scholarly journals Multi-dimensional optimization model for schedule fast-tracking without over-stressing construction workers

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 1160-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zinab Abuwarda ◽  
Tarek Hegazy
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Schedule Optimization ◽  
Fast Tracking ◽  
Schedule Compression ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Technique Comparison

Fast-tracking is an important process to speed the delivery of construction projects. To support optimum fast-tracking decisions, this paper introduces a generic schedule optimization framework that integrates four schedule acceleration dimensions: linear activity crashing; discrete activity modes of execution; alternative network paths; and flexible activity overlapping. Because excessive schedule compression can lead to space congestion and overstressed workers, the optimization formulation uses specific variables and constraints to prevent simultaneous use of overlapping and crashing at the same activity segment. To handle complex projects with a variety of milestones, resource limits, and constraints, the framework has been implemented using the constraint programming (CP) technique. Comparison with a literature case study and further experimentation demonstrated the flexibility and superior performance of the proposed model. The novelty of the model stems from its integrated multi-dimensional formulation, its CP engine, and its ability to provide alternative fast-track schedules to strictly constrained projects without overstressing the construction workers.

Managing integration in infrastructure alliance projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maija Hietajärvi ◽  
Kirsi Aaltonen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Project Organizations ◽  
Integration Mechanisms ◽  
Organizational Integration ◽  
Time Critical

Purpose The effective management of inter-organizational integration is central to complex projects. Such projects pose significant challenges for integration, as organizations struggle with constantly changing inter-organizational interdependencies and must develop and adapt integration mechanisms to meet new demands. The purpose of this paper is to understand what kinds of integration mechanisms are used and how they are developed and adjusted during the infrastructure alliance projects. Design/methodology/approach This study provides empirical evidence of integration dynamics in project alliancing by analyzing two infrastructure alliance projects – a complex tunnel construction project and a railway renovation project. The research approach is an inductive case study. Findings This paper identifies integration mechanisms adopted in two case projects and three central triggers that led to changes in the integration mechanisms: project lifecycle phase, unexpected events and project team’s learning during the project. Practical implications Integration capability should be a precondition for alliance project organizations and requires the adoption of a wide range of integration mechanisms, as well as an ability to adjust those mechanisms in response to everyday dynamics and emergent situations. Originality/value Although unplanned contingencies and the responses to them represent important influences in organizations, there is limited amount of research on the dynamics of integration. The findings will be of value in supporting the management of inter-organizational integration in complex, uncertain and time-critical construction projects.

Fast-tracking of construction projects: a case study

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Fazio ◽  
O. Moselhi ◽  
P. Théberge ◽  
S. Revay
Keyword(s):  
Construction Management ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Fast Tracking ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
The Impact

The growing use of professional construction management has been synonymous with the development of new project delivery systems such as the phased construction approach and the fast-tracking technique. This paper establishes the distinction between these two types of approach which have become increasingly popular for reducing project duration. The paper further illustrates, through a case study, the possible consequences of compressing and overlapping design activities in a fast-track program to expedite project delivery. A delay analysis shows the impact of this accelerated technique on construction activities. The far-reaching effect of mistakes during the early design/engineering phase in a fast-track program is usually underrated. Accelerating a project through fast-tracking is a major decision, and construction professionals often are not aware of its implications. Based on the case study examined in this paper and other fast-track constructions previously analyzed, trouble areas requiring special attention have been depicted and recommendations with regard to the effective use of this technique are presented. It has also been shown that if intensified effort on problem areas is lacking, such a popular accelerated technique could result in unexpected delays. Key words: fast-tracking, phased construction, professional construction management, design management.

scholarly journals Classification and pattern extraction of incidents: a deep learning-based approach

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sobhan Sarkar ◽  
Sammangi Vinay ◽  
Chawki Djeddi ◽  
J. Maiti
Keyword(s):  
Superior Performance ◽  
Hidden Information ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Moment Estimation ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Benchmark Datasets ◽  
Unexplored Area ◽  
Key Terms

AbstractClassifying or predicting occupational incidents using both structured and unstructured (text) data are an unexplored area of research. Unstructured texts, i.e., incident narratives are often unutilized or underutilized. Besides the explicit information, there exist a large amount of hidden information present in a dataset, which cannot be explored by the traditional machine learning (ML) algorithms. There is a scarcity of studies that reveal the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) in the domain of incident prediction, and its parameter optimization for achieving better prediction power. To address these issues, initially, key terms are extracted from the unstructured texts using LDA-based topic modeling. Then, these key terms are added with the predictor categories to form the feature vector, which is further processed for noise reduction and fed to the adaptive moment estimation (ADAM)-based DNN (i.e., ADNN) for classification, as ADAM is superior to GD, SGD, and RMSProp. To evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed method, a comparative study has been conducted using some state-of-the-arts on five benchmark datasets. Moreover, a case study of an integrated steel plant in India has been demonstrated for the validation of the proposed model. Experimental results reveal that ADNN produces superior performance than others in terms of accuracy. Therefore, the present study offers a robust methodological guide that enables us to handle the issues of unstructured data and hidden information for developing a predictive model.

