ABSTRACT
Since any earthworks construction is typically susceptible to unpredictable occurrences (i.e., equipment malfunction, unfavourable atmospheric conditions), execution plans devised during design and planning phases require constant adjustments and/or reorganization of the on-site workflow in order to keep the optimal status of resource usage (i.e., excavators, dumper trucks, graders, compaction rollers). Bearing this in mind, this paper describes a developed optimization framework which is tailored to support decision-making throughout all project phases. These include not only bidding, design, and planning phases by providing the user with resource usage solutions, including the corresponding costs and durations, but also during construction phase. The latter encompasses the constant monitoring of resources and reassessment of their allocation to tasks, which is paramount in the context of increasing productivity and company competitiveness. Indeed, this construction phase resource monitoring, which leverages on smart sensor technologies, allows the system to respond to variations in productivity or work rate of construction equipment and production teams, providing suggestions for minor alterations in the allocation of these resources when necessary. The output of these optimization and re-optimization cycles takes into account several customizable factors simultaneously – multi-objective optimization – namely construction costs, construction durations, and carbon emissions, ultimately resulting in individual equipment allocation corresponding to the optimal distribution of resources throughout the construction project. Previous results for a highway construction case-study based on historical activity log databases (i.e., not including sensorization monitoring), indicate that reductions of about 20% in both construction costs and durations can be achieved.
