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When the second International Construction Innovations Conference came to Bradley in October 2006, attendees and the local community soon realized this was more than a conference.

The Iraqi ambassador to the US addressed the over 300 construction industry leaders in attendance, stating that over $50 billion would be invested in rebuilding his country’s infrastructure.

A representative from Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government stated that infrastructure investment could begin immediately in Kurdistan, a beautiful, prosperous region that lies outside the zones of violence in Iraq.

The Pakistani Army general who coordinated the relief work after the 2005 earthquake that devastated his country spoke with people about the continuing need for housing and infrastructure in the quake’s aftermath.

A congressman, a construction industry leader in Lebanon, one of the world’s top bridge engineers from the US, a Caterpillar group president, and other leaders discussed strategies for rebuilding the billions of dollars of infrastructure recently destroyed in Lebanon.

This same bridge expert told conference attendees about accelerated bridge construction—building a bridge in a weekend or a day.

The CEO of Caterpillar spoke about the importance of free trade in a global economy.

With a diverse and influential group of attendees, the second International Construction Innovations Conference provided an opportunity for people from around the world to look beyond politics and discuss opportunities for improving infrastructure, sharing ideas about innovative construction practices, and, ultimately, working to improve people’s lives.

Dr. Amir Al-Khafaji, chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, spent three years traveling around the world to share his vision for the conference. He connected with people in education, government, and the construction industry to encourage them to attend the conference, which he chaired.

He made phone calls, sent emails, and made personal visits, spreading the word that this conference would be something special. “Some people said ‘there are many conferences, why should I attend this one?’” according to Al-Khafaji. “I said ‘this is not a conference—this is a network, an ongoing process of developing relationships, partnerships, and business ventures.’”

These people found time in their busy schedules to come to Peoria, Illinois, because “they have embraced a vision,” says Al-Khafaji. This vision brings people from industry, academia, and government to work together. To deal with any major problem that impacts society, all three entities must be represented. “We have touched a chord and sent an incredible message of hope and collaboration and cooperation,” he says.

With a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina in the US, for example, the federal government is involved with emergency response and appropriating money for housing and rebuilding. University researchers address contamination issues and new designs for the levees. Construction companies must work both with government and researchers to do the actual rebuilding work. All three entities must come together to be successful.

Because people realize that the ICIC network brings these entities together, they are willing to participate. They see a larger value in investing their time.

Two of the network’s specific goals include sharing research and information relevant to infrastructural industries and creating a cross-cultural network of influential executives, policymakers, and scholars from diverse cultural backgrounds and with a wide range of expertise. Cross-cultural business partnerships can make tremendous strides in improving people’s lives and leading to more peaceful conditions.

“You will always have political unrest and religious unrest,” says Al-Khafaji. “But I think the conference is such a positive experience for people to get together to work for the common good and to benefit by being involved. There are no politics involved, no religion. We are dealing with business and education.”

For this reason, a delegation of dignitaries from Iraq attended the conference, bringing a message that Iraq will need assistance from the global community to rebuild its infrastructure and that they look forward to collaborating with businesses, schools, and governments. Mr. Samir Sumaid’ie, Iraq’s ambassador to the US, stated that in the next three to four years “we will have on the construction side something close to $50 billion to be spent.” He explained that Saddam Hussein’s regime “did a good job of demolishing our infrastructure completely in every way imaginable. That is a calamity for Iraq but also an opportunity. We can construct everything fresh, from the bottom up. And you can imagine how many projects there can be in an environment like that: the roads, bridges, schools, universities, hospitals, you name it.”

Qubad Talabani, representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told conference attendees that infrastructure investment and development should begin immediately in the Kurdistan Region and other areas of Iraq that are safe and prosperous. “We can accelerate the development in those safe parts of the country. We shouldn’t have to wait for the entire country to be stable and secure before venturing out and trying to build on our successes.” By building up the secure areas, Talabani emphasized, “ultimately we will be telling the citizens of the troubled areas that they too can benefit from this development, they too can live the prosperous life that other Iraqis are living if they help with the government, if they help us rout out the terrorists, if they can partner with those that want to build up the country and not those that want to destroy it.”

