Reducing completion time and optimizing resource use of resource-constrained construction operation by means of simulation modeling

摘要

Traditionally, critical path method (CPM) is widely used with manual resource assignment for planning and scheduling of the construction projects. This is predominant in the construction industry of Bangladesh. Therefore, the industry often faces challenges to complete construction projects in minimum possible time with optimum use of resources. Although, concurrency-based scheduling is an efficient tool to reduce construction completion time, manual formulation of plans for construction operations using the technique is cumbersome (because of complex nature of real-life construction operations, for instance a real-life construction work involves complex interaction between activities, limited number of resources and resource-sharing among activities, etc.) With this viewpoint, the present study aims to introduce computer-aided simulation modelling-based approach to reduce the completion time of a resource-constrained construction operation utilizing the features of concurrency-based scheduling. The study also proposes a method to optimize the resource use of construction operation. A real-life construction work has been considered as the case construction operation for this study. Results indicate that the simulation model developed for the case project can efficiently generate work-flow plans with reduced construction durations compared to the work-flow plan of the actual schedule. The model can also help to optimize the use of resources. Furthermore, the model developed for the case project can easily be reshaped, expanded and applied to other construction operations.