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The construction industry is witnessing an increasing adoption of virtual reality (VR) technology for training and education purposes. Given this trend, it becomes essential to critically investigate the impact it has on learners, especially when compared to traditional paper-based learning method. In this paper, the authors developed a close-to-reality virtual system using the Unity3D game engine. Participants engage in learning safety protocols, operating a virtual crane, and assembling a steel structure within this environment. Corresponding paper-based instructional materials were also developed for comparison. The study involved 16 participants who were randomly assigned to either the VR training or the traditional paper-based training, their brainwaves data were recorded through electroencephalography (EEG) headset during the training progress to assess their emotions. Results show that an individual is most likely to experience exciting emotions when they are training in the VR system compared with the traditional training method. The correlation with actual safety performance, however, remains unclear and requires further investigation. 

Observations of the dynamic loading and liquefaction response of a deep medium dense sand deposit to controlled blasting have allowed quantification of its large-volume dynamic behavior from the linear-elastic to nonlinear-inelastic regimes under in-situ conditions unaffected by the influence of sample disturbance or imposed laboratory boundary conditions. The dynamic response of the sand was shown to be governed by the S-waves resulting from blast-induced ground motions, the frequencies of which lie within the range of earthquake ground motions. The experimentally derived dataset allowed ready interpretation of the in-situ γ-ue responses under the cyclic strain approach. However, practitioners have more commonly interpreted cyclic behavior using the cyclic stress-based approach; thus this paper also presents the methodology implemented to interpret the equivalent number of stress cycles, Neq, and deduce the cyclic stress ratios, CSRs, generated during blast-induced shearing to provide a comprehensive comparison of the cyclic resistance of the in-situ and constant-volume, stress- and strain-controlled cyclic direct simple shear (DSS) behavior of reconstituted sand specimens consolidated to the in-situ vertical effective stress, relative density, and Vs. The multi-directional cyclic resistance of the in-situ deposit was observed to be larger than that derived from the results of the cyclic strain and stress interpretations of the uniaxial DSS test data, indicating the substantial contributions of natural soil fabric and partial drainage to liquefaction resistance during shaking. The cyclic resistance ratios, CRRs, computed using case history-based liquefaction triggering procedures based on the SPT, CPT, and Vs are compared to that determined from in-situ CRR-Neq relationships considering justified, assumed slopes of the CRR-N curve, indicating variable degrees of accuracy relative to the in-situ CRR, all of which were smaller than that associated with the in-situ cyclic resistance. 

This paper describes and demonstrates an approach to improve the management of risks from small-probability events that can lead to large consequences. It applies a decision-based theory to account for limited information in estimating frequencies for rare events to large rockfill dam in Norway that is being assessed for rehabilitation. Uncertainties are considered specifically in estimating the overtopping hazard for the existing dam and for an elevated dam crest. Uncertainty in the estimates of the overtopping hazard curve means that smaller costs of dam failure and/or larger costs of rehabilitation may be justified. From a practical perspective, a cost of rehabilitation in this case that is nearly ten times larger could be justified when the uncertainty in the estimate of the hazard curve is considered. The value of perfect information about the hazard curve increases as the amount of information available decreases and as the cost of failure relative to the cost of rehabilitation decreases. In this case, the value of perfect information about the hazard curve is about 25 percent of the cost to raise the dam crest.