| Author: | Lin, Zilu |
| Title: | Resource allocation for workface planning using heuristic rule and mathematical model in building construction |
| Advisors: | Siu, Francis (BRE) Chan, Daniel (BRE) |
| Degree: | M.Phil. |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Construction industry -- Management Construction industry -- Personnel management Production scheduling Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building and Real Estate |
| Pages: | xvi, 123 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This research study focuses on improving resource allocation strategies for building construction in Hong Kong. In practice, 6-day construction cycle is a commonly used construction method for constructing concrete building superstructure in which one typical floor of concrete superstructure must be delivered in a week. However, there are challenges of allocating construction resources for executing the 6-day construction cycle. The project managers define work zones for facilitating resource allocation when delivering 6-day construction cycle. However, the definition of work zones is always based on site experience of project managers without any established heuristic rules, leading to large daily duration fluctuation and low resource utilisation rate. In addition, there are workface constraints, such as, precedence relationship constraints, working space constraints, resource availability constraints, resource arrival constraints, and building regulation constraints, to be considered when allocating resources to construct the superstructures. The project managers are always overwhelmed by accounting for these workface constraints when planning resource workflows. Ignoring these constraints may extend project duration and waste limited resources. Comprehensive literature review of resource allocation problems in building construction was conducted to identify the below research gaps: (1) Limited research endeavours considered the impact of defining work zones in the working platform for executing 6-day construction cycles on resource allocation in concrete superstructure construction; (2) Most research endeavours focused on improving the scheduling technique at project level. Limited research endeavours focused on the improvement of detailed scheduling at workface level with consideration of workface constraints in building construction. To fill the identified research gaps, the research aim is to study how to improve the strategies of allocating limited resources in considerations of defining work zones and workface constraints for building superstructure construction. The research objectives are: (1) To conduct a comprehensive review of resource scheduling and resource allocation; (2) To compare the work content of different building components in two work zones in building construction; (3) To discover any rules for defining work zones to improve resource performance; (4) To define workface constraints in building construction and develop a mathematical model for formulating schedules to allocate limited number of resources in workface constraints. First, a literature review of resource constraint scheduling problems in construction was comprehensively conducted. Then, the construction activities and sequences in the 6-day construction cycles were standardised based on the data extracted from the site records and site videos. The work content with respect to the work zone was analysed based on the BIM (building information modelling) model. Second, three heuristic rules: (1) lengths of work zone dividing line; (2) fluctuations of daily duration, and (3) utilisation rates of resource, were proposed. A practical case study of a 40-storey building construction in Hong Kong was used to illustrate the heuristic rules. Third, a linear programming model was developed for formulating resource schedules. The model consists of one objective function and five workface constraints. The objective function is to minimise the project duration, activity start times (for maximising the activity total floats), and resource quantities. The workface constraints are named as precedence relationship constraints, working space constraints, resource limit constraints, resource arrival time constraints, and building regulation constraints. A classic example was used to illustrate the formulation of the linear programming model. The major discoveries and findings of the research study include: (1) Proposed methods to examine the work content of superstructure construction in particular work zones based on BIM model; (2) Proposed heuristic rules successfully evaluate better work zone scheme with the lesser daily working duration fluctuation and better resource utilisation rate; (3) Proposed mathematical model successfully formulates an optimum resource schedule factoring in workface constraints. This research study has produced both academic and practical values as expressed below. For academic contributions, first, this research study is the first one which discovered the importance of defining work zones for resource allocation in building construction because the work zones govern the workers' work content in construction cycles; Second, this research study is the first one which proposed the heuristic rules for evaluating work zone schemes for less daily duration fluctuation and higher resource utilisation rate; Third, this research study is the first one which proposed the linear programming model for formulating resource schedules factoring in workface constraints. For practical contributions, first, this research study provides simple heuristic rules for project managers to define better work zones for better resource allocation rather than purely rely on personal site experience in building construction. As a result of having a better work zone definition scheme, the daily working duration will not be too long such that the site workers will not work overtime; Second, this research study provides better resource schedules for project managers to allocate limited resources in building construction. The optimum resource schedules can be iterated using modern computers. The formulated schedules feature reduced project duration while factoring in workface constraints. The workface constraints are precedence relationship constraints, working space constraints, resource limit constraints, resource arrival time constraints,and building regulation constraints. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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