Accession Number:

ADA227011

Title:

Automation of Military Civil Engineering and Site Design Functions: Software Evaluation

Descriptive Note:

Final rept.

Corporate Author:

CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING RESEARCH LAB (ARMY) CHAMPAIGN IL

Personal Author(s):

Report Date:

1989-09-01

Pagination or Media Count:

70.0

Abstract:

The U.S. Army Corps Engineers which is responsible for all construction in the Army and Air Force, is increasingly taking advantage of computer tools for drafting and design. However, the focus has been on the building design rather than the civilsite designs. As a result, civil engineers are not using automation to the same extent as other architect-engineer AE disciplines. This report assesses the need for computer software to support civil engineers and evaluates the suitability of products commercially available in FY88 in meeting this need. Only software packages for personal computers were considered. A comparative evaluation was made of products from 18 vendors. The parameters evaluated included system requirements, hardware requirements, functional engineering needs, vendor support, and cost. On this basis, three software packages were selected for further evaluation. Civil Soft, CEAL, and Wescom. These three packages then were subjected to rigorous benchmark testing to both confirm their performance claims and permit further distinctions to be made among them. As a result of this effort, the Wescom package was found to offer the best overall capabilities. It is recognized, however, that one of the other products might have specific features that would make it more desirable for a particular user. Author KR

Descriptors:

Subject Categories:

  • Computer Programming and Software
  • Safety Engineering

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE


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