New Course in Management of Cold Regions Construction

Abstract

A new graduate course in cold regions construction management was offered for the first time at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the spring semester 1992. Students prepared and presented written and oral reports on: (1) Historical cold regions construction projects; and (2) major elements of cold regions construction management. In addition, they prepared annotated bibliographies from the construction management literature, summarized guest lectures, and conducted and reported on a cold concrete laboratory experiment. The concrete experiment tested the compressive strength of samples with varying amounts of “antifreeze” admixtures that were cured at temperatures both above and below freezing. Guest lecturers from the Alaska construction industry spoke on a variety of topics ranging from concreting to equipment operation and from legal aspects to design management. With some modifications to the cold concrete experiment, an improved balance of topics and more publicity, the next offering of the course will be a valuable addition to the graduate program at UAF.