scholarly journals A Practical Method for Assessing the Energy Consumption & CO2 Emissions of Mass Haulers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassanean Jassim ◽  
Weizhuo Lu ◽  
Thomas Olofsson
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Planning Program ◽  
Detailed Model ◽  
Proposed Model

Mass hauling operations play central roles in construction projects. They typically use many haulers that consume large amounts of energy and emit significant quantities of CO2. However, practical methods for estimating the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of such operations during project planning are lacking. This paper presents a detailed model for estimating the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of mass haulers that integrates the mass hauling plan with a set of predictive equations. The mass hauling plan is generated using a planning program such as DynaRoad in conjunction with data on the productivity of selected haulers and the amount of material to be hauled during cutting, filling, borrowing, and disposal operations. This plan is then used as input for estimating the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the selected hauling fleet. The proposed model will help planners to assess the energy and environmental performance of mass hauling plans, and to select hauler and fleet configurations that will minimize these quantities. The model was applied in a case study, demonstrating that it can reliably predict energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and hauler productivity as functions of the hauling distance for individual haulers and entire hauling fleets.

A novel model for risk management of outsourced construction projects using decision-making methods: a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin Mahmoudi ◽  
Mehdi Abbasi ◽  
Xiaopeng Deng ◽  
Muhammad Ikram ◽  
Salman Yeganeh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The Cost ◽  
First Time

PurposeSelecting a suitable contract to outsource construction projects is an ongoing concern for project managers and organizational directors. This study aims to propose a comprehensive model to manage the risks of outsourced construction project contracts.Design/methodology/approachTo employ the proposed model, firstly, the types of contracts and risks in the organization should be identified, then, to prioritize the contracts, the identified risks are considered as criteria. After receiving the experts' opinions, the best–worst method (BWM) integrated with grey relation analysis (GRA) method was used to prioritize the contracts. BWM and GRA are multi-criteria decision-making methods with different approaches and applications. In the current study, BWM has been employed to calculate the weights of criteria because it has better performance than other methods such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). After calculating the weights of criteria, the GRA method has been utilized for ranking the alternatives.FindingsAccording to the results obtained from the case study, the cost plus award fee contract is the most suitable alternative for outsourcing construction projects. The proposed methodology can be practically applied through different types of the projects such as construction or “engineering, procurement and construction”.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a conceptual model has been proposed to select an appropriate contract for construction projects. Also, for the first time, the BWM integrated with GRA method has been used to prioritize project contracts based on the potential risks. The proposed model can contribute to project managers for selecting a suitable contract with the least risk in construction projects.

scholarly journals Decision Tree and AHP Methods Application for Projects Assessment: A Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5502
Author(s):  
Augustinas Maceika ◽  
Andrej Bugajev ◽  
Olga Regina Šostak ◽  
Tatjana Vilutienė
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Tree ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Model Stability ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Tree Methods ◽  
Hierarchy Process

This research is dedicated to the modelling of decision process occurring during the implementation of construction projects. Recent studies generally do not assess the robustness of the decisions regarding the possible changes during the construction project implementation. However, such an assessment might increase the reliability of the decision-making process. We addressed this gap through a new model that combines the decision-making process modelling with the AHP method and includes the analysis of model stability concerning stakeholders’ behaviour. We used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Decision tree methods to model the decision-making process. The proposed model was validated on a case study of multiple construction projects. The assessment was performed from individual investor’s and independent expert’s perspectives. The criteria for the assessment were selected according to the principles of sustainability. We performed the sensitivity analysis, making it possible to assess the possible changes of the decisions depending on the potential patterns of the decision-makers’ behaviour. The results of the study show that, sometimes, small fluctuations in the project factors affect the project selection indicating the possible lack of the robustness of the project decisions.

scholarly journals MULTICRITERIA VERBAL ANALYSIS FOR THE DECISION OF CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonas Ustinovichius ◽  
Arunas Barvidas ◽  
Andzelika Vishnevskaja ◽  
Ilya V. Ashikhmin
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Quantitative Method ◽  
Contract Management ◽  
Construction Contracts ◽  
International Construction ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Potential Risk Factors ◽  
Management Project ◽  
Verbal Analysis

