A new approach for automation of location-based earthwork scheduling in road construction projects

doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2014.03.003

Automation in Construction

Volume 43, July 2014, Pages 156-169

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2014.03.003 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Accurate location information is vital for resource planning but missing in linear schedules.
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The paper introduces a model to automate the location-based earthwork schedules on a weekly basis.
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A case study from road projects was used to demonstrate the functions of the model.
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It helps in resource planning and identifying time-space congestion from the location aspects.

Abstract

Accurate information of working locations is vital for efficient resource planning, safety of the construction site and monitoring the weekly progress of earthworks, which is missing in the existing linear scheduling methods. Construction managers have to depend on the subjective decisions for resources allocation and progress monitoring from location aspects. This has caused uncertainties in planning and scheduling, and consequently delays and cost overruns of projects. In this context, a prototype computer-based model was developed using the theory of the location-based planning. An arithmetic algorithm was designed by incorporating road design data, sectional quantities, variable productivity rates and haulage distance. This paper focuses on the improvement and demonstration of the model functions through a case study experiment, which include the automatic generation of location-based earthwork schedules and the optimisation of the weekly resource allocation when and where necessary from the location aspects, considering different options such as construction sequences of the cut/fill sections, site access points and the equipment sets with known productivity rates. The study concluded that the model is a decision supporting tool that assists in the resources planning, identifying time–space congestion, monitoring the activities progress on a weekly basis from the location aspects, and reducing the gap when communicating the scheduling information amongst the construction site teams.

Introduction

The construction industry has distinct characteristics in comparison with other industries in terms of one-off projects, site production, and temporary organisation [14]. The planning and scheduling process is a challenging task in the construction projects, and the decisions taken at the planning stage have the foremost impact on the successful execution of the project from its early conceptual stage to the completion stage [1]. Planning and scheduling include the precise allocation of the construction resources at the required locations and when necessary, particularly in the linear construction projects, such as roads and railways. Failure to allocate the critical resources of work activities at required locations has an adverse impact on the linear project performance such as cost, time, work-space conflicts and the safety of the workers at the construction site [16].

Arditi et al. [3] suggested that an earthwork project requires a separate planning task due to the distinctive characteristics of earthworks. The effective applications of planning and scheduling techniques: such as the Critical Path Method (CPM) and the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) are limited, because the work activities associated with the linear projects are fundamentally different from the other projects such as high-rise buildings or residential houses. The majority of the work activities in a road project are linear in nature. A linear scheduling method has the potential to provide significant enrichment in terms of visual and graphical representation but currently it is difficult to provide the information of work activities and the possible time–space congestion on a weekly plan from location aspects. Although the linear scheduling method allows the project schedulers and the construction managers to visually plan the road tasks and determine the controlling activity path, it cannot provide the weekly information of the exact work activities' locations and allocation of the resources to be mobilised at the required locations, and the time–space congestion throughout the construction period [9]. Therefore, to overcome the above issues, a new methodology with a computer-based model, is introduced in this paper.

The approach, which is developed and underpinned within the prototype model, aids to generate more precise time–locations information, particularly in the earthworks scheduling in linear construction projects such as roads and railways. The key outputs of the model includes the generation of location-based earthwork schedules automatically, optimisation of earthwork quantities, and the allocation of the required recourses on a weekly basis from the location aspects. In this paper, the location-based schedule is dubbed the “time–location plan”. The remainder of the paper outlines the literature review, the design of the framework, and the prototype development, including inputs, processes and outputs followed by the case study experiments from a road project.

Section snippets

Literature review

Earthworks have unique characteristics and they take place normally at the early stage of the construction project, particularly in the linear projects such as roads, railways and pipelines. They constitute a major component in a road construction, absorb high costs, and deal with haul distances for balancing the cutting and filling sections in a cost effective way [13]. A study of 145 road construction projects revealed that the earthworks component was around 19.58% of the monetary value of

Framework of a prototype

The framework of a prototype model is outlined as shown in Fig. 1 by integrating the findings from the literature review and the construction industry survey [17]. The key input of the framework includes the road design data, sectional quantities of earthworks, productivity rates, unit cost of the cutting or filling activities, and an arithmetic algorithm. The model has several functions that include the visualisation of scheduling information, optimisation of the cutting and/or filling

Case study

A case study containing a 1.0 km section from the lot no. 3 road project in Portugal was chosen to demonstrate the functions of the prototype model. The road design data including L-section and X-sections, which are incorporated in the model, were used to compute the sectional quantities of earthworks assuming trapezoidal cross-sections at 25 m intervals along the road section, and these were used as key inputs of the model. The productivity rates of the earthworks such as cutting or filling

Conclusions

A computer-based model was developed with the aim of providing the weekly scheduling information of the earthwork operations more precisely in the linear construction projects such as roads and railways. The model was innovative by integrating the optimisation module and the time–space module besides the sectional quantities, the productivity rates, unit costs of earthwork, and an arithmetic algorithm. Numerous case study experiments from road projects were conducted to demonstrate the model's

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A new approach for automation of location-based earthwork scheduling in road construction projects

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Literature review

Framework of a prototype

Case study

Conclusions

Autom. Constr.

Int. J. Proj. Manag.

Autom. Constr.

Autom. Constr.

Autom. Constr.

Challenging in line-of-balance scheduling

J. Constr. Eng. Manag.

Integrated simulation models applied to road construction management

Automating road construction planning with a specific-domain simulation system

ITcon

DynaRoad: plan, schedule and control

Linear Scheduling of Highway Project