Other infrastructure issues of international importance addressed at the conference included rebuilding the devastated countries of Pakistan and Lebanon.

Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, director general, Pakistan Army, helped coordinate the relief efforts in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake. The 7.6 magnitude quake killed 73,000 people and left over three million people homeless. Houses, hospitals, roads, bridges, and utilities were completely destroyed in the Kashmir region. Ahmed sees hope in a conference that brings together so many people from around the world. He says that “this kind of innovation conference promotes knowledge, it will promote innovative ways to solve problems, and especially the knowledge that will help with finding solutions.” He believes that sharing knowledge and solutions is becoming increasingly important because “as the world is growing, the problems [from one country to another] are getting less different.”

One problem faced by many countries is rebuilding infrastructure after devastation caused by natural or man-made disasters. For those concerned with rebuilding Lebanon, which suffered perhaps as much as $5 billion in damage to its infrastructure during the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the innovations in construction, such as rapid bridge and road construction, discussed at the conference were of great interest. Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL) chaired a meeting at the conference that brought together politicians and construction industry leaders to come up with ideas for the rebuilding process.

Among the participants were Mr. Hussein Chaer, president of Cedar Hills Co. (Beirut, Lebanon), Dr. Amr Salama, chairman of the Housing and Building Research Center (Cairo, Egypt), Mr. Doug Oberhelman, group president of Caterpillar Inc., and Mr. Benjamin Tang, principal bridge engineer with the Federal Highway Administration. The ICIC conference was unique in that few, if any, other forums have been able to bring together developers from Lebanon and its neighbors in the Middle East, private US construction firms interested in doing business in Lebanon, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment, and a government source that could help provide funding.

Besides offering his expertise to this important discussion, Benjamin Tang, one of the country’s top bridge experts, also spoke at the conference about advances in rapid bridge construction that minimize traffic delays. One of the most important factors in allowing bridges to be built quickly is the use of prefabricated elements. Depending on the extent of prefabricated elements used, the total construction time can be as little as 24-48 hours, compared to cast-in-place projects that can take weeks or months, depending on weather and other factors.

Safety for both workers and drivers is improved because prefabrication limits the amount of time each group is exposed to the other. It also reduces environmental impact by requiring less heavy equipment onsite and less disturbance to the jobsite environment. Lastly, workers can focus on the quality of the prefabricated elements, taking as much time as necessary and doing work ahead of time in a controlled environment outside of the worksite schedule. This improved quality translates to lower maintenance costs and longer life of the structures.

As a company at the forefront of innovations in the construction industry, Caterpillar Inc. helped sponsor the 2006 ICIC and conducted two round-table Ideation sessions. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens provided the conference’s opening remarks, speaking passionately about the ability of free trade to improve people’s lives in a global economy. “According to the World Bank, free trade and open markets have lifted 200 million people out of poverty in the last decade—the largest and fastest reduction ever recorded in human history,” said Owens. “We all, regardless of where we live or where our businesses are headquartered, operate within a global economy. In the construction industry in particular we have a real opportunity to improve quality of life for people around the globe.” 

As a company, Caterpillar takes seriously its role in building the infrastructure necessary for economic development around the world. Caterpillar’s innovative products and services are used by businesses and governments around the globe to build fair and affordable housing, safe roads, schools, and other infrastructure that positively impacts the quality of life of countless people. “But construction alone can’t raise standards of living. It must be supported by political and economic policies that encourage free trade and open markets among nations,” said Owens. “Such international exchange also promotes better understanding across borders and cultures, leading to a more peaceful world.”

As the ICIC demonstrated, when policymakers, business leaders, and educators create partnerships, they can make important advances in solving difficult problems. The second International Construction Innovations Conference provided a unique forum for these groups to come together to exchange ideas and discover opportunities for collaboration.

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