The paper aims to analyse the construction contracts and to determine their effectiveness by verbal methods. Contractors of international construction projects are often faced with complicated situations working in the conditions of uncertainty in construction. One of the potential risk factors is associated with the requirements of contract conditions. A simple quantitative method for evaluating the requirements defined in specifications of the contract is presented. One of the major aspects is project or contract management. Project developers need various models of managing large and complex projects. The suggested method for evaluating contract effectiveness may be widely applied at one of the stages of project management. A case study of practical use of verbal methods is presented. Santrauka Siekiama išanalizuoti statybos sutartis ir nustatyti jų efektyvumą daugiatiksliu verbaliniu metodu. Tarptautiniuose statybos projektuose rangovai dažnai susiduria su sudėtingomis situacijomis ir darbo sąlygų neapibrėžtumais. Tai yra pagrindinis rizikos veiksnys sudarant statybos rangos sutartis. Pateiktas metodas įvertina sutarties specifikacijų reikalavimus. Vienas iš svarbiausių aspektų yra projekto ar sutarties valdymas, todėl projekto valdytojams reikalingi įvairūs modeliai dideliems ir sudėtingiems projektas kontroliuoti. Siūlomas sutarties efektyvumo įvertinimo metodas gali būti plačiai taikomas visam projektui ar atskirai jo daliai. Straipsnyje yra pateiktas pavyzdys taikant daugiatikslį verbalinį metodą.

Project Maturity Analysis in the Mining Sector

2018 ◽  
pp. 168-183
Keyword(s):  
Mining Sector ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
The World

In this chapter, the authors present a case study with the objective to evaluate the results of the same in the mining sector, one of the sectors in the economy with more relevant complex projects around the world and in which one can easily apply all of the pillars as discussed during the presentation of the model. To better give the reader an understanding about the idea, the authors first introduce the sector and then perform and present the results of the investigation over this case. In order to calibrate the proposed model, the authors decided to apply it by checking at the end if the result achieved was closer than what they imagined for the company.

scholarly journals Risk Determination, Prioritization, and Classifying in Construction Project Case Study: Gharb Tehran Commercial-Administrative Complex

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Sohrabinejad ◽  
Mehdi Rahimi
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Fuzzy Topsis ◽  
Fuzzy Dematel ◽  
Multiple Risks ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Library Studies ◽  
Type Size ◽  
The Subject

Construction projects play an important role in infrastructure projects in developing countries. According to type, size, and complexity of the project, the number and importance of each risk could be different and many projects cannot reach the project goals due to exposure to multiple risks. Many papers have been published on the subject of risk management in construction projects; unfortunately most of them have not been implemented in practical conditions. The aim of this study is to identify and prioritize risks in construction projects. The classical approach used probability and impact for risk assessment, but these criteria do not sufficiently address all aspects of projects risks and there might be a relationship between different criteria. This study proposes the hierarchical dependencies between criteria. A case study of construction project is presented to illustrate performance and usage of the proposed model. Utilizing library studies and interview with experts, managers, and specialists, decision criteria were identified through brain storming. Risks were categorized by the experts into eleven risks. Important risks were evaluated based on the fuzzy ANP, fuzzy DEMATEL, and fuzzy TOPSIS methods. The proposed model is more suitable than the traditional decision-making methods in prioritizing risk concerning cost, time, and quality.

scholarly journals The Influence of Social Capitalism on Construction Safety Behaviors: An Exploratory Megaproject Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuyu Wu ◽  
Heap-Yih Chong ◽  
Ge Wang ◽  
Shuquan Li
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Safety Behaviors ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Capitalism

Health and safety issues are critical factors influencing the sustainable development of mega construction projects. The impact of social capitalism on health and safety activities has been widely discussed in sustainability domains; nevertheless, its influence towards workers’ safety behaviors in mega construction projects remains largely unknown. To address this research gap, the current study aims to determine the influence of social capitalism on safety behaviors from a two-fold perspective between project managers and construction workers. An exploratory case study was adopted from a mega construction project in Tianjin, China. The results reveal that (a) the social network between project managers and construction workers manifests itself as close communication and contact, trust and emotional identification, common language, vision, and values; (b) project managers’ management behaviors show stronger influences on construction workers’ safety compliance behaviors, while their leadership behaviors show stronger influences on construction workers’ safety participation behaviors; and (c) the practice of social capitalism promotes enforcement of commands and compulsory norms and plays a positive regulatory role on safety behaviors. These findings provide new insights into the use of social capitalism for improving safety behaviors and ultimately facilitate the attainment of the broader goal of sustainability in mega construction projects.

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