network. In this context, the major objective of this research is to explore the key factors influencing trust in different stages of a construction project from the perspectives of owners and consultants involved in a Sino-German eco-park in China. The analytic network process (ANP) was employed to assess which factors are most closely related to trust and to establish four models to meet the objective of this study. According to the ANP results, trust is strongly influenced by factors that are associated with the mutual interests between owners and consultants. In addition, there are certain differences in the priority of the factors influencing initial trust between owners and consultants, but these gaps gradually decrease over time. The weight of guanxi also decreases over time, and the owners' and consultants' guanxi transforms from out-group to in-group focused. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a comprehensive research into PPP implementation, nine case studies were scrutinized to explore the critical risks influencing the success of PPP water projects in China. Eleven critical risks were identified from real-life risk events through the content analysis. They were further analyzed in the aspects of risk origin and their allocation mechanism. It has been found that the government risks are considered as the most critical risks encountered by the Chinese project practitioners. To allocate risk, industrial practitioners should not only take into account of their management capability, but they should also pay more attention to the overall balance of risks and benefits, and risk guarantee through rigorous contract structure. The findings presented here are believed to enable interested investors to better understand the risks of PPP water projects in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]