scholarly journals MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR SCHEDULING OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS UNDER EXTREME WEATHER

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed B. SENOUCI ◽  
Saleh A. MUBARAK

Extreme weather significantly impacts construction schedules and costs and can be a source of schedule de­lays and budget overruns. A multi-objective optimization model, presented herein for the scheduling of construction projects under extreme weather conditions, can generate optimal/near optimal schedules that minimize the time and cost of construction projects in extreme weather regions. The model computations are organized as follows: (1) a scheduling module for developing practical schedules for construction projects, (2) a cost module for computing total project cost, and (3) a multi-objective module for determining optimal/near optimal trade-offs between project time and cost. Two practical examples of the effects of extreme weather on construction time and direct cost are provided, the first of which shows the impact of extreme weather on construction time and cost, and the second of which demonstrates the ability of the model to generate and visually present the optimal trade-offs between the duration and costs of construction projects under extreme weather conditions.

Author(s):  
Rahman Ashrafi ◽  
Meysam Amirahmadi ◽  
Mohammad Tolou-Askari ◽  
Vahid Ghods

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Al-Hazim ◽  
Zaydoun Abusalem

This study aims to identify the most important factors that cause delay in road construction projects in Jordan, which results in cost and time overrun allocated for this type of engineering projects and cause critical problems for both the developer and the contractor. The gap between the cost at completion and that originally estimated, known as cost overrun, can be regarded as one of the most important parameters reflecting the success of projects. In the public sector, money spent on project change orders results in increased construction time which in return reduces the number and size of the projects that can be completed during any given fiscal year. To achieve this goal, the documents and the final reports for several sample projects implemented over the years 2000 to 2008 were analyzed. All the projects were administered by the same organization taken from Jordan Ministry of Rural and Public Works. The results of this study can assist highway officials in their design, planning, scheduling and projects completions so that necessary actions can be taken to control these overruns in future projects. The study showed that 19 factors might cause delays of road construction projects as defined through a detailed literature review. The analysis of the study indicated that the top causes affecting time and cost overrun in road construction projects in Jordan are Terrain and Weather conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Don Charles

The year 2017 had a very active season for hurricanes and extreme weather conditions. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria did damage to several Caribbean islands. Even Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a country which rarely experiences extreme weather conditions, was affected by Tropical Storm Bret. Tropical Storm Bret caused flooding in T&T, especially in the low lying South Oropouche River Basin.There is a dearth of research conducted in T&T about the impact of extreme weather conditions and flooding on communities and families. Thus, this study sought to conduct a community base vulnerability assessment (CBVA) of the impact of the Tropical Storm Bret induced flooding upon the residents of the South Oropouche River Basin.Primary data was collected via semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to conduct the CBVA. Furthermore, this study introduced a Modal Community Based Vulnerability Assessment Index (MCBVAI) to help determine which factors the residents South Oropouche River Basin are most vulnerable to.This study found that the most vulnerable residents were vulnerable largely to their building of structures at locations unsuitable for housing. Moreover, the most vulnerable residents also built structures that were not resilient to flooding and was elevated less than 4 feet (ft) off the ground. The appropriate policy response for the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT) would be to i) establish building codes, ii) develop a comprehensive spatial planning strategy which prohibits people from building structures in unsuitable areas, and iii) implement disaster risk reduction programmes which focus on improving pre-event disaster preparedness, improving the national and local response, and promoting educational awareness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-109
Author(s):  
Julia Kathryn Giddy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of extreme weather on tourism events through the perceptions of participants, using the case of the 2017 Cape Town Cycle Tour (CTCT). Design/methodology/approach This study utilized a survey method to collect data. Questionnaires were distributed online to would-be participants in the cancelled 2017 CTCT. The questionnaire included both fixed-response and open-ended questions. Findings The results show that participants experienced mixed emotions to event cancellation. Most felt that the weather conditions warranted cancellation, but some concerns emerged as to how the cancellation was managed. In addition, many felt that the organization of the race needs to be rethought due to numerous negative weather experiences in recent years. Research limitations/implications The findings in this study are exploratory. They focus on a single event in one city. However, they provide important initial insight into how sporting event participants react to the negative impacts of extreme weather. Practical implications These results have important management implications in addressing the impact of weather on the events sector. They are significant in understanding best practice with regard to managing participants in the case of weather impacts on an event. They also demonstrate interesting results with regard to participant loyalty among active sport events tourists. Originality/value The originality of this study is in its extension of the broad discussion of the impact of extreme weather and climate change on tourism to the events sector. The implications of changing weather and climatic patterns on events, particularly mass-participation sporting events, are clear and need to be considered in order to effectively manage future impacts on this important economic sector. This is done by providing insight into how participants respond to these types of circumstances.


Author(s):  
Z. H Ishaq

Construction projects are prone to a number of risks due to their complexity, dynamic nature, capital intensive nature and involvement of many stakeholders. These risks if left unmanaged will negatively influence the completion cost and other primary objectives of construction projects. Numerous studies have been conducted globally to determine the potential risks that negatively impacts construction projects; however, the risks aren’t alike across all the regions and the potential degree of impact may changes with time. This study assessed the impact of risk factors on completion cost of construction projects in Nigeria. Data was collected using structured questionnaires administered to 192 construction practitioners using convenience sampling technique. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to analyse the data. The study found ‘inadequate cost estimate’ (MS = 4.39), ‘risk incurred due to bribery and corruption’ (4.30), ‘increase in prices of materials’ (4.25), ‘increase in cost of labour’’ (4.11), ‘poor cash flow management’ (4.04) ‘mistakes/errors in design’ (4.04) and ‘mistakes during construction’ to be the topmost risk factors that impact on project completion cost. The study concludes that ‘economic’, ‘financial’ and ‘contract administration and project management’ related factors group are those with high impact on project completion cost.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shumin Wang ◽  
Honggui Deng ◽  
Rujing Xiong ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract An optimized algorithm based on multi-objective optimization model is proposed to solve the problem that existing vertical handoff algorithms do not comprehensively consider the impact of users and the network during handoff process. We build Markov chain model of base station to calculate a more accurate network state. Then a multi-objective optimization model is derived to maximize the value of the network state and the user data receiving rate. The multi-objective genetic algorithm NSGA-II is finally employed to turn the model into a final vertical handoffff strategy. The results of the simulation for throughput and blocking rate of networks demonstrate our algorithm significantly increases the system throughput and reduces the blocking rate compared with the existing vertical switching strategy.


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