Abstract
In this study, the resource planning problem of a real-life problem, namely a 4 km long and 14 m wide asphalt highway project, was handled. According to the contract between the owner and the contractor, all construction work should have been completed within 17 days. The contractor of this project aimed to determine the minimum number of resources required to complete the project within the estimated project duration and their utilization rates. In this research, this problem was handled using computer simulation technique. For this purpose, a dynamic, stochastic and discrete event simulation model was used. The simulation model was built using the ready-made simulation software Extend+BPR. The simulation results revealed that when 3 flagmen, 1 grader, 1 road roller, 1 water truck, 17 trucks, 1 paver, 1 rubber roller, 1 steel wheel roller, and 5 laborers are used, the construction phase of the project could be completed within 17 days. Among all the resources required to complete the project, while the rubber roller had the maximum utilization rate (68%), the water truck had the minimum value (7%). The simulation results also indicated that while any increase in the number of these resources did not help to shorten the project duration, any decrease in the number of these resources brought about severe delays. Although the proposed methodology has some limitations, it has great potential to optimize resources and production rates in similar asphalt highway construction operations, especially when used during the planning phase.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Managing it in Construction/Managing Construction for Tomorrow |
| Publisher | CRC Press |
| Pages | 545-552 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781482266665 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780415567442 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2010 Taylor and Francis Group, London, UK.