Elsevier

Automation in Construction

Volume 59, November 2015, Pages 168-178
Automation in Construction

A BIM-based approach for automated tower crane layout planning

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2015.05.006Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Integrate BIM and firefly algorithm for automated tower crane layout planning

  • Demonstrate practical value of the proposed approach in a real case

  • The optimum solution from the proposed approach is promising.

Abstract

Tower crane layout design and planning within construction site is a common construction technical issue, and is regarded as a complex combinatorial problem. Previous research focused on utilising either mathematical methods or visualisation tools to find an optimal tower crane layout plan. Both these two approaches require large amounts of manual data input by the layout planners, which is time-consuming and not very practical in industry. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated approach which combines Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Firefly Algorithm (FA) to automatically generate an optimal tower crane layout plan. Firstly, BIM is utilised to provide inputs for the mathematical model. Then the FA is used to determine the optimal locations of tower cranes and supply points. Finally, the optimal tower crane layout scheme will be visualised and evaluated through BIM-based simulation. A practical case is selected to demonstrate the proposed approach. The final result is promising and demonstrates the practical value of this approach.

Introduction

Effective tower crane layout design and placement within a construction site is a common construction technical issue, and is regarded as a complex combinatorial problem. To transport heavy materials, such as rebar, formwork, scaffolding, equipment and steel component, tower cranes are needed and should be well located to reduce construction cost and safety hazards [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Tower crane layout planning is a multi-objective problem, and is affected by many uncertainties and variations. To facilitate the decision-making process, many static and dynamic mathematical approaches had been developed [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. However, modelling the dynamic facility requirements of a construction site is a complicated task, and takes a significant amount of time and effort by the layout planner [8]. In addition, most of the current tower crane layout systems require a large number of project specific variables to be inputted and updated manually which is time-consuming [2], [8], [9].

To tackle these issues, this paper proposed an automated tower crane layout planning system by leveraging Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology. BIM is emerging as a method of creating, sharing, exchanging and managing the information throughout life cycle between all stakeholders [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16]. There are various types of information stored in BIM model including 3-Dimension (3D) spatial data, 4-D schedule data, 5-D cost data, 6-D facility data and n-D data. These data are more coordinated, more reliable, of better quality, and more internally consistent than traditional Computer Aided Design (CAD) data [15]. In addition, any changes within BIM will automatically trigger the adjustment of all the related elements and information so as to provide stringent quality assurance [15].

According to Fister et al. [17], Firefly Algorithm (FA) is simple, flexible and versatile, which is very efficient in solving a wide range of diverse real-world problems. Nowadays, FA has been applied for solving many optimisation problems in practice including combinatorial optimisation, constraint optimisation, dynamic and noisy optimisation, continuous optimisation, and multi-objective optimisation [17].With regard to efficiency and effectiveness, FA is selected to calculate the optimal locations of tower cranes and supply points by analysing construction requirements and site conditions.

The synergy of BIM and FA opens up new possibilities in the field of tower crane layout planning. BIM can not only be used to provide automated inputs for FA but visualise and validate the abstract outputs from FA. The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 reviews the recent studies related to tower crane layout planning from two perspectives: mathematical optimisation and 3D tools-enabled virtual simulation. Section 3 describes a framework of BIM-based automated tower crane layout planning system. Three modules, including the BIM platform, the mathematical model, and the visualisation and operation simulation model, within the framework are mentioned and explained in details. Section 4 provides a case study to demonstrate and evaluate the proposed framework in Section 3. Section 5 concludes with the summary of contributions including both theoretical and practical contributions.

Section snippets

Related research studies

A significant number of studies have been implemented in tower crane layout optimisation and operation simulation so as to reduce total operation cost. These research studies can be classified into the following two main categories:

BIM-based automated tower crane layout planning system

This section describes a framework of BIM-based automated tower crane layout planning system (as shown in Fig. 1). There are three modules in the framework: module A, B and C, standing for BIM platform, mathematical model for tower crane layout planning, and BIM-based tower crane layout visualisation and operation simulation, respectively. Module A provides inputs for module B to automatically generate alternatives of tower crane layout. Each alternative will be visualised and evaluated through

Case study

The methodology outlined above was employed to determine the needed tower cranes and their optimal locations and resource supply locations for a high-rise commercial building project. The project was located in Sichuan, China, consisting of 48-story office building, 58-story residential building, 3-story underground commercial facilities with a site area of 2690 m2 and a total gross floor area of 167,895 m2. The location in an urban area with limited workspace and its proximity to congested

Conclusion

Tower cranes are typically used on many building construction sites to lift a wide variety of materials vertically and horizontally. Identifying minimal number and optimal locations of tower cranes, especially when they operate with overlapping work zones, is difficult for site managers only through 2D CAD drawings and work experience. This study is novel because it integrates BIM and firefly algorithm for improving tower crane layout planning from practical, economic and safe perspectives.

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement goes to Sichuan Southwest Project Management & Consultancy Co. Limited, which provided the BIM models, project information presented in this paper, and the contributed time of their experts to the research and developmental work that have been described and presented in this paper.

References (51)

  • T. Huang et al.

    A virtual prototyping system for simulating construction processes

    Autom. Constr.

    (2007)
  • Y. Li et al.

    Integrating field data and 3D simulation for tower crane activity monitoring and alarming

    Autom. Constr.

    (2012)
  • X. Su et al.

    GIS-based dynamic construction site material layout evaluation for building renovation projects

    Autom. Constr.

    (2012)
  • M.-Y. Cheng et al.

    Site layout of construction temporary facilities using an enhanced-geographic information system (GIS)

    Autom. Constr.

    (1994)
  • F. Sadeghpour et al.

    A CAD-based model for site planning

    Autom. Constr.

    (2004)
  • S. Hwang

    Ultra-wide band technology experiments for real-time prevention of tower crane collisions

    Autom. Constr.

    (2012)
  • S. Kang et al.

    Planning and visualization for automated robotic crane erection processes in construction

    Autom. Constr.

    (2006)
  • G. Lee et al.

    A BIM-and sensor-based tower crane navigation system for blind lifts

    Autom. Constr.

    (2012)
  • A. Nelson et al.

    DEM production methods and sources

    Dev. Soil Sci.

    (2009)
  • J. Irizarry et al.

    Optimizing location of tower cranes on construction sites through GIS and BIM integration

    J. Inf. Technol. Constr.

    (2012)
  • C. Tam et al.

    GA-ANN model for optimizing the locations of tower crane and supply points for high-rise public housing construction

    Constr. Manag. Econ.

    (2003)
  • P. Zhang et al.

    Location optimization for a group of tower cranes

    J. Constr. Eng. Manag.

    (1999)
  • C. Tam et al.

    Nonlinear models for predicting hoisting times of tower cranes

    J. Comput. Civ. Eng.

    (2002)
  • C. Tam et al.

    Genetic algorithm for optimizing supply locations around tower crane

    J. Constr. Eng. Manag.

    (2001)
  • J. Cheng et al.

    A BIM based construction site layout planning framework considering actual travel paths. 31st International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining

    (2014)
  • Cited by (108)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text