Construction Management Students Win National Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 10, 2003
Kathleen McPartland
530-898-4260
Rich Holman, Construction Management
530-898-5669
Construction Management Students Win National Competition
The California State University, Chico Heavy-Civil team from the Department of Construction Management, College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology, won first place at the National competition of the Associated Schools of Construction, held in Dallas, Texas, April 2-6, 2003.
The Associated Schools of Construction annually holds construction competitions for students to provide the student participants with scenarios that mirror the real-life construction process. CSU, Chico’s Heavy-Civil team won first place at the regional competition in Reno on February 15, which qualified them for the national competition.
In the Heavy-Civil National competition, the students were assigned a construction problem, which consisted of two freeway frontage roads including asphalt paving, grading and two structural concrete bridges. The problem was assigned between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., and each team was allowed 16 hours to produce a cost estimate, construction schedule, budget, cash flow analysis, concrete formwork design and pile driving analysis.
The team with the bid that is closest to the sponsor’s (Granite Construction, Inc.) actual bid was allowed to pick their choice of times for making a bid review presentation. Chico’s team was within $8,000 of the sponsor’s bid, which was $2,086,086. The next closest team was Oklahoma State, which was $42,000 higher than the target bid value.
On the following day, the team presented a 25-minute project overview presentation and fielded questions for an additional 15 minutes. The following night, the CSU, Chico team was presented with the awards ceremony. Out of 14 categories, CSU, Chico was the outright winner of 11. Oklahoma State won second place, and the University of Cincinnati won third place.
This is the first time that the Heavy-Civil team has taken first place in the 14-year history of the event. This year’s team, consisting of four graduating seniors and two juniors, comprises Clark Gardner, captain, Jeff Farr, Matt Gates, Ryan Edson, Randy Baylor and Quinn Hennig-Hance. The six students have more than 25 years of work experience in the construction industry. Rich Holman and Matt Byrne, professors in the Department of Construction Management, were the advisers.
The team selection process began in early September of 2002. The team met each week for two hours. In the preparation phase, the team receives instruction and coaching from Holman and Byrne. Separate sessions were held in estimating, scheduling, concrete construction methods, presentation skills, earthmoving methods and time management. As part of the preparation, the team prepared two full 16-hour practice problems.
“This year’s team was the epitome of teamwork,” said Holman. “They possessed the skills, experience and ability to thrive as a team. Their presentation skills were professional and timely (they were given a 25-minute time limit and finished in 24:39 - close call). It was a pleasure and honor to work with them.”
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