ABSTRACT
Road construction projects are characterised by the use of heavy and expensive equipment and machinery. They are highly influenced by weather and geological risk factors, changes in working condition, environmental regulations and other risk factors. Accuracy of construction planning in road projects is highly dependent on the experience of construction planners to understand and incorporate risk factors. The prime objective of this paper is to discuss the creation of a knowledge-based/simulation system that assist project managers to generate sound construction schedules using knowledge and information which were developed by extracting construction and resources behaviour knowledge from 124 current and previous road projects. Knowledge-base/simulation is an approach which can be applied to model construction operations and in particular at the construction planning stage. It can provide the necessary information to ensure that resource allocation and construction methodology are appropriate to obtain the best possible project performance in terms of cost and time efficiency. The system is designed to allow a thorough evaluation of all possible and feasible construction alternatives and provide analysis related to the compatibility between resources used in different activities. The paper describes briefly the respective features and capabilities of the system and uses an international contract as a case study to verify the